Paraguay – Piercing the Silence
Juanjo Pereira began his film, Bajo Las Banderas, El Sol (Under the flags, the sun) as a modest project to better understand his country and its cinema, which has no national archives, and where the history of the dictatorship,…
Favela Aesthetics: From the periphery to global fashion reference
Brazilian culture is a dazzling celebration of life, bringing together music, dance, and vibrant community spirit. At the heart of this energy lies the favela aesthetic — unexpected beauty blossoming in urban neighbourhoods,…
Haikus for a Pandemic
Leo Boix is a bilingual poet, translator and journalist born in Argentina who lives and works in the UK. Boix has published two poetry collections in Spanish, Un lugar propio (2015) and Mar de noche (2017), and has been included…
Seeing Latin America
Passionate about promoting Latin American Art, independent art advisor and curator Sandra Higgins opened her own gallery to do it. Latinolife went to talk to a woman on a mission.
Capicua - 20 years taking feminist hip-hop to the rappers' boys' club
Ana Matos Fernandes, the rapper known as Capicua, Is one of Portugal’s most well-known hiphop lyricists. Born in Porto in 1982, she has a degree in Sociology and a PhD in Human Geography; her lyrics are as sharp and informed as…
Andalucia's Feria de Sevilla
Come rain, crisis or shine, Sevilla is always ready for a party.
Tapas Brindisa London Bridge
One of our 5 Spanish Restaurant Finalists is Brindisa, situated near the main entrance to Borough Market, this small tapas bar is strategically placed to capture City folk and trendy foodies, and they are often packed in.
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.
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…
Retracing Galeano’s Open Veins
‘Gold, Oil and Avocados, A Recent History of Latin America in Sixteen Commodities’ by Andy Robinson is an account of export extractivism in Latin America. Robinson argues that to understand the major political upheavals in Latin…
It Is Not The Virus
Mabel Encinas is a Mexican artist and poet based in London, member of the Hispano-American Women Writers on Memory, who is also a senior lecturer in higher education in the UK. Writing and art has allowed her to process her…
Paisa Prince
Since the last time we talked to J Balvin (cover of 2016 autumn edition), the Medellin born artist has soared to new heights and become one of a handful of urban Latin artists who have conquered the world. Hits such as 'Mi…
The Food Guerrillero
When Gordon Ramsay dubs you the ‘Antonio Banderas of Spanish cooking’ surely its a provocation. In the quest to modify taboos and fears over the complexity of the meals, Omar Allibhoy found his calling: presenting to the British…
NINE BODIES IN A MEXICAN MORGUE (2025) by Anthony Horowitz
‘And then there was one.’ After a plane crash in the Mexican jungle, the National Guard are stuck with 10 passports but only 9 corpses. What is going on? This new 6-episode thriller series on BBC iPlayer touches on the absurd…
LINA TUR BONET & MUSICA ALCHEMICA bring new shine to ‘Il Grosso Mogul’ of Vivaldi
LINA TUR BONET & MUSICA ALCHEMICA have recently released a superb new recording of ‘Il Grosso Mogul’. The CD “Antonio Vivaldi Il Grosso Mogul, Violin Concertos & Sonatas” includes some of the lesser known music of Vivaldi…
Three Fabulous Brazilian Bar-b-q recipes
Three smashing Brazilian dishes recommended by the folks at Cabana restaurant and authors of the newly released The Cabana Cookbook
Convoque Seu Buda Criolo (Sterns)
The Latest album form the increasingly respected Brazilian rapper and soul singer.
Latinolife’s Worst One-Hit Latin Wonders
British consumers love a bit of kitch, and there’s nothing like a foreign-ish song to give the drunken punters a laugh on the pub dance floor. From the pastiche to the parody, they were painful at the time, but now a dying genre…
Bravery and Tragedy in the Pampas
Corina Poore talks to the up and coming Argentine director Martin Rodriguez Redondo whose debut feature film “Marylin’ recounting the tragic real life events of a teenager targeted for challenging gender stereotypes in the…
DAUGHTERS OF THE FOREST (Hijas del Bosque -2026) Dir. Otilia Portillo Padua
Seeking to protect their forests and in particular its rich diversity of mushroom species, two indigenous mycologists in Mexico, (fungi specialists), Julieta Serafina Amaya and Eliseete Ramírez Carbajal, seek out the lore before…
SURVIVE - SOBREVIVIR
Denisse Vargas -Bolaños is a Bolivian poet and writer. She is a member of the feminist literary collective Las Juanas and SLAP (Spanish and Latin American Poets and Writers). She was also part of the Invisible Presence Project.…
Things That Matter to...CRIOLO
Dubbed as "the most important figure on the Brazilian pop scene" by Caetano Veloso, Criolo is a hard-hitting MC of the people who has had massive cross-over success in Brazil.
Spain's Film Intellectual: interview with Ramon Luque
A lover of Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman, Spanish director Ramon Luque is a great Film intellectual, known just as much for his nine books than for the three films that he's made. His latest film, the critically acclaimed…
Juan Luis Guerra’s Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Juan Luis Guerra, one of Latin America’s…
‘WE MUST THROW THE COWS DOWN THE RAVINE’ Dir Orlando Arocha
The Teatro Cervantes is opening up to international artists and playwrights and attracting more interesting talent every year. This year ‘La Caja de Fósforos’ Theatre group from Venezuela brings us the moving play: “We must Throw…
...Guatemala
From a mansion to a school trying to make ends meet, this couch surfer found a warm welcome in Guatemala.
The Pulse of Hispanic Heritage
Julián Duque is the Colombian entrepreneur behind Immigration Records, a label born out of migration, identity, and the shared drive of a community that never stops creating. His journey reminds us that being Hispanic isn’t…
In Oaxaca The Walls Speak
In a country whose history simmers with political resistance and art, graffiti has come to reflect a post-modern merging of the two. Far away from the Banksy hype, we celebrate the art of Mexican political graffiti and the…
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…
Hugo Brazão- The VIA Arts Prize winner 2018–Madeiran zing shines in London
Out of 200 entries, the talented Madeiran artist HUGO BRAZÃO has won the 2018 VIA Arts Prize (Visual Ibero-American Arts) with Graham Guy-Robinson as runner up. The 30 finalist’s works are now on show in the stunning ‘Sala Brasil…
Surrogate Latino #6: Jonny Liebeck, Latin Jazz Pianist and Bandleader
Jonny impressed us so much with his Latin soul/jazz/funk quartet at last year's London Latin Music Conference. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban, the young Liebeck is quickly making a name for…
Típica 73 Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
When it comes to NY salsa, rare were the bands that could compete with Típica 73 in their heyday. One of the most progressive, experimental but also heartfelt bands from the scene they had some of the most acclaimed singers of…
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...
It Takes Three to Tango
Plaza Francia is changing perceptions in the tango world. Consisting of ex-Gotan Project’s Christoph Müller and Eduardo Kakaroff and solo singer Catherine Ringer, the Paris-based group is propelling tango music into mainstream…
Finding Brazilian Dance in the UK
In few cultures around the world is dance such an important expression of identity. Through Forró, samba and Capoeira, Brazil shows itself to the world and reinvents itself abroad. Experiencing Brazil in London is, in many ways,…