By Roger Costa
The 2018 edition of Cinema Tropical Awards honors the breakthrough talent of contemporary Latin American filmmakers for their respectful productions, exquisite dramas and documentaries structured through the theme of individual common struggles narrated with innovative brilliance. The Museum of the Moving Image in New York will screen the top winners including Best Film and Best Director February 2-4.
LA SOLEDAD
A young man arrives home after exhausting hours of underpaid work. His daughter cheers him up, his wife reminds him of some bills and errands, his ill mother worries around as they might get evicted from the in-living favor. Director Jorge Thielen Armand paints a social-political mosaic of current Venezuela, with this utterly captivating, poetic observation on the strength of a father decided to save his family and the powerful connection they share. With moving performances from the non-professional cast and lyricism, Armand enters the house of a humble family, composing quiet images that exceed in natural beauty and sensibility.
ARABIA
This seductive, melancholic and absorbing meditation in what means to be a working class man living in the countryside of Minas Gerais state in Brazil, is directors João Dumans and Affonso Uchoa’s first collaborative work. After observing two lonely brothers, the focus turns to Cristiano, an ex-thug in search of redemption, trying his chance as an industrial machinery worker, and crossing paths with lovers and risky temptations. It’s a remarkable and stylish study on manhood, shot with sumptuous cinematography, a delicate guitar score, as well as precious Brazilian classics and American folk music, and an accomplished editing of the natural sounds around the region. A revelation!
THE HUMAN SURGE
A complex, ambiguous experimental blend of doc, drama and surrealism addressing the millennials’ behavior and aspirations in three different parts of the globe, Argentina, Mozambique, and the Philippines. Writer-director Eduardo Williams’ feature length debut kicks off following the interactions of a young man around his community affected by a devastating flooding. Then, after performing sexual contacts to his friends, selling themselves on the web, the camera moves to the other side of the monitor, where it observes the philosophies of a group of men also struggling for capital, and wraps up with the journey of a woman back home. It’s an outstanding, endlessly fast-paced and contemplative look at the expectations of a generation in search of identity.
ADRIANA’S PACT
A work of grand bravura, Lissette Orozco’s personal and poignant documentary investigates the mystery behind her beloved aunt, a woman who is arrested accused of working for Chile’s dictator, Pinochet. Winner of the Peace Award at Berlin Film Festival, it’s a fascinating account on family values and the fragility of human justice.
MEMORIES OF A PENITENT HEART
A profound, heartbreaking collection of memories narrated through photos, home movies, and found footage of director Cecilia Aldarondo’s uncle, a victim of AIDS who died under suspicious circumstances. She hears out the anguish of family members, as well as her uncle’s partner who is now a monk. Nominated for the Jury Award at last year’s Tribeca, it’s a courageously honest mirror of family unsolved taboos.
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