Brazil's Antonio Társis wins the VIA Arts Prize 2019
Bahiano ANTONIO TÁRSIS from Brazil has won the 2019 VIA Prize out of a record total of 402 submissions. His large and colourful collage is built up from fragments of fruit boxes from all parts of the world, that he meticulously…
Chola Power
In their frilly petticoats, layered skirts, dainty pumps and bowler hats, Las Cholitas (chola - the name used to describe indigenous women in Latin America), are relatively new to the Lucha Libre ring. Yet the crowds have come…
Films To Watch Before You Die #4 - O’ Desafio (The Challenge) Dir. Paulo César Saraceni
A PLACE FOR POETS – O’ Desafio (The Challenge) of living in a Society that you don’t understand. Once again, the 4th film in our series of “Latin American films you should watch before you die” explores the topics of love and…
LATIN LONDONER #30: Daniel Carbonero, dancer
Born in Malaga, Spain Daniel Carbonero is a professional dancer, choreographer, model and actor. After 16 years of intense training and dance competitions in Spain Daniel moved to London and founded the Carbonero Dance Academy,…
Primal Screaming - an interview with Damián Szifrón
Not only do the Mexicans seem to be holding a curious monopoly over Oscars in recent years, hardly a year passes when an Argentine film is not in the running for Best Film in a Foreign Language. This year it was the turn of…
THE LUKAS DANCE WINNERS 2019
From Tango and Salsa to Flamenco and Ballet, here are The LUKAS Winners For Outstanding Contribution To Dance
10 Stand Out UK Afro-Latinos y Latinas
In the last of our series celebrating Black HIstory Month...it’s time to bring it home. While the US has long been celebrating the contribution of Black Latin Americans to its culture, and life, we here in the UK also have our…
CLARA SOLA (2021) by Swedish/Costa Rican director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
The film Clara Sola (2021)which will be on general release from November 18-2022, first opened at the Cannes Director’s Fortnight in July 2021 and has already received 17 wins and 20 nominations. After being in the Dare Strand at…
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…
Latin Londoner #44 - Sofia Serbin de Skalon, Film Curator
World cinema specialist, writer and culture maker, Argentine born Sofia de Skalon is founder of the Argentine Film Festival London, a showcase for contemporary Argentine cinema. Through her PR agency, Sofia has promoted more than…
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…
'THE TRAITOR' Dir. Marco Bellocchio
An Italian/Brazilian/French co-production, 'The Traitor', a BAFTA contender this year, is a true crime drama based on the story of how Tommaso Buscetta, a prominent member of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, decided to become…
'THE BREATHING ISLAND', Ismael Rodríguez’s first solo show in London
In this multi-media debut show ‘The Breathing Island, Ismael Rodríguez has focussed on life in this world. Expressing a keen awareness of the complexity and diversity of this planet, Ismael Rodríguez’s thought-provoking mixed-…
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão (2019) Directed by Karim Aïnouz.
‘THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF EURIDICE GUSMÃO’ (2019) is a dramatic melodrama that delves into how family bonds and betrayals can affect people’s lives for years. Set in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, Eurídice, 18, and Guida, 20, are two…
The Dose (La Dosis-2020)- thriller by Argentine director Martín Kraut
Angels of Mercy or Angels of Death? The taut psychological thriller ‘The Dose’ (2020) by Argentine first-time writer/ director Martín Kraut screened at the 35th BFI Flare London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, will, no doubt, reopen the…
In the shadow of Lorca
The poems of Federico Garcia Lorca have touched and inspired people and poets worldwide. Yet his passion, defiance to oppression and his unique vision of Andalucía as a tolerant fusion of cultures makes him particularly special…
Latin Pop's Unlikely Phantom
For someone who has the knack of appearing everywhere in musical theatre, you could say there is something ghost like about Geronimo Rauch, London’s Phantom of the Opera. If not that, this Argentine has so obviously taken life by…
Lucia Puenzo: making her own name in Argentine cinema
Argentine film director Lucía Puenzo speaks to Santiago Oyarzabal about Wakolda, her other projects and her ideas.
Surrogate Latina #4: Despina VIolari - dancer
Cyprus-born dancer Despina had been accumulating admirers on the Salsa scene for several years before getting to show off her grace and talent on the West End stage as part of the dance ensemble of 'On Your Feet'. She…
BBC’s STORYVILLE has found a quiet gem with ‘INHERITING THE CASTLE (2023)’ by Argentine director Martin Benchimol.
Inheriting the Castle (2023) is the moving and gentle tale of 60- year-old Justina and her 20-year-old- drum- mad daughter Alexia, who inherit a mansion, deep in the Argentine pampas.
'3 Feet' Dir. Giselle Geney
This charming children’s short film '3 Feet' by Colombian director Giselle Geney is an unaffected and delightful tale of the challenges and dilemmas facing children when faced with the conflict between their dreams and…
As Fado Bicha – Challenging the Taboos of Portugal's Most Famous Music
Whilst the ‘Three Fs’ of fado - Fatima (the shrine), Football and Fado - which cemented the genre's association with the Salazar dictatorship, and its inherent conservatism, especially about gender issues, have put many…
The Chosen Couple
Ezequiel López and Camila Alegre have wowed audiences in every country they have performed. The couple features spectacular tango choreographies that include feet being thrown up in fast flourishes and legs being wrapped around…
Luis Caballero - A Rare Insight into Queer Colombian Artistry
In ‘A Deliberate Defiance’, an exhibition of five canvases by Luis Caballero (1943-1995), London’s Cecilia Brunson Projects highlights the stories of duality and dichotomy depicted in the pioneering queer Colombian artist’s work…
Listening to Nature
“Our father, listen attentively to the voice of our rivers, listen to the fearsome trees of the great forest.” So wrote José María Arguedas in 1966. The poet, writer and anthropologist (1911-1969) is one of the most celebrated…
Batida Lisboa (Dir. Rita Maia, Vasco Viana)
Rita Maia and Vasco Viana’s charming musical documentary takes us on a journey around the tough Lisbon ghettos and suburbs where we experience the lives of a number of Portuguese-speaking African musicians who are searching to…
INFECTION (2019) Dir Flavio Pedota (Venezuela/ Mexico)
Venezuelan film director Flavio Pedota’s debut feature ‘INFECTION’ hit the screens of the Raindance Film Festival with a disturbing zombie movie that reflects the socio-economic and political drama that is also unfolding in his…
10 Latin@ LGBTQ+ Creatives in London
Over the years, London has attracted some of the finest creatives from Latin America and Spain, who have gone on to represent world class talent from the LGBTQ+ community. From the likes of a young precocious Mario Testino from…
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…
LATIN LONDONER #26 - Caro Gomez - Fashion Designer
Caro Gomez is a fashion designer with her own label, for which she was awarded "Ones to Watch" title by the Sustainable Lifestyle Awards and won The LUKAS Fashion Designer of the Year 2019. She's also a speaker on…
Picasso and Paper
This exhibition at the Royal Academy has concentrated on Pablo Picasso’s output on paper, which entails a large number of drawings and different inventive and dazzling works in many formats, from pastels, lincuts, watercolours,…
Tango, Tanguera - an interview with Diego Romay
One of the most popular shows of one of the most popular dance genres, Tango, comes again to Sadlers Wells this summer. Corina Poore talks to famed Argentine choreographer Diego Romay about the history of tango and his show…
DEBRIS (DESECHOS) Dir. Julio O. Ramos
Despite being only 14min. long, this short film, that has qualified for Oscar consideration, turns out to be a chilling and riveting thriller. It exposes the tribulations suffered by men who are enticed to the USA for work and a…
West Side Story @ Manchester Royal Exchange
Mexican actress Gabriela Garcia's performance is worth a trip to Manchester, says Elizabeth Mistry
Truth or Illusion?
The unusual tale of a commune in the south of Chile takes us on an unexpected journey.It is based on a true story that immediately suggests that upsetting developments may take place, as indeed they do. Produced by the creative…