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LatinoLife - The UK's First Latina-run National Portfolio Organisation
In April 2023 LatinoLife became the UK's first and only Latina-run National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), selected to be part of the UK government's ‘most varied and ambitious’ portfolio of NPOs. In being chosen as one…
IGUANA LIKE THE SUN (2022) Julián Robles
‘Can a pregnant woman watch an eclipse?’ Mexican actor/ writer / director Julián Robles has emerged with an interesting debut feature that will be screened at the Raindance Film Festival, It represents a notable change of…
Same-Sex Marriage Becomes Legal in Mexico
On 26 October, Tamaulipas became the last of Mexico’s 32 states to legalise same-sex marriage. Legislators approved the measure to reform the state’s civil code - which previously only recognised marriage as the unity between a…
Gnocchi Day: A South American Story
Why do people eat gnocchis on 29th of each month in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay? Clorrie Yeomans unveils the history and traditions of gnocchi day and reflects on the evermore significant meaning of this South American…
Home Recipe #1: Oscar’s Mexican Pozole
In this Latino Life series, we showcase Latin home chefs who are spicing up the culinary scene here in the UK. Our first Latin home chef is Dr. Oscar Ignacio Barragán Villanueva from Mexico. He is 31 years old and is the oldest…
Top 10 Savoury Latin Dishes on a Budget
Many of us are feeling the squeeze but this doesn’t mean we need to give up on tasty and nutritious Latin food. From simple comfort food to showstopper dishes for sharing, Clorrie Yeomans has whipped up a list of her top 10…
The Wonderful World of Tim Maia
Back in the 1970s the deep velvety voice of Tim Maia sparked a revolution in Brazilian mainstream culture that went well beyond music, igniting the rise of the Black Rio movement. His bassy tone, resembling that of his funk and…
“…And Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them.”
‘Argentina 85’ directed by Santiago Mitre and starring Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzani, is a taut, fact-based courtroom drama that is as suspenseful as it is intense. It tells the story of how Julio César Strassera and his…
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022) by Alejandro G. Iñarritú.
Alejandro G. Iñarritú, the Oscar-winning director of superb movies like ‘AMORES PERROS’, ‘BIRDMAN’ & ‘THE REVENANT’ returns to Mexico with a personal, sprawling and visually beautiful film that questions filming itself. Co-…
Alejandro Loayza Grisi: Director of 'Utama'
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival 2022, ’Utama’ is a journey through the eyes of a Quechua couple that are battling between life and death with the climate change crisis affecting their home, forcing them…
Taking Selfies with Shotguns: Transcending Violence in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
Luis Octavio dos Santos Gouveia Junior reflects on the bittersweet experience of returning to his native Brazil after seven years. He argues that, in Bolsonaro’s Brazil, guns have expanded from being an instrument of self-…
'Alcarràs' (2022) Dir. Carla Simón
Shot at the height of the Pandemic in 2021 in Alcarràs, an area in the province of Lleida, on the border between Catalonia and Aragon, Carla Simon’s moving film ‘Alcarràs’ (2022) is a stark picture of the Solé family fighting the…
“The Horror Seeps Through the Cracks”
Set during the harshest period of the Pinochet Dictatorship, ‘1976’ (2022) is an intelligent and moving study of a well-to-do housewife, Carmen, who, after being asked to care for a wounded activist, finds her life changing and…
1976 (2022) Dir. Manuela Martelli
“Be careful in the future, you are not always that lucky!” Manuela Martelli's ‘1976’ (2022), winner of the ‘First Feature’ Category at the BFI London Film Festival 2022, studies how the pressures of a repressive regime…
Latin Londoner #45: Marcos Mereles, Film Director
Born in La Rioja, Argentina in1990, Marco Mereles is a filmmaker, based in London. His first feature film ALL IS VANITY (UK, 2021) had its world premiere at the 65th BFI London Film Festival and will be released in UK cinemas…
‘MY IMAGINARY COUNTRY’ 2022, by Chilean director Patricio Guzmán
“When you want to film a fire, you have to be ready to be where the flames will first appear”. (Chris Marker) Chilean director Patricio Guzmán has created a moving documentary film, ‘My Imaginary Country’ in which he records the…
THE POWER OF NOW: An Interview with Cultura Profética
Cultura Profética is one of Puerto Rico's most influential bands. Formed in 1996, the group came to encapsulate what it is to be Latin Caribbean with its unique fusion of Caribbean reggae and Latin genres such as bossa nova…
Mexico in Kew: A Floral Celebration of Life
“Our Day of the Dead is an affirmation of life”, says Betsabeé Romero, the internationally renowned Mexican artist who has created a riotously-colourful Día de Los Muertos installation at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. As…
PIGGY (CERDITA) Dir. Carlota Pereda
The 18th 2022 London Spanish Film Festival ended with the screening of the excellent film ‘Piggy' by Spanish director Carlota Pereda where it was awarded a Special Mention. Pereda has created a complex and harrowing tale of…
Bolsonaro Turns Queen’s Funeral into Election Rally
The Brazilian President's attendance at The Queens funeral had everything to do with politics and little to do with grief, argues Clorrie Yoemans
CAMUFLAJE (Camouflage) 2022 by Jonathan Perel
A jogger decides to run around the largest Military garrison camp in Argentina. On his travels he meets an array of people whose lives have been affected in various different ways by living close to Campo de Mayo, that had become…
ALL IS VANITY Dir. Marcos Mereles
A story within a story within…who bit the apple first? A moody, acerbic photographer (Sid Phoenix) and his intern assistant (Yaseen Aroussi), the blasé make- up artist (Rosie Steel) and the laconic model (Isabelle Bonfrer) meet…
An Aural Mapping of Nostalgia
One of the most critically and commercially successful bands to emerge from Latin America, Café Tacvba have come to define the essence of Mexican rock. Ahead of their European Tour this September, Shyal Bhandari speaks with…
LatinoLife 22 Confirms its Place as 'the UK's Most Inclusive Festival'
The only UK festival to be chosen for 'The Inclusive Festival Guide' compiled by European research project Fest Space, LatinoLife's 7th edition delivered the UK's biggest Latin music Festival. London’s only…
TIMBA’S TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Those who were enjoying Eliane Correa and su Evolución at this weekend's LatinoLife in the Park, are no doubt are fans of Maykel Blanco - today's bonafide guru Cuban Timba. Lucky for them, for the first time in six…
Reclaiming The Streets
Ryan Castro is the latest in a string of Medellin music sensations to reach global fame, with hits such as Jordan, Wasa Wasa, Malory and Mujeriego. Just as Colombia’s ‘City of Eternal Spring’ has come to be known as the new…
'BLACK THE CLOWN' - A zarzuela at the Arcola & Cervantes Theatres. If only all teenage boy's dreams were this much fun!
In ‘Black the Clown’, a young lad conjures up tales of intrigue, love and politics, as he plays with his toy theatre. His dreams spring to life in the form of a lively ‘zarzuela’ (operetta) bubbling with mischievous humour,…
Mexican artist Perla Krauze at the Cadogan Gallery
‘The crevices talk of what has gone before, which is life’ (Las grietas hablan de lo que ha pasado… que es vida’) Mexican sculptor and painter, Perla Krauze, is exhibiting a fascinating selection of her sculptures and…
Mexican Maverick
Striking gold in 2018 with his diamond-certified hit ‘Fuentes de Ortiz’, Latin Grammy-winning 21-year-old Mexican, Eduardo Hernández Saucedo, also known as Ed Maverick, became one of Latin America’s most in-demand talents…
Remembering João Gilberto
When we think of bossa nova, the revolutionary music that catapulted the evocative sound of Brazil onto the global stage, with think of João Gilberto, who gave voice to the extraordinary songs such as 'Desfinado',…
“Los Nadies” become Somebodies in Colombia
After a very contested campaign, Colombians recently elected Gustavo Petro, a former M-19 guerrilla member, as president, and Francia Márquez, the first vice president in Latin America of African descent, The duo Petro and…
Films to Watch Before You Die #7 – “The Motorcycle Diaries" by Walter Salles
Guevara Before Che – An expedition for Socialism across 1950s Latin America and the making of a revolutionary
Britpop's Favourite Timbalero
When Colombian timbal player Roberto Pla arrived the UK in the 1970s, the Latin music scene was practically non-existent. But the boy from Baranquilla soon became the percussionist of choice for UK pop artists such as Joe…
Southern Passion at the Cervantes Theatre
The Flamenco Festival London 2022, based at Sadler’s Wells (dance) and the Cervantes Theatre (music) featured renowned stars and legends like Tomatito, the Compañia Jesús Carmona, El Yoyo and his troupe, Rocío Márquez and…
Emotional challenges for a Colombian immigrant in the UK
Santi (2021) is a 10-minute short film directed by up-and-coming talent Harry Richards. He talks to Latino Life about the film and its inception, and explains that the short is a taster for what will become a 90-minute feature…
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