“VISA TO PARADISE” (Visa al paraíso): Documentary on the life of

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN FILM FESTIVAL
03 -07 MAY 2016
PROGRAMME
03 MAY - 07 P.M. THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (El secreto de sus ojos).
ARGENTINA (2009)
Director: Juan José Campanella.
Starring: Ricardo Darín; Soledad Villamil; Pablo Rago; Javier Godino;
Guillermo Francella.
Plot: Benjamin Esposito has spent his entire working life as a criminal court
employee. Recently retired, he decides to write a novel. He does not decide to
make up a story, there is no need to. He can draw on his own past as a civil
servant for a true, moving and tragic story in which he was once directly
involved. In 1974 his court was assigned an investigation into the rape and
murder of a beautiful young woman. But he also writes for a woman, one he
has been secretly in love with for so long, the woman that had shared that
tragic story with him. Writing that novel does not turn out as easy as he would
have thought, the exercise of recalling, casting a light on his past, can also
highlight his present fears, his decisions, and above all his mistakes.
Nevertheless, he knows he will have to persist until the end, in order to
understand what happened, to understand himself, and to cope with his love
for that woman.
04 MAY – 07 P.M. VIOLETA WENT TO HEAVEN (Violeta se fue a los cielos)
CHILE (2011)
Director: Andrés Wood.
Starring: Francisco Acuña; Juan Alfaro; Orlando Alfaro.
Plot: Based on the biography written by Angel Parra. Filmed in Chile, France
and Argentina, the film narrates the life of Chilean singer Violeta Parra, from its
beginnings as a singer with her sister, to his international recognition as a
songwriter and artist in Paris. Their achievements are chronicled in the trips
Violeta made into the Chilean countryside in search of Chilean folk songs, her
journey to communist Poland, her stay in France and the exhibition of her
visual works in the Louvre, her return to Chile and the construction of the tent
in “La Reina”, and the whole film interlaced by fragments of a televised
interview
that
Violeta
held
in
Argentina
in
1962.
It was chosen by the National Council for Culture and the Arts as a national
representative for nominations for Best Foreign Film Oscar awards and Goya
awards of Spain 2012. It won the International Grand Jury Prize at the
Sundance Film Festival in 2012.
05 MAY – 07 P.M. OF LOVE AND OTHER DEMONS (Del amor y otros demonios).
COLOMBIA (2010)
Director: Hilda Hidalgo.
Starring: Pablo Derqui; Eliza Triana; Jordi Dauder.
Plot: In an era of inquisition and slavery, Sierva Maria wants to know what
the kisses taste. She is 13 years old, she is the daughter of Marquises and she
was raised by African slaves in the colonial city of Cartagena de Indias. When
a rabid dog bites her, the bishop believes that she is demonized and orders
Cayetano, his pupil, to exorcise her. With a personal and intimate look and
language that reminiscent to the renaissance painting "Of Love and Other
Demons", the film recreates of the most provocative love stories of Gabriel
García Márquez.
06 MAY – 07 P.M. PERFUMED OAK (Roble de olor).
CUBA (2004)
Director: Rigoberto López Pego.
Starring: Jorge Perugorria; Lía Chapman.
Plot: First half of the nineteenth century, in Cuba, in the Caribbean, during the
colonial and slavery era. The main protagonists: a black, beautiful and
distinguished woman from Saint Domingue (Haiti) and a German merchant,
romantic newcomer to the island. The story of the infinite love that made
fructifies the richest coffee plantation in Cuba: Angerona. It takes place in a
dark period in the history of Cuba, marked by intolerance and
misunderstanding, the collusion of interests and power.
Ursula Lambert and Cornelio Souchay are more than two cultures, two
identities, two ways of thinking about life. Love is a doomed utopia fighting for
the consummation of a destination, a large coffee plantation: Angerona.
07 MAY – 05 P.M. VISA TO PARADISE (Visa al paraíso).
MEXICO (2010).
Director: Lillian Liberman
Plot: Documentary on the life of Mexican diplomat Gilberto Bosques. The film
is based on testimonies that narrate Bosques’ humanitarian quest to aid those
escaping the fascist regimes in Europe. During one of history’s darkest times,
his diplomatic ability and issuance of visas saved thousands of lives and
helped families and individuals resettle in Mexico. The award-winning
documentary shows the commitment and bravery of Bosques even in times of
hardship.
07 MAY – 07 P.M. THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME (La casa del fin de los tiempos).
VENEZUELA (2013).
Director: Alejandro Hidalgo.
Starring: Ruddy Rodríguez; Rosmel Bustamante; Adriana Calzadilla; Simona
Chirinos.
Plot: Dulce is a mother who has encounters with apparitions in her old house,
where it unleashes a terrible prophecy. Thirty years later, turned into an old
woman, she returns home to unravel the mystery and tragedy that has
tantalized her.