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Exceptional Screening: "Machuca" by Andres Wood
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Considered to be among the Top-Twenty of Great Latin American Cinema of the last 20 years, Andres Wood’s "Machuca" was originally screened in Directors Fortnight at Cannes 2004, won a Special Mention Award at the same festival, and became the official Chilean selection for the foreign language Academy Award in 2004.
With this screening, AfricAvenir wants to highlight great cinema cultures from around the world. As this is such a great movie and Latin American cinema finds it equally challenging as African cinema to break through to main markets globally, we decided on this superb cinematic product, in the month of September, in which Chile remembers the wounds of the past, forgotten by the majority around the globe.
Set in Chile, 1973, this is an astonishingly intimate and painful coming-of-age story about a pair of 12-year-old boys from opposite extremes of society who form an unlikely friendship during the last days of President Allende and the first days of Pinochet. The potent events are accompanied by a searingly beautiful soundtrack with heart-stopping beats that propel the drama of the story.
There is no separating the personal from the political in "Machuca." This film's determination to tell a story of profound societal dislocation in intensely human terms favours neither part of the equation. In fact, Andrés Wood and Mamoun Hassan feel you cannot hope to understand one aspect of his fatally intertwined story unless you are willing to understand them both.
Production Details
Directed by Andrés Wood; written by Roberto Brodsky, Mamoun Hassan and Andrés Wood; director of photography, Miguel Joan Littin; edited by Fernando Pardo; music by Jose Miguel Miranda and Jose Miguel Tobar; production designer, Maria Eugenia Hederra; produced by Andrés Wood, Mamoun Hassan and Gerardo Herrero; released by Menemsha Films.
Awards
- Chile’s 2004 Academy Award Entry For Best Foreign Language Film
- Official Selection Director’s Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival
- Audience Award, Vancouver International Film Festival
- Audience Award, Lima (Peru) Latin American Film Festival
- Audience Award, Quito (Ecuador) International Film Festival
- Grand Jury Prize for Best Film, Valdivia (Chile) Film Festival
- Grand Jury Prize for Best Film, Bogota (Colombia) Film Festival
- Grand Jury Prize for Best Film, Best Director
- Best Supporting Actor (Manuela Martelli), Vina Del Mar (Chile) Film Festival
- Winner, Premio Casa de las Americas
- Segundo Premio Coral, Havana International Film Festival
Press
“A fine, exciting film that makes a bloody historical event live all over again by showing it through the eyes of children on the edges of the conflict.” - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
“That rare film that merges the personal and political without sacrificing restraint or intellectual honesty.” – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“An eloquent and moving take on the tragedy of a society that attacks its own and successfully humanises difficult ideas of political and class loyalty.” – Matt McNally, BBC
“A remarkable and compelling film you won't soon forget.” – Timothy Knight, Reel.Com
"Machuca is both sweet and stringent, attuned to the wonders of childhood as well as its cruelty and terror. Mr. Wood allows the story to unfold at a leisurely, almost dawdling pace, which matches the consciousness of his young protagonist.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times
Wednesday, 17 September, 18h30
MACHUCA (Chile 2004)
Dir: Andres Wood, Chile, 2004, 120mins, Spanish with English subtitles.
Entrance: 20,- N$