Spanish & Latin American Film Festival, March 20-25

At the National Museum of Kenya, Louis Leakey Hall – Auditorium.
Organized by the Embassies of Brazil, Chile, Spain, Mexico and Venezuela.
Contact: Embassy of Spain – Tel. 342228/342232

Tickets are 30 ksh per film, season ticket is 200 Ksh.
All films have english subtitles

Tuesday, 20th March
18:00 Mango Yellow (Brazil)
20:00 Ferpect Crime (Spain)

Wednesday, 21st March
18:00 Oscar’s Magical Adventure (Venezuela)
20:00 My Best Enemy (Chile)

Thursday, 22nd March
18:00 The Compassionate One (Brazil)
20:00 Machuca (Chile)

Friday, 23rd March
18:00 See Within (Spain)
20:00 The Little Chance (Venezuela)
20:30 On the Other Side (Mexico)

Saturday, 24th March
18:00 My Best Enemy (Chile)
20:00 Noose Ends (Mexico)

Sunday, 25th March
18:00 The Little Chance (Venezuela)
18:30 Mango Yellow (Brazil)

Brief synopsis of the screened movies:

AMARELO MANGA/MANGO YELLOW
Brazil, 2002
Director: Cláudio Assis

The hothouse atmosphere of Brazil comes alive in this film, where lust and economic desperation combine in a volatile brew of provocative cinema. On the mean streets of the coastal town of Recife, an array of characters including a jaded waitress, a gay cook, a philandering butcher, and his evangelical wife emerge as “full dimensional people in touch with their explosive feelings”.

CRIMEN FERPECTO/FERPECT CRIME
España, 2004
Director: Alex de la Iglesia

Rafael is the best salesman in the biggest department store in Madrid. He is a fascinating man; all his colleagues fall in love with him. Definitively ambitious, he aspires to be the new head of sales at his floor. But he has to beat Don Antonio, the best salesman in the menswear sector. Competition gets harder and harder, till Rafael kills Don Antonio! Lourdes, the ugliest woman in the store, unexpectedly helps Rafael to hide the corpse, but her help isn’t for free. ..

LA MÁGICA AVENTURA DE OSCAR/OSCAR’S MAGICAL ADVENTURE
Venezuela, 2000
Director: Diana Sánchez

Camille, a young anthropologist goes to do research on an island too far away for her children, little Oscar and Miranda, who, accompanied by their dog, Friskie, set out in their search to recover the immense love and tenderness of their mother, whose absence they can not tolerate.
To find her they are going to cross the rivers, mountains and ocean of a marvelous country. Thanks to their friend and guardian, the shaman Tikake, they will cross over to the other side of the mirror.
Triumphant over all dangers, helped by some, threatened by others, following the magical roads of the rainbow, they will reach their goal and find their mother, Camille.
MI MEJOR ENEMIGO/ MY BEST ENEMY
Chile – Argentina – España , 2004
Director: Alex Bowen

Chile and Argentina are about to engage in an armed confrontation on their Southern Border. In Patagonia a Chilean platoon accidentally breaks the compass and they are lost in the immensity of the Pampa. They dig their trenches somewhere without knowing whether they are in Chile or Argentina. They are interrupted by an Argentinean platoon deployed in front of them As both platoons await in tension for the start of the war, they will experience a friendship that can happen between human beings that are enemies , but that confused by the solitude of the pampa, go from that fragile line between duty and sentiment thus telling a deep human story.

O AUTO DA COMPADECIDA/THE COMPASSIONATE ONE
Brazil, 2000
Director: Guel Arraes
The lively João Grilo and the sly Chicó are poor guys living in the hinterland who cheat a bunch of people in a small Northeast Brazil town. But when they die, they have to be judged by Christ, the Devil and the Virgin Mary, before they are admitted to paradise.

MACHUCA
Chile – España – Inglaterra – Francia , 2004
Director: Andrés Wood

Two eleven-year-old boys who live in Santiago, in 1973, in very different social and economic status, start a friendship when the headmaster at a private parochial school admits children from a poor slum into his elitist school. There is a huge invisible wall dividing these two separate worlds, a wall that some, caught up in the revolutionary fervor of the times, want to break down. One of the hopeful dreamers is the headmaster. He wants them to respect each other. The friendship between them is full of discoveries and surprises. But in addition to the practical difficulties involved in this attempt at integration, there are others caused by the open social confrontation taking place in Chilean society.

MAR ADENTRO/SEA WITHIN
España, 2004
Director: Alejandro Amenábar

The former sailor Ramón Sampedro, has been quadriplegic for twenty-eight years and is fighting in court for his right to practice euthanasia. The film explores Ramón’s relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible.

EL CHANCECITO/THE LITTLE CHANCE
Venezuela, 2003
Director: Efterpi Charalambidis

At Rudi’s hair salon, everybody has their own aspirations. Coromoto, the shampoo girl, wants to be a stylist; Tere, manicurist, wants to win the lottery; Yolanda, stylist, wants to win love and respect; Rudi wants to have breast surgery; and Javier, the new stylist, wants to seduce customers. Their aspirations get unexpected turns, provoked by the whimsical demands of Valeria, a beautiful customer who believes she can win the Miss Venezuela contest.

AL OTRO LADO/ON THE OTHER SIDE
México, 2005
Director: Gustavo Loza

A fictional feature film made up of three short stories dealing with the issue of migration, but from the viewpoint of those left behind. Three countries (Mexico, Cuba and Morocco), three cultures, three different realities that serve as a background for the stories of the lives of three children who share the same feelings: the absence of a father who has emigrated searching for a better standard of living, and the need to bring him back home.

MATANDO CABOS/NOOSE ENDSOS
México, 2004
Director: Alejandro Lozano

Circumstances force Jacque and Mudo, two employees of a large steel corporation, to kidnap their boss, the most feared man in Mexico. On the other hand, Botcha an Nico, who did have a premeditated plan to kidnap the magnate, ravish the wrong person. Black humor comedy of quid pro quos involving several striking characters.