
LOVIN' LATIN LONDON - The Dancers
From village pubs to Saturday night television, Latin dances are captivating UK audiences more than ever before. It’s time to recognise the real stars of the show – from Tango and Salsa to Samba and Flamenco. London’s Latin…
Embrace of the Serpent dir. Ciro Guerra
Ciro Guerra’s El abrazo de la serpiente/Embrace of the Serpent takes you on a journey into the deep Colombian Amazon, in principle with two white explorers who are in search for the sacred, psychedelic yakruna plant. Though…
Brazil: Pixacao Sao Paulo’s Urban Calligraphy
Although present in many different Brazilian cities, pixação (often spelt ‘pichação in official accounts) is most closely identified with São Paulo. In this ‘city of walls’, pixação is everywhere. No building or wall is…
SEX WORKERS' OPERA
With a cast made up of workers in the sex industry and actors (its not clear whom is which to preserve anonymity) this unique multimedia production written by British-Uruguyan singer and composer Alex Etchart, offers a brutally…
Cuba Makes An Author's Dream
Many an author and musician have fallen to the seductions of the Latin Caribbean’s most intriguing island and bestselling author Rosanna Ley is no exception. Her latest novel Last Dance in Havana takes readers to the dusty dance…
Chasing Butterflies
Victoria Kellaway visits the birthplace of Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize winner, pioneer of Magical Realism and Colombia’s most famous writer.
Rosa of the Wild Grass: The story of a Nicaraguan family by Fiona Macintosh
The 'Solidarity' generation reunites at the latest book launch by Latin American Bureau and Practical Action. Nearly thirty years in the making, Rosa chronicles the real-life stories of a poor Nicaraguan family over a…
The UK's Top Colombian Movers and Shakers
Take a trip to Elephant and Castle or Seven Sisters’ indoor market and you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d been transported to Colombia. Salsa blaring out of little shops, couples dancing between tables in mid-afternoon,…
The UK's Top Colombian Creatives
The contribution of Colombian immigration to UK culture is impossible to ignore. As far back as 1975, Guardian writer Richard Williams described the Monday night when salsa king Héctor Lavoe took to the stage in a grotty London…
The UK's Top Colombian Creatives
The contribution of Colombian immigration to UK culture is impossible to ignore. As far back as 1975, Guardian writer Richard Williams described the Monday night when salsa king Héctor Lavoe took to the stage in a grotty London…
The Club Dir. Pablo Larrain (2016)
In The Club everything is distressing. In the home for ‘repentance’ we find a chaplain who collaborated with the dictatorship, a priest accused of child abuse, another involved in illegal adoptions and a senile one who cannot…
El Botón de Nácar (The Pearl Button) Dir. Patricio Guzman (2015)
Using the poetic language that has become a trademark of the famed Chilean director, this sequel to his multi-awarded Nostalgia de la luz (Nostalgia for the Light, 2010) explores both small detail and big historical processes to…
'Breathe' by Leila Segal
A debut collection of short stories exploring the emotional relationships between Cubans and Western visitors to the Caribbean island.
Uncovering The Invisible - Mexicans in the UK
At a time when Britain's immigrant community is increasingly falling under an unfriendly spotlight, 'Uncovering the Mexican Community in the UK' is a welcome photography exhibition and important reminder of the…
The Art of Being Bi-cultural
Migration has always been part of human history and always will. Even those who thought they had one cultural identity, are the product of centuries of migration. Where localised migration may have mixed peoples of similar colour…
Nova Gaucho - the uniqueness of Argentine Design
Argentine Design hit London's biggest design show in a big way last week. We picked our favourites...
The Second Mother (2015) Dir. Anna Muylaert
A hugely enjoyable film exploring the complex relationship between Latin America's middle class and its live-in maids in a digestible, humorous and touching way.
Marshland (2015) Dir. Alberto Rodríguez
Critically acclaimed Spanish director Alberto Rodríguez’s latest film, Marshland, was a box-office hit in Spain, winning a spectacular ten Spanish Academy Goya awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best…
Flesh and Blood: True Fiction by Marcus Dalrymple
Marcus Dalrymple’s Flesh and Blood follows his debut novel, Killing Time. Dalrymple’s contextual knowledge of Mexico is without fault, complemented by Flesh and Blood’s compelling storyline. Following the adventure of Brit John…
The Motherf**ker with the Hat
A poetic, profane, whip-smart look at love and addiction finds light even in the darkest corners of New York City. Motherf**ker With The Hat premiers at the National Theatre, after having been nominated for six Tony awards on…
Indiscretion by Hannah Fielding
Hannah Fielding is an award-winning writer and published her first book, Burning Embers, in 2012. Since then, she has gone on to publish two more works, The Echoes of Love (2014) and Indiscretion (2015). Extensively travelled…
Storm in the Andes (2014) Dir. Mikael Wiström
This year's London leg of the International Human Rights Watch Festival include a compelling selection of Latin American films. Of the many harrowing conflicts besetting Latin America in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, that of Peru…
Wild Tales (2014) Damian Szifron
A box office and critical hit, both in Latin America and outside, this anthology of short stories linked by themes of rage and restraint in post-modern living, is Argentina's most recent example in a long tradition of…
Colour Conscience
Carlos Jacanamijoy is a Colombian artist from the town of Santiago, Putumayo. A well known figure in contemporary Colombian art, at 50-years of age, he has just exhibited his first ever show in London at The Sandra Higgins Art…
Futuro Beach (2014) Dir. Karim Aïnouz
Shot in 2012 in Brazil and Germany, Futuro Beach touches on the themes of expatriation, nostalgia and family links. Its contemplative tone offers an impactful and realistic sense of time passing by. Futuro Beach is now out on DVD.
Tamsin on the Verge
The Playhouse Theatre is now hosting a boisterous adaptation of Almodóvar's film: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Complete with its own musical score, this impression of Madrid in the 1980s becomes surprisingly…
Roberto Gómez Bolaños, Comedian (1929-2014)
Estimated by Forbes magazine to have produced billions for Mexico's main television station Televisa, Roberto Gómez Bolaños aka Chespirito (a parody of his namesake Shakespeare) was one of Latin America's most loved…
China on the Ground in Latin America: Challenges for the Chinese and Impacts on the Region
A new book shows how Latin America is shaping China’s foreign policy, but ignores China’s impact on the environment and people of the region itself
Radical Aristocracy - A Tribute to María Luisa Bemberg
Celebrated at the Argentine Embassy last week, María Luisa Bemberg is one of Argentina’s most famous film directors; her best known film Camila being nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Described as both a "radical…
Oscar de la Renta, fashion designer (1932 - 2014)
Fashion icons such as Marc Jacobs along with the industry bid farewell to the reverent and much-loved Dominican American designer, Oscar de la Renta this week. After fighting cancer for eight years, the icon passed away aged 82…
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…