Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of CINEMA TROPICAL at BAM

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Cinema Tropical, the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States, BAM presents a film series of unique and playful pairings of feature-length and short narrative, documentary, and experimental films that challenge traditional tropes of Latin American culture and politics.

Addressing issues of race, privilege, the indigenous experience, history, domestic service, and narcos, among other topics, Uncharted Cartographies offers novel ways to think about and creatively remap conceptions of Latin America in order to better reflect the often overlooked heterogeneity of the region. The series includes films from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, the United States, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Uncharted Cartographies is organized into nine thematically curated programs including "Afrofuturism in Brazil" featuring the New York premiere of Executive Order (Ramos, 2020), a dystopian story about an authoritarian Brazilian government that orders the Black population be sent to Africa. The series also includes: "Back to the Future," comprised of three films that play with notions of time travel and queer and heterosexual masculinity, featuring: Fin de siglo (End of the Century) (Castro, 2019), Las olas (The Waves) (Biniez, 2017), and Pude ver un puma (Could See a Puma) (Williams, 2011). "The Past is Prologue" showcases three highly stylized films that revisit traditional narratives of South American history, and present them as political allegories of the present, featuring: Rey (Atallah, 2017), El Movimiento (The Movement) (Naishtat, 2015), and La bestia (The Beast) (Russo, 2015). "Rethinking the Favela" features Baronesa (Antunes, 2017), a rigorously composed glimpse at life in the favelas of Belo Horizonte, screening with Temporada (Long Way Home) (Oliveira, 2018) about a woman who moves from her Brazilian hometown to the city of Contagem and is changed by the people she encounters in the sprawling city.

"The Narco Will Be Televised" takes on the narco narrative that has become a global staple of Latinx and Latin American representation. The four filmmakers in this program take a humorous and self-reflexive approach to tackle the fascination with these hegemonic narratives, featuring: Al Más Allá (Beyond the Beyond) (Portillo, 2008), ¡Chaporazzi! (Barba, 2020), Fauna (Pereda, 2020), and Boliwood (Bastani, 2015). "Family Ties" features two filmmakers who use family archives to confront the legacies of their forebearers, featuring: Still Burn (Ovando, 2018) and El general (Almada, 2009); "Generational Conversations" is composed of three films about intergenerational relations set in different indigenous communities, featuring: Uncle Yim (Tío Yim) (Marán, 2019), Tote_abuelo (Grandfather Tote) (Sojob, 2019) and Hamaca paraguaya (Paraguyan Hammock) (Encina, 2000).

"Maid in Latin America" examines the mixture of intimacy and power inherent in the relationship between domestic workers and employers, featuring Housemaids (Mascaro, 2012) and Amelia & Morena (Franco, 2010). "Ni de aquí ni de allá" presents Las Marthas (Ibarra, 2014) about Mexican-American debutantes living in border-towns, paired with Mosquita y Mari (Guerrero, 2012), capturing the unlikely romance between two 15-year-old Latinas in East L.A.

Programmed by Jesse Trussell, BAM Senior Programmer, Film; and Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Executive Director, Cinema Tropical. Special thanks to Cecilia Barrionuevo. Additional support from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University.

Uncharted Cartographies Schedule:

Fri, Nov 5 at 6pm: "Back to the Future"-End of the Century + The Waves + Puede Ver Un Puma

Sat, Nov 6 at 3pm: "The Past is Prologue"-Rey + El Movimiento + La Bestia

Sat, Nov 6 at 7pm: "Afrofuturism in Brazil"-Executive Order (2020)

Sun, Nov 7 at 2pm: "Rethinking the Favela"-Temporada + Baronesa

Sun, Nov 7 at 6pm: "The Narco Will Be Televised"-Al Más Allá + ¡Chaparazzi! + Boliwood + Fauna

Mon, Nov 8 at 7pm: "Family Ties"-El general + Still Burn

Tue, Nov 9 at 7pm: "Ni de aquí ni de allá"-Mosquita y Mari + Las Marthas

Wed, Nov 10 at 7pm: "Maid in Latin America"-Housemaids + Amelia & Morena

Thu, Nov 11 at 7pm: "Generational Conversations"-Tío Yim + Tote_abuelo + Hamaca paraguaya

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