Gente de Bien (2013) Dir. Franco Lolli
The feature debut from the Colombian director Franco Lolli, Gente de Bien is a sensitive, unsettling and realistic piece of social reflexion. It narrates a parent-child relationship against the backdrop of Colombia’s wealth gap,…
Historias de Lavapies (2014) Dir. Ramon Luque
Historias de Lavapiés is Ramón Luque’s third release which opened this year’s London Spanish Film Festival. It is a truthful, beautiful snapshot into Spain’s multicultural society and continuing economic difficulty. Few films…
Evita at The Dominion Theatre
After its successful UK tour, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's weirdly popular journey into the heart of Argentine history returns to the West End. With 55 new performances, the epic bio-musical that dissects the character…
Don Juan in Soho @ The Donmar Warehouse
The myth of Don Juan is well-known. Though it found its origins in literature over four centuries ago, the idea has come into popular culture and evolved to fit the typically modern term of ‘womanizer’. Yes, Don Juan is a…
Manuel Pertegaz, iconic Spanish designer (1918-2014)
Manuel Pertegaz, the world- famous Spanish designer and admired fashion genius died on Saturday at the grand age of 96. We celebrate his life here at LatinoLife whilst his dedication fashion lovers mourn their great loss who had…
TOP TEN Latin Clubnights in London
Latinolife's guide to the best Latin nights out in the capital
Wakolda (2013) Dir. Lucia Puenzo
The latest film by Argentine director Lucia Puenzo in which themes of adolescent attraction and the place of beauty, uniqueness, difference, and normalisation serve as a bridge between past and present, set in the ever…
Manuelita Saenz - The Harlot of Americas
Writer-performer Tamsin Clarke fell so in love with the story of Manuelita Saenz, the 19th century Ecuadorian revolutionary, sometime spy and lover of Simon Bolívar that she decided to write a show about her. Here she recounts…
The Golden Dream 2014 Dir: Diego Quemada-Díez
Gripping and aesthetically beautiful, but always honest and uncompromising – The Golden Dream is an unusual and impactful depiction of US immigration. Starring: Karen Martínez, Brandon López, Carlos Chajon, Rodolfo Domínguez
Sidelines: Four Films about Football, Latin America and Human Rights
Ana Ryle spent a weekend at Amnesty UK’s first football film festival at Hackney Picturehouse. It aimed to bring together the worlds of football and human rights. Four of the thought-provoking films shown - Looking for Rio,…
Heli (2013) Dir. Amat Escalante
Keeping viewers on the edge of their seats, from the very first scene in which a bound-and-gagged man is carried to the top of an overpass and hung for all to see, his acclaimed third film by self-taught director from Guanajuato…
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - 6th March 1927 - 17th April 2014
“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”
CUBAN FURY (2013) dir. James Griffiths
Starring British comedy actor Nick Frost, a warm-hearted if not warm-blooded salsa comedy; representing more the awkward British take on salsa than its true corazon.
Fuerza Bruta @ The Roundhouse
The Hyperactive Argentine spectacle at The Roundhouse until March 2nd
Day of the Flowers (2013) Dir. John Roberts Starring Carlos Acosta
Our very own Cuba aficionado Kerry Ribchester, went to the Day of the Flowers premier to see if all the fuss about the new Latin-infused chic flick, starring Cuba's very own global ballet icon Carlos Acosta, was all it…
Blood Wedding, by Gabriel Garcia Lorca at The Courtyard Theatre
Beautiful, affecting and credible, The Courtyard’s production of Blood Wedding does more than justice to Lorca’s sublime play about love at its highest levels of intensity.
Miguel Hernandez: The Man with Lots of Heart
Today, on the 30th October in 1910, in the town of Orihuela in southeastern Spain, Miguel Hernandez was born. As we come to the end of the month of October, it would seem an apt moment to delve a little into the work and life of…
“Beyond the Legend…Lies a More Fascinating Truth”
It was a gloomy Sunday. The grey sky and all-consuming rain made my bed feel like a toasty heaven, which I was reluctant to leave. However, the anticipation and desire to see first-hand the beautiful gold art work of my…
Bon Voyage, Mr President and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Penguin Books, 1995)
An insight into the world of the great Colombian writer that touches on subjects that everyone can relate to. A beautiful book to read when in between books or when in need of a short term change in literature.
Stockholm (dir. Omar Al Abdul Razzak 2012)
A superbly crafted film exploring the politics of desire and attraction
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
From the first page you are thrown in to the deep end with magical stories and explanations of what alchemy is, however at no point do you feel out of your depth. Written in third person, the world of a magical adventures and…
Southern Exile
As the Tate Modern hosts the first exhibition of Mira Schendel's work in a decade, we take a look at this extraordinary Swiss born artist who made Brazil her home, escaping a hostile Europe to finding artistic freedom and…
Joining the Dots (Dir. Pablo Romero-Fresco)
Joining the Dots (2012) tells the story of Trevor, who lost his sight at the age of 60. Following a period of depression, he found his way out with the help of audiodescription, which also enabled him to rekindle his passion for…
Paco Peña's Quimeras
An uplifting and inspiring piece that tells an emotive story and touches political themes through music, dance and the spoken word
The Magnificent Seven
They are Spain’s newest offering to the Flamenco scene: seven Barcelona-bred brothers by a father of 39 offspring, who blend the classical and the contemporary. Framed by a band of eight female musicians, Los Vivanco's…
Juana in a Million
A mesmerising one-woman Latina show at The Southwark Playhouse until 15th June
Did Salsa Dancers Kill Salsa Music?
Salsa promoters and musicians alike are lamenting the demise of live Salsa music as a culture and commodity people will pay to see. Some even blame the salsa dance and club culture which, they say, got cliquey with its over-…
Grupo 7 Dir. Alberto Rodriguez (2012)
A Spanish film about urban ‘clean up’ operations in the run up to staging international events, one which the Rio de Janeiro government members might want to watch
Federico García Lorca, Sketches of Spain, with illustrations by Julian Bell.
The Spectrum of Young Lorca.
Let Me Entertain You: Boris Izaguirre in London
Move over Graham Norton. He's in town for one night only, and he's bound to cause quite a splash. Award-winning novelist, beloved TV presenter, honorary Spaniard and gay icon Boris Izaguirre is much more than a…
From Cuba to Covent Garden
We track the rise and rise of Carlos Acosta, who recently won the LUKAS Lifetime Achievement Award 2013. There are more strings to his bow than you might imagine...
Lost and Found in Mexico
An English boy follows the family myth of his great-grandfather's notorious adventures in Mexico in search of an ending, and finds more than he could ever have imagined.
Carlos Saura – A Flamenco Retrospective
The great film director's passion for Flamenco marked his career and helped force the arts establishments in Spain and abroad to give this great art form the respect it was due. Here we pay tribute...
'Casa de mi padre'
“If it sounds Spanish, man, that's what it is; it's a Spanish movie.”