What to Watch This Week on Cinema Tropical
Jump back into the swing of things by checking out the powerful lineup of Latin American films at this year’s African Diaspora International Film Festival, proudly co-presented by Cinema Tropical. The festival is running online and available to audiences across the U.S. through Sunday, December 13.
This week, ADIFF is presenting several programs of Afro-Latin American films in their U.S. and New York Premieres, including the Ecuadorian film The Esmeraldas Beach by Patrice Raynal and the Cuban-Haitian co-production Kafe Negro by Mario Delatour. Both are available to stream through this Wednesday, December 2.
There are also several Afro-Brazilian and Haitian features available for streaming later in the week, including Eryk Rocha‘s Burning Night, Arnold Antonin‘s Thus Spoke the Sea, and Matthieu Maunier-Rossi‘s Three Blades. Make sure to check them out starting on Thursday, December 3.
Premiering Online This Week:
Latin American Films at the African Diaspora International Film Festival:
SLATE ONE:
THE ESMERALDAS BEACH
(Patrice Raynal, Ecuador/France, 2020, 58 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles. U.S. Premiere)
KAFE NEGRO
(Mario Delatour, Cuba/Haiti, 2020, 52 mins. In French and Spanish with English subtitles. U.S. Premiere)
THE MALÊ REVOLT
(Jeferson DE and Belisario Franca, Brazil, 2019, 80 mins. In Portuguese with English subtitles. New York Premiere)
Streaming through Wednesday, December 2
SLATE TWO:
BURNING NIGHT
(Eryk Rocha, Brazil, 2019, 98 mins. In Portuguese with English subtitles. New York Premiere)
THUS SPOKE THE SEA
(Men sa lanmé di, Arnold Antonin, Haiti, 2020, 49 mins. In French with English subtitles. New York Premiere)
THREE BLADES
(Trois machettes, Matthieu Maunier-Rossi, Haitie, 2019, 29 mins. In Haitian Creole with subtitles. New York Premiere)
IN TIMES OF RAIN
(Tiempo de lluvia, Itandehui Jansen, Mexico, 2018, 87 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles. New York Premiere)
ROSA CHUMBE
(Jonatan Relayze, Peru, 2015, 75 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Streaming Thursday, December 3 – Tuesday, December 8
Films Available to Stream Now:
Cultural Office of the French Embassy Presents:
RESSACA
(Vertige de la chute, Vincent Rimbaux and Patrizia Landi, Brazil/France, 2018, 84 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
After years of growth and hope, Brazil collapsed. From 2009, the year when Rio de Janeiro won the dispute to host the Olympics, to 2017, chaos replaced the prospect of a glorious future. The last 15 years have been marked by the expectations that the big events would be the peak of Brazil’s economic growth and bring international recognition as a world power, but it has never happened. Ten days after the end of the games, the country saw the former president Dilma Roussef undergo an impeachment process and since then, there has been a major political and economical crisis, the worst since the dictatorship period. All regions have felt the impact, specially Rio. The city, which is a worldwide reference, is bankrupt. Ressaca, in black and white, chooses as its characters, the artistes and the public employees of the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater to show the dark side of a city in contradiction with its clichés. Rio de Janeiro’s Teatro Municipal is the jewel of the nation’s opera scene but it is on the brink of collapse: the state is bankrupt and can no longer pay the employees’ salaries. The workers resist with all their might and try to save the theatre.
Streaming free through Tonight, November 30
The Cinema Tropical Collection:
WIÑAYPACHA
(Óscar Catacora, Peru, 2017, 86 min. In Aymara with English subtitles)
In a stone hut, over 5000m high in the snow-capped Peruvian Andes, the elderly Phaxsi and her husband Willka eke out a living far from the modern world. The 96 perfectly framed scenes flow gently like still life paintings, depicting the couple, their animals, and their magnificent mountain homeland. In traditional Aymara rituals they beseech Pachamama, Mother Earth, to provide them with sustenance, and to return the long-lost son who has abandoned them for the city, but the struggle to survive eventually prompts a dangerous mission for help. In this stunning and heart-breaking story about abandonment of the elderly and of traditions, Willka is played by the director’s real life grandfather, and Phaxsi by a non-professional who had never seen a film before.
Daily Recommendation: ALAMAR
(Pedro González Rubio, Mexico, 2009, 73 min. In Spanish and Italian with English subtitles)
Jorge has only a few weeks with his five-year-old son Natan before he leaves to live with his mother in Rome. Intent on teaching Natan about their Mayan heritage, Jorge takes him to the pristine Chinchorro reef, and eases him into the rhythms of a fisherman’s life. As the bond between father and son grows stronger, Natan learns to live in harmony with life above and below the surface of the sea.