Cinema Akil / Alternativo Latino

Alternativo Latino, a one week celebration of Latin American cinema, is back again from October 11th to the 17th at Cinema Akil. The program aims to explore and express the nuances in the vast physical, emotional and socio-political landscapes across Central and South America.

This year, the program kicks off with award-winning Director Jayro Bustamante’s latest film, The Weeping Woman (La Llorona), a dramatic thriller reckoning Guatemala’s bloody civil war inspired by the famous Latin American folktale of “La Llorona.” The program will continue with the Colombian drama Litigante by Director Franco Lolli. The film opened the Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. In Litigante, we see how Silvia balances being a single mom, her mother’s fight with cancer and a corruption scandal. 

This year, the program will also include two Latin American contemporary classics: Brazilian Director Fernando Meirelles’ award-winning City of God and The Motorcycle Diaries, starring a young Gael Garcia Bernal.

Finally, the program closes with the critically acclaimed Chilean documentary Nostalgia for the Light, where director Patricio Guzman travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. While astronomers examine the most distant galaxies, art the foot of the mountains there are women, surviving relatives of the disappeared, searching for the remains of their loved ones in a stunning and moving odyssey.

All screenings taking place at Cinema Akil will be ticketed. Tickets will be available for sale at Cinema Akil’s box office and www.cinemaakil.com. Tickets are 52.5 (VAT included).

The full calendar can be found on our Facebook page..

Notes:

*Schedules are subject to change, please check www.cinemaakil.com for the most up-to-date schedule

**Tickets are AED 50 + VAT and are available for purchase online and at the box office.

****Age restrictions may apply due to the nature and suitability of the film. At our discretion and in accordance with regulations, we reserve the right to request proof of ID and you will be asked to leave if you are under the required age.

//FILMS

CITY OF GOD [Cidade de Deus]

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles

2002 | Brazil, Germany, France | 18+ | Drama | Portuguese | English sub. | 130 min

Fernando Meirelles' City of God is a sweeping tale of how crime affects the poor population of Rio de Janeiro. Though the narrative skips around in time, the main focus is on Cabeleira who formed a gang called the Tender Trio. He and his best friend, Bené (Phelipe Haagensen), become crime lords over the course of a decade. When Bené is killed before he can retire, Lil' Zé attempts to take out his arch enemy, Sandro Cenoura (Matheus Nachtergaele). But Sandro and a young gangster named Mane form an alliance and begin a gang war with Lil' Zé. Amateur photographer Buscape (Alexandre Rodrigues) takes pictures of the brutal crime war, making their story famous. City of God was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

MOTORCYCLE DIARIES [Diarios de Motocicleta]

Directed by: Walter Salles

2005 | Argentina, USA, Chile, Peru, Brazil, UK, Germany, France | 15+ | Drama | Spanish, Quechua, Mapudungun | English sub.  | 128 min

In 1952, two young Argentines, Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado, set out on a road trip to discover the real Latin America. Ernesto is a 23-year-old medical student specializing in leprology, and Alberto, 29, is a biochemist. The tale follows their journey as they unveil the rich and complex human and social topography of the Latin American continent.

THE WEEPING WOMAN [La Llorona]

Directed by: Jayro Bustamante

2019 | Guatemala, France  | 15+ | Drama, Mystery, Suspense |Spanish | English sub. | 96 min

With the words "If you cry, I'll kill you" ringing in their ears, Alma and her sons are murdered in Guatemala's armed conflict. Thirty years later, a criminal case is brought against Enrique, a retired general who oversaw the genocide. But he's acquitted through a mistrial and the spirit of La Llorona is unleashed to wander the world like a lost soul amongst the living. At night, Enrique starts to hear her wailing. His wife and daughter believe he's having bouts of Alzheimer's-related dementia. Little could they suspect that their new housekeeper, Alma, is there to mete out the vengeance the trial did not.

LITIGANTE

Directed by: Franco Lolli

2019 | Spain, Colombia | 18+ | Drama | Spanish | English sub. | 102 min

In a remote mountaintop setting somewhere in Latin America, a rebel group of teenage commandos bearing noms de guerre like Rambo, Smurf, Bigfoot, Wolf and Boom-Boom perform military training exercises while watching over a prisoner (Julianne Nicholson) and a conscripted milk cow for a shadowy force known only as The Organization. After an ambush drives the squadron into the jungle, fracturing their intricate bond, the mission begins to collapse.

NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT [Nostalgia de la Luz]

Directed by: Patricio Guzman

2011 | France, Germany, Chile, Spain | G | Documentary | Spanish, English | English sub. | 90 min

For his new film master director Patricio Guzmán, famed for his political documentaries (THE BATTLE OF CHILE, THE PINOCHET CASE), travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. The sky is so translucent that it allows them to see right to the boundaries of the universe. The Atacama is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact: those of Pre-Columbian mummies; 19th century explorers and miners; and the remains of political prisoners, "disappeared" by the Chilean army after the military coup of September, 1973 So while astronomers examine the most distant and oldest galaxies, at the foot of the mountains, women, surviving relatives of the disappeared whose bodies were dumped here, search, even after twenty-five years, for the remains of their loved ones, to reclaim their families' histories. Melding the celestial quest of the astronomers and the earthly one of the women, NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT is a gorgeous, moving, and deeply personal odyssey.