2016 NC Latin American Film Festival Celebrates 30 Years Of Cinema

DURHAM, NC — The 2016 North Carolina Latin American Film Festival will present a series of 30 films to celebrate its 30th anniversary around the theme “Abya Yala Connections” with a focus on films from Peru and Colombia as well as 10 other countries of the continent.

Celebrating the power and artistry of the Latin American cinema tradition, the festival will launch Sept. 15 and run through Nov. 1, with films in both Durham and Chapel Hill. The festival is organized by the Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University. All films are free and open to the public.

The festival has continued its mission to broaden outreach to the community by placing films in new venues such as the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Carolina Theatre in Durham and Silverspot Cinema of Chapel Hill.

The event will include a special series of short films for children and families at the Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Carrboro Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

The three short films include an animated film, “Nuhuani,” based on a folk tale told by the Kogui people of Colombia, and a local documentary, “New Roots/Nuevas Raíces,” followed by a Q&A with its directors. The third film, “Truâbi / Canto / Song,” is about the journey of an indigenous child in Colombia.

Of special interest to festivalgoers this year is a documentary about the 43 missing students of Iguala, Mexico, titled “Mirar Morir: El Ejército en la Noche de Iguala.” The film will screen on Monday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in White Auditorium at Duke. A student roundtable, co-sponsored by the Duke Human Rights Center@FHI and the Mi Gente student group will follow the film.

The festival week begins Monday, Sept. 29 with “Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel García Márquez,” at 6 p.m. in the Nelson Mandela Auditorium at the FedEx Global Education Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. A reception and music will precede the film.

The complete list of films and dates can be found at http://bit.ly/2bjtRR4

NCLAFF is organized by The Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. This event is made possible through funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional sponsors at Duke are the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Duke University Libraries, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke Global Health Institute, the Tropical Conservation Initiative, the Forum for Scholars and Publics (FSP), the Global Brazil Lab, the Duke Human Rights Center@FHI, the Spanish Language Program, and Screen Society/Arts of the Moving Image.

At UNC-Chapel Hill, sponsors are the Institute for the Study of the Americas, the Romance Studies Department, the Geography Department and the Ackland Art Museum.