
A Dancer’s Leap from Poverty to Stardom
Fernando Montaño, the Royal Ballet's first ever Colombian soloist, has moved mountains and overcome obstacles to achieve his success as dancer, model and TV personality. He talked to Latinolife
The Turbulence of Budding Stardom
Once a mere suburban boy from outside Barcelona, now Spain’s representative at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, via a controversial decision that split the country, Latinolife talks to Manel Navarro, as he prepares for his…
A Film Guy named Jean Jean
In the past, the Panama Film Festival has attracted director greats such as Karim Aïnouz (Brazil) and Pablo Trapero (Argentina), and actors Ricardo Darín (Argentina) and Édgar Ramírez (Venezuela). This year it was a tall,…
LATIN LONDONER #21.....Omar Puente - Jazz Musician
Jazz violinist and 2017 LUKAS winner, Omar Puente, has performed to audiences worldwide. First violinist at the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra before leaving Cuba in 1997, he toured with Buena Vista’s Ruben Gonzales all over…
Explosive Alegría
It would seem that anything Gente de Zona touches turns to gold. Whether it’s putting Enrique Iglesias back at the top of the charts, or keeping Marc Anthony relevant, everyone who’se anyone in music goes to this Cuban Reggeatón…
Mexico's Ranchera-Pop Anti-Diva
Blending traditional Mexican ranchera sounds with elements of the Pop and Rock she grew up with in Tijuana, Julieta Venega first landed on the Mexican Rock scene in the nineties and has since won a Grammy, been nominated for two…
Venezuela Reconstructed
The winner of two 2017 LUKAS (Musician and Alternative Act of the Year) Ernesto Marichales is making waves on the London music scene with his daring and experimental re-arranging of traditional Venezuelan music. Performing with…
Between Poetry and Politics - an interview with Gael García Bernal
GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL gets on a roll about poetry, fascism, idealism and power as he talks to Latinolife about the times we live in…oh, and his latest film, NERUDA.
Between Politics, Poetry and Fantasy: Pablo Neruda as Thriller
NERUDA, an original take on a biopic of the renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda by Pablo Larraín, is being release in the UK in April, 2017. Much anticipated, fans of Pablo Larrain’s creative films will not be disappointed. Very…
In Search of the New Brazil
The Brazilian film 'Aquarius' received rave reviews following its World Premiere at Cannes where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the Cannes Jury Prize, and the Cannes Grand Prix. Just as captivating for the world’s…
The New Voice of Reason
Women are increasingly at the forefront of South America’s fight to defend its indigenous lands and the environment and Patricia Gualinga, an indigenous Kichwa of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon region, is one of them. As…
Mother Earth
At a time when Shakira, Carlos Vives, J Balvin and Maluma are some of the hottest artists in the planet, it is easy to forget that it was an indigenous folklore singer who kicked the global door open for Colombian artists. Totó…
Latin Londoner #20 ..Emeris Solis - Percussionist
Emeris is one of Europe’s best Latin percussionists and the epitome of the Latin immigrant who has earned success in London through his craft. Chilled, good humored, and professional, he is a master in Colombian folklore,…
Bridges and Walls
With 1.5 billion YouTube views, a 3x platinum debut album in Mexico and a second album premiering at #1 all over Latin America and several Grammys, what makes Jesse and Joy one of Latin America's biggest emerging acts? As…
Turning Up the Heat
Choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has worked with top dance companies across the globe – and yet she says there is something special about Danza Contemporánea de Cuba. Which is why she’s delighted that the Havana-based company…
Nothing to Say
Famed for the excellence and innovation that it attracts, The London International Mime festival brings 17 companies specialising in everything from puppetry, physical and circus theatre, live art, mask, movement and object…
QUEEN OF LEON
Gabriela Garcia, the Mexican actress currently starring in the London musical In The Heights talks theatre, tacos and Trump with Elizabeth Mistry
MORNING MASQUERADE
Inaugurated this month, an exciting new mural by Argentine artist Patricio Forrester has been unveiled on a large wall in the Deptford Arena on the New Cross Road. Forrester has lived in the area for many years, and is very well…
Field of Dissonance - Interview with Chilean Artist Alex Vargas
Chilean-born Alex Vargas, a multidisciplinary and multifaceted artist resing in London. A the age of nine, Alex joined a troupe of clowns performing on television in his native Santiago of Chile, and then went on to study Fine…
LATIN LONDONER 19: FERNANDO D GUIBERT - Artist
Fernando Guibert (father), was one of Argentina's most recognised poets and artists until his death in 1983. Fernando D Guibert (son) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1957, where he taught and lectured before arriving…
FUNK FOREVER
Los Amigos Invisibles is arguably the most globally recognized music act from Venezuela since Oscar D'Leon (the Salsa legend on their new album). Breaking onto the international scene on David Byrne’s (Talking Heads)…
PATIENT ( Paciente) DIR Jorge Cabellero
Patient, which had its British Premiere in the ‘Debate’ section of the 60th London Film festival, is a sensitive and deeply moving documentary by Colombian director Jorge Caballero. The film takes us on a journey as we accompany…
Magical Minutae - an interview with Pedro Ruiz
Part of the presidential state visit was s atop at Pedro Ruiz's (Colombian painter, Bogota.1957) exquisite show "Oro, Spirit and Nature of a Territory", a travelling exhibition of 33 miniature works, where…
"Our society still needs to demonstrate that Human Rights Defenders can take action without the threat of being killed"
Visiting the UK to brief UK lawyers on the current situation in Colombia, in tandem with President Santos' state visit, was Dr Reinaldo Villalba Vargas of Colombia’s most prestigious human rights lawyers collective, the…
La Noche (Dir. Edgardo Castro)
Corina J Poore talks to the director of Argentina’s latest film to wow global audiences, a ferociously honest film that explores the drug-fuelled debauchery of Buenos Aires’ underworld sexual, and ye whose power lies in its…
THE OUTSIDER
Few people thought that Reggaetón - the famous “Dembow” beat with the Latino twist that exploded 15 years ago – would stand the test of time. Yet today almost every big artist, from Shakira and Enrique Iglesias to Drake, Sia and…
PORTO (Dir. Gabe Klinger)
Presenting his debut fiction feature at the London Film festival this week, Brazilian/American Director Gabe Klinger talks about the film's central themes around the intense experience one can have with a stranger and…
Between Land and Sea - an interview with Cuban artist Armando Mariño
One of Cuba’s most well-known contemporary artists, Armando Mariño studied in Havana, now lives and works in New York and exhibits all over the world. Now in London showing his large scale works rooted within the stories of…
Latin Londoner #18: Gloria Lizcano - LGBT community leader
Celebrating 20 years of her legendary Latino LGBT Club night Exilio this Friday, Gloria Lizcano has been the pioneer and main activist for the Latin LGBT community in London.
Our Latin Thing: An interview with Roberto Pla
Whether as percussionist of choice for the UK’s pop bands (Joe Strummer, The Cure, Kate Bush, Boney M) or bandleader, composer and arranger, timbalero extraordinaire, Roberto Pla, has come to be known as The Godfather of Latin…
New Era Jazz Queen
What is the outstanding quality that westerners find so baffling about Cuba’s bounty of world-class artists? From Carlos Acosta to Chucho Valdez, you’ll find a common combination unique to this idiosyncratic Caribbean island – a…
Brazilian Virtuoso - an interview with Diego Figueiredo
At the young age of 35, Latino guitar sensation Diego Figueiredo has already recorded 23 albums and played in 60 countries around the world. Hailed by George Benson as “one of the greatest guitarists I’ve seen in my whole life”,…
The Pain of Separation - an interview with Julio Medem
Native of San Sebastián (b. 1958) and settled in Madrid, Julio Medem is one of Spain’s most acclaimed directors. Famous for ‘Sex and Lucia’, ‘Lovers of the Arctic Circle’, and also for 'La Pelota Vasca' a film about…
LATIN LONDONER #17: Juliano Fiori - rugby player
If anyone epitomises the uniqueness and strength that comes from being bi-cultural it is Juliano Fiori. Not only is he a West Londoner who is playing rugby for Brazil in the Olympics, but to do so, he’s had to juggle a full time…
Embracing Another World
It’s been a long day of interviews for Ciro Guerra. As director of Embrace of the Serpent, the first Colombian film to be nominated for an Oscar, the film man of the moment is in demand in London, where the film launches this…