Autumn picks 🍁

Films and music to brighten the darker days

Photo by David Menidrey on Unsplash

With everything that is happening in the world right now it seems strange to celebrate Halloween, Dia de los Muertos or any of the other festivities typical of this time of year, or to indulge in entertainment. But films can also be a refuge. In the words of Mexican actor, director and producer Diego Luna, ‘Cinema is a mirror that can change the world.’ allowing us to connect with and understand our fellow humans. We are grateful for this space to share the stories that move us.

In this month’s edition we highlight the Latin American films that made the biggest impact on us at LFF.

We also feature an Argentine music event guaranteed to lift chilly November, along with some secret beaches in Argentina for those already looking to a winter escape. 

LFF 2023: Top Latin American picks from the festival

The 67th BFI London Film Festival recently wrapped its bumper 2023 edition with a fantastic selection of world cinema titles this year, including some great films from Latin America.

We’ve picked out five of our favourites below, most of which will be coming to UK screens very soon.

The Practice (La práctica, Argentina-Chile-Portugal-Germany, 2023)

His first film in nearly a decade, Argentine auteur Martin Rejman returns with this gentle, deadpan comedy centring on a community of yogis in Santiago, Chile.  The break up between yoga teachers Gustavo and Vanessa sets off a series of entertaining encounters, as they each try to establish new lives for themselves. Gustavo, suddenly finding himself homeless after leaving Vanessa the apartment, is most affected by the separation, and the stress leads him to injury. Quadriceps exercises, wellness retreats and fireside sing-a-longs feature amongst his self-prescribed remedies and are all populated by a host of eccentric characters who seem destined to run into each other, but who will eventually help Gustavo get his life back on track.

The Delinquents (Los delinquentes, Argentina-Brazil-Luxembourg-Chile, 2023) 

Rodrigo Moreno’s film about a timid clerk who robs a bank follows a long Argentine tradition of heist movies, including the classic Nine Queens, but in Moreno’s hands becomes playful and unexpected. When bank employee Morán decides to steal enough money to never work again, he offers his colleague Román a share if he stashes away the cash while Morán confesses and does what he calculates will be a short jail sentence, leading the two men to radically change their lives. The Delinquents takes the heist genre to an existential plain, raising questions about freedom and the cost to achieve it. ‘This could be a cult classic.’ said The Guardian, who gave the film five stars after it premiered in Cannes earlier this year.

The Delinquents will be released in the UK in 2024.

The Echo (El eco, Mexico-Germany, 2023)

Following her sensational feature debut Prayers for the Stolen which was short-listed for the Best International Film Oscar, Tatiana Huezo returns to the documentary form for her new film, El eco. The film follows the daily lives of the inhabitants of a village in the Mexican mountains. Huezo’s film is structured around the seasons, and reveals the rituals and responsibilities that befall every member of this tiny community. Her attention finds its focus once again on the lives of three young girls, showing not just the roles that they are destined to fulfil, but also their hopes and ambitions. A beautifully observed ‘poetic portrait of growing up in rural Mexico.’

The Echo will be released in the UK in 2024.

Copa 71 (UK, 2023)

The hidden story of the first-ever Women’s World Cup that took place in Mexico in 1971 is brought to light in this gripping documentary. Six nations – including Argentina and England – filled the biggest stadiums in Mexico City and Guadalajara respectively, and the final alone drew 110, 000 spectators, but the event vanished from historical records, until now. Executive produced by Serena and Venus Williams, and built from archive material unseen for 50 years, Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine’s Copa 71 examines the social stigma that was attached to women playing football which led to the event being buried for so long.

Copa 71 will be coming to UK screens in early 2024.

Lost In the Night (Perdidos en la noche)

Mexican director Amat Escalante, known for the ‘sadism, sex and truly weird sci-fi’ of his previous films such as The Untamed and Heli, continues his exploration of violence in his new thriller Lost In The Night. The film follows a young labourer, Emiliano, as he searches for his activist mother, who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances after taking part in a protest against a local mine. His quest leads him to the wealthy Aldama family. There he meets a famous artist, his influencer wife and their beautiful daughter, and is convinced that there is more to them that meets the eye. Lost in the Night was inspired by a similar incident in a mining town in Mexico as well as the real-life disappearances in 2014 of 43 student activists after their arrest by the police.

Lost in the Night will be in UK cinemas from 24th November.

Argentina’s 15-piece orchestra La Delio Valdez comes to London!

Movimientos presents La Delio Valdez playing their debut London show as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival

La Delio Valdéz is an award-winning Argentine musical cooperative inspired by the Argentine traditions of tango orchestras. Their music fuses elements of Andean music from northeast Argentina, along with Colombian rhythms, cumbia and salsa. Formed in Buenos Aires in 2009, they’ve since captivated international audiences with their infectious melodies, beats, and dynamic stage presence. In 2018 their album Sonido Subtropical won the Premio Gardel award for Best Tropical Album. They will be playing their first show in London at the Garage on November 19th as part of a wider European tour.

The Argentine Film Festival caught up with La Delio Valdez for a brief chat ahead of their UK gig.

AFF: How does your cooperative work with so many band members - can you tell us a bit about your creative process?

LDV: It’s beautiful to be a part of an orchestra, the fact that we are so many musicians means we’re able to generate a rich sonority. To work as a musical cooperative requires a lot of effort and passion. When we come to make our music, we have a huge amount of ideas so the composition process for each song is quite long.

AFF: Your music is mainly cumbia but with influences from salsa, rock, reggae and jazz. Which elements have you incorporated from Argentina's musical traditions?

La Delio has elements that come from Argentine folk music, rock nacional as well as cumbia argentina that each of us has brought from what we’ve learnt on our own musical journeys. La Delio Valdez sounds like La Delio Valdez.

AFF: This will be your first concert in the UK, what do you hope from London?

We hope the concert is a party, and a unique moment of enjoyment for everyone!

La Delio Valdez at The Garage, Sunday 19th November: information and tickets

Travel in Argentina: Rio Negro’s secret beaches

Photo by Juan Pablo Mascanfroni on Unsplash

The nights are drawing in for those of us living in the Northern hemisphere, but in Argentina summer is fast approaching. While Patagonia may not be everyone’s immediate go-to for that ideal beach holiday, this article reveals the beauty of Argentina’s secret beaches in the Rio Negro Province.

That’s all for now,

Saludos!

The Argentine Film Festival team

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