Sydney Latin American Film Festival Media Blog

SLAFF Newsletter January 6, 2012

slaff2011 — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:37:50 +0000

Welcome to the Sydney Latin American Film Festival

A FANTASTIC 2011 FOR THE SYDNEY LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL, MANU CHAO IN THE DOMAIN, AND A PEDRO MARTINEZ TICKET GIVEAWAY!

Feliz año nuevo lovers of Latin American cinema!

We hope you’ve had a fantastic New Year’s, holiday season and, if you’re still waiting for the arrival of los Reyes Magos, we hope the three kings bring what you’ve been hoping for. To suit the season, we have a great Sydney Festival giveaway, but just before we get to it, we’d like to thank you for a great 2011.

The Festival had a stunning year this year. Despite ostensibly being our year off, we still managed to run Latin American Cinema and Song across four Sydney venues, including Chippendale’s Instituto Cervantes, Macquarie University, the newly opened Bankstown Arts Centre, and Casa Latina in the Addison Rd Community Centre in Marrickville. With your support, this year we raised more than $8000 to put toward running costs 2012.

As you know, for 2011 our volunteer-run Festival raised money to help underpin the Festival’s operations for 2012, paving a sustainable way for it to return to our usual mission of assisting Latin-American communities.

We can’t thank you enough for your help last year: whether you came to our films, helped sponsor the Festival or volunteered at one of the events: our Festival just keeps getting better and none of it would happen without you. Check out the highlight images from 2011.

You may already have tickets to Manu Chao’s sold-out Enmore gig already, or some plans to get in early with a picnic rug and see him headline the free Festival First Night concert in the Domain. But as well as bringing this big name in international music to Sydney, and to Sydney’s attention, the Sydney Festival has another piece of Spanish-speaking entertainment to offer you.

In association with the Sydney Latin American Film Festival, the Sydney Festival is offering you the chance to win a double pass to see famous conguero Pedro Martinez. The Pedro Martinez Group is performing in a double act with long time Latin American Film Festival friend Watussi for Australia Day at the Keystone Festival Bar. To have a chance to win a double pass to this wild night of drums, dance and song, all you need to do is tell us what you would play if you were a conguero?Email us at info@sydneylatinofilmfestival.org to enter. (Only the winner will be notified.)

Community News

Tango dancers of Sydney unite for a special one-off Milonga fundraiser for Mission Mexico. Appearances by our favourite Sydney Mexican Mariachi group: Victor Valdes “The Real Mexico”!! Plus lots of Tango action.
When: Saturday 21st January 8pm – midnight
Where: Seaforth Bowling Club Kirkwood Street, Seaforth
Cost: $20
Dress: Somewhere down Mexico Way
Bookings: Margarita 0407 017 538 margarita1@iprimus.com.au

With so much happening its best to stay tuned through our regular e-news, or follow us on Facebook.

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY

Stay ahead of everyone else by joining our Facebook (Login or join here)

We would love to hear your responses and reading your instant feedback on

twitter.com/sydlatinofilm

We look forward to seeing you soon at a Festival event! Un fuerte abrazo!
The Sydney Latin American Film Festival Team

SLAFF Newsletter November 21, 2011

slaff2011 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:50:42 +0000

Welcome to the Sydney Latin American Film Festival

Hi Latin American Cinema lovers!

This year’s season of Latin American Cinema and Song is over and we’d like to thank our fantastic audiences — it wouldn’t have been the same without you — and our fabulous sponsors for all of their support this year!

Whether you dipped into our month of screenings at the Instituto Cervantes, our star-lit Cine 428 at the Sydney Fringe, the peña (big night of Latin-American bohemian fun) in Bankstown or the packed night exploring the issues around human rights at Macquarie University, we’ve been in so many places this year you can’t possibly have missed us.

And even as we’re catching our breath after this year’s dizzying array of events, we’ve partnered up to bring you two more servings of Latin American film before the year’s out, Growing Change and a free day of documentary films at a Sydney University’s conference on Indigenous Knowledge.

Get Inside Venezuela’s food revolution!

Thurs 28th Nov 7pm at Palace Norton Street Cinemas
Growing Change | Sydney Premiere

Do you remember food riots in 2008 that accompanied the sudden spike in food prices around the world? For Sydney filmmaker Simon Cunich, this was a crisis which pushed him to find out more about the way food is produced, a search which took him to Venezuela. Cunich’s Growing Change shows a Venezuela revitalising its agriculture, its fishing techniques and other methods almost from scratch. Taking the viewer from fishing on the open sea, to cocoa farmers learning to make their own chocolate for export, this documentary aims to open your eyes to new ways of thinking about the way food gets from the soil to your plate.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Cunich. Entry is by donation, but if you want to book a spot you can email growingchangefilm@gmail.com or call 0413 031 108.

Check out the films’ trailer here

Indigenous Knowledges in Latin America and Australia

A Day of Indigenous Film at Indigenous Knowledges in Latin America and Australia

Sat 10th Dec 1pm at Sydney University, New Law Building

The Latin American Film Festival has been invited to program a free final day of film to cap off Indigenous Knowledges in Latin America and Australia: Locating Epistemologies, Difference and Dissent. This conference draws Indigenous educators from Argentina, Chile and Mexico to Sydney, as well as their local counterparts. As its grand public finale, the conference is putting on a long afternoon of free film in Sydney University’s flash new Law School. If eight hours of free documentary is the sort of thing that fires you up, the program starts at the Sydney University New Law Building from 1pm.

Films include various short films from Australian Western Desert filmmaker Curtis Taylor, along with director Genevieve Grieves presenting her film, Lani’s Story. From Chile will be screening Wallmapu, from Mapuche director, Jeannette Paillán, that traces the complex problem of present day territorial demands by the Mapuche in Chile. From Colombia will be screening Elderly Words - Colombian Indigenous film directors of the Arhuaco, Wiwa and Kogui communities, travel from the seashore to the snowy mountains, the territory of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which, according to them, is the “heart of the world”.

Entry is Free

Chilean Surf Film Giveaway

Win a double-pass to see ‘El Mar, Mi Alma’

Australian filmmaker Stephen Jones and Chilean born Tatiana Velasco have launched their much anticipated cultural surf film ‘El mar, mi alma‘ and its heading to Sydney next week!

Shot entirely on 16mm, the film captures the essence of coastal Chile via a surfing journey led by Dave Rastovich joined by some of the worlds top surfers including Joel Parkinson, Dane Ward, Chris Del Moro, Crystal Thornburg and Chile’s very own Ramon Navarro, Diego medina and Cristian Merello. Director Stephen Jones describes the film as a visual tone poem, a blend of image and music, featuring cinematic surfing sequences interwoven with incredible landscapes, insightful commentary, and the movements of the cast on a unique surfing journey.

We have a couple of double-passes for each of the Sydney screenings at The Chauvel in Paddington & Manly Cinemas for the first people to email info info@sydneylatinofilmfestival.org with a single sentence on what you love about surfing.
Please also mention your preferred cinema for the winning tickets.

Sydney Tour Dates

30 Nov – Manly – Manly Cinemas – 8:30 pm – ($18)

1 Dec – Paddington – Chauvel Cinema – 8pm – ($18)

Book tickets online here
Film review

Trailer & Film Website

Dont miss out on the rare opportunity to see this beautiful surf film on the cinema screen!

Community News

ANTATA SANTA MARIA DE IQUIQUE – by Luis Advis
NOVEMBER 26 7.30pm at the Great Hall, 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville

Originally commissioned in the 1960s by Chilean New Song Movement group Quilapayún, this work combines folk rhythms with classical music and narrative to relate the historic events of a miners’ strike in Chile and its suppression in 1907. The arrangement is the culmination of 3 years’ work and includes an 18-voice choir, 2 solo singers and 5 musicians playing both traditional folk and classical instruments.

Also Trio Matiz and El Coro will also present a selection of classical and folkloric contemporary songs representing the enormously rich and varied repertoire from across Latin America, including Chile, Venezuela, Colombia and Argentina.

Tickets $20.00/ 15.00 conc. at the door or ring 0419170440/ 0417689150 for info and bookings.

Organized by Casa Latinoamericana and Addison Road Centre

With so much happening its best to stay tuned through our regular e-news, or follow us on Facebook.

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY

Stay ahead of everyone else by joining our Facebook (Login or join here)

We would love to hear your responses and reading your instant feedback on

twitter.com/sydlatinofilm

We look forward to seeing you soon at a Festival event! Un fuerte abrazo!
The Sydney Latin American Film Festival Team

2011 Slaff Media Blog

slaff2011 — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:35:53 +0000

Welcome to the Sydney Latin American Film Festival Media Blog, film lover!

In 2011, we’re running a special program of cinema events across Sydney, Latin American Cinema and Song, with a view to returning to our traditional format in 2012.

This blog will have our latest press releases, mentions in the media and the 2011 program. (See links above.) Along the side, in our non-mobile site, are links to our main Festival website and our Facebook, Twitter and Flickr presences.

Please contact us on wordout (at) sydneylatinofilmfestival.org with any other enquiries.