The Other Francisco
Director: Sergio Giral (1974)

This critical adaptation of the nineteenth-century Cuban novel Francisco by Anselmo Suárez Romero deconstructs the novel to expose its racist assumptions. Giral retells the story to reveal the nature of slavery and class struggle in Cuba. 100 minutes.
Spanish with English subtitles.

Wednesday, February 11, 7:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street

City of God
Director: Fernando Meirelles (2002)

Built in the 1960s, the housing project Cidade de Deus soon becomes one of the most dangerous slums in Rio de Janeiro. The film shows us the world of the favela through the lens of Rocket, a young photographer who tries to walk the line between witnessing and falling victim to the violent lives of his childhood friends. Divided into three distinct sections, the film portrays their childhood in the 60s, the rise of Lil’ Ze as neighborhood kingpin in the 70s and the escalation of violence into an all-out war between rival gangs in the 80s. Shot in a dramatic and nonlinear style, the movie immerses the viewer in a claustrophobic, violent world of poverty, desperation and child-gangsters. 135 minutes.
Portuguese with English subtitles.

City of God is based on the novel by Paulo Lins, who will be a visiting scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies in spring 2004. Mr. Lins will be at the screening to give an introduction and answer questions about the film.

Wednesday, March 3, 7:00 pm
Room 160, Kroeber Hall

The Promised Ship
Director: Luciano Capelli (2000) and
Jump Over the Atlantic
Director: María Eugenia Esparragoza (1990)

The Promised Ship
In the 1920s, Marcus Garvey, the leader of the early 20th century black power movement, founded a steamship line intended to transport black people back across the Atlantic to their ancestral homelands. In this documentary, the old townspeople of Limón, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, recall the emotional impact this venture had on them and their parents, although it never came to fruition. The film also documents the United Fruit Company’s efforts to squelch Garvey’s organizing activities on the region’s banana plantations. 51 minutes.
English and Spanish with subtitles.

Jump Over the Atlantic
This film traces cultural similarities and continuities between a small Afro-Venezuelan settlement in Barlovento, on the coast of Venezuela, and the Belgian Congo in Africa, where people were captured and sold into slavery in the nineteenth century. By showing each group film footage of their brothers overseas, the film captures the opinions Venezuelans and Congolese have of one another. This cross-cultural ethnographic exercise shows that, long after their migration from Africa, Afro-Venezuelans retain many African practices. 30 minutes.
Spanish and French with English subtitles.

Wednesday, March 31, 7:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street

The Forgotten Roots
Director: Rafael Rebollar (2001) and
Candombe
Director: Mabel Maio (1999)

The Forgotten Roots
This impressive documentary details the history of Mexico’s often-overlooked African populations. Drawing on interviews and archival imagery, the film takes us from the slavery of the colonial era to today’s Afro-Mexican communities in Guerrero, Oaxaca, Campeche, Morelos and Veracruz. The Forgotten Roots argues that Mexico’s famous mestizaje includes the important contributions of African groups, as well as Spaniards and Indians. 50 minutes.
Spanish with English subtitles.

Candombe
This film gives a broad introduction to the history of Candombe and documents its pervasive influence in the Río de la Plata region of Uruguay. Touching on the region’s history of slavery and the historical development of Candombe from a marginal form to a widely accepted and appreciated musical genre, it includes interviews with Candombe pioneers Lágrima Ríos and Martha Gularte, as well as other historians, musicians and experts. 48 minutes.
Spanish with English subtitles.

Wednesday, April 21, 7:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street