CLAIS Film Series
The CLAIS Film Series brings films from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal to Yale. Screenings take place several times during the academic year and are followed by discussions with directors, producers, and other prominent people from the region. The 2019 program will be published here shortly.
Film Series Program
Monday, January 21
7:00pm Nadie/Nobody
Miguel Coyula and Lynn Cruz, Cuba (2017)
Synopsis:
Rafael Alcides was once a widely known and celebrated writer of the Cuban revolution; now, a stranger in his own country, running out of time, as he tries to salvage his unpublished novels from the ink literally fading away from their pages. This is the story of love and deception in the Cuban revolution as seen through the eyes of someone who was initially mesmerized by all its possibilities.
Tuesday, Febrauary 26
7:00pm Regreso a los Andes / Return to the Andes
Mitch Teplitsky, Perú (2019)
After living in New York City for 20 years, Nelida Silva (from Soy Andina) returns again to her Peru birthplace — this time with a dream of helping rural women start businesses. That’s a daunting challenge in the Andes, where many women are marginalized. But few things deter Nelida, and she succeeds in organizing cooperatives around skills like weaving and quinoa. Then the unexpected happens — she’s invited to run for mayor by a new political party. Fed up with the region’s decline and corruption, she accepts the challenge. Can she become the first woman to win, running on a platform of sustainable development and anti-corruption?Monday, April 1
6:30pm La Ciénaga/The Swamp
Lucrecia Martel, Argentina (2001)
This Argentinean tale, which revolves around a group of families passing summer vacation in a rural country house, does not rely on a concrete plot line, but rather roves, rambles, and stumbles upon each new event. No event, no action, no exchange of words, no scene of the movie is more or less important than another. Instead, the film continues nonsequentially in what feels like a prolonged wait.Monday, April 10
12:00pm Perita/Expert Witness (in English)
1:00pm Perita/Expert Witness (in Spanish)
Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj and Maya Kiché leader Rigoberto Queme Chay, Guatemala (2017)
Synopsis:
Perita (Expert Witness) is a short documentary about the 2016 trial of military leaders for crimes against humanity in the form of sexual violence against indigenous women. This was the first criminal trial for sexual slavery as a weapon of war ever heard in a national court. Velásquez Nimatuj served as an expert witness, bringing forth testimony gathered from many of these indigenous women. Both military leaders were found guilty and each sentenced to over 100 years in prison.
7:00pm 500 Years/Life in Resistance
Pam Yates and Paco de Onís, Guatemala (2017)
From a historic genocide trial to the overthrow of a president, 500 Years tells a sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala’s recent history, through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.Film Series Program
Tuesday, September 18
7:00pm Morazán
Hispano Durón, Honduras (2017)Tuesday, September 27
7:00pm Puerto El Triunfo
Jeffrey Gould, El Salvador/USA/Canada (2017)
Featuring director Jeffrey Gould
Monday, October 8
7:00pm 500 Years
Featuring directors Pamela Yates and Paco de Onís
Synopsis:
From a historic genocide trial and the organized defense of the land to the overthrow of a corrupt President, 500 Years tells a sweeping story of resistance in Guatemala’s recent history through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.
Retrospective of the works of Cuban filmmaker Ernesto Daranas.
All films have English subtitles. Free and open to the public.
Friday April 27 through Sunday April 29, 2018
Loria room 250, 190 York St. near Chapel, Yale University
facebook.com/liffyyale/
http://remezcla.com/film/ernesto-daranas-director-of-smash-hit-conducta-…
”The truth is, I’m not entirely sure. The two films I’ve made take place in the impoverished areas of Old Havana, which is the neighborhood where I’ve always lived. They are very personal themes for me and that determines how I approach the subject matter. But in general, I think Cuban cinema has shown a marked concern for social issues, which has given us some of our most important works. It’s almost impossible to conceive of a country without images that express it. Cuba is not an exception.” (Ernesto Daranas)
Ernesto Daranas Serrano (Havana, 1961)
His filmography includes Los últimos gaiteros de La Habana (2004), winner of the International Journalism Award Rey de España; Los dioses rotos(Fallen gods, 2008), Cuba’s nomination for the Oscars and award-winner at several international film festivals; Bluechacha (2012), Latin Grammy® Nominee for Best Long Form Music Video and Conducta (Behavior, 2014), Cuba’s nomination for the Oscars and winner of over fifty awards in American, Asian and European film festivals and Sergio and Serguéi (2017)winner of the Audience’s Choice Award at the 2017 Habana Film Festival.
Friday April 27. (Loria room 250, 190 York St.) 7pm
Conducta (Behavior) (Cuba, 2014, 1hr. 48min)
Aging teacher Carmela has a special heart for pupils from broken homes and is challenged by the headmaster to follow up on 12 year old Chala who is infatuated in Yeni. They are both poor, and have severe home troubles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_UyFZOeh3c
Q&As with filmmaker Ernesto Daranas.
Saturday April 28 (Loria room 250, 190 York St.) 7pm
Los dioses rotos(Fallen Gods) (Cuba, 2008, 93min)
Laura (35 years old) is a university professor who prepares her master’s thesis on the famous Cuban pimp Alberto Yarini and Ponce de León, shot dead by his French rivals who controlled the prostitution business in Havana at the beginning of the 20th century.
Q&As with filmmaker Ernesto Daranas.
Sunday April 29.4pm (Loria room 250, 190 York St.)
Bluechacha(documentary, Cuba, 2012, 35min.) by Ernesto Daranas
This visually rich and imaginative production takes us behind the scenes of “Bluechacha,” the last album recorded by guitarist, composer, and director Manuel Galbán (1931–2011), who also founded the quartet Los Zafiros. Produced in collaboration with Galbán’s daughter, composer Magda Rosa Galbán, and her husband, musician Juan Antonio Leyva, the film shows the three of them at work on the album, interspersed with dramatic sequences that tell a love story related to the music.
Receptionat Loria in honor of Ernesto Daranas from 5:30 to 6:45pmon Sunday April 29th.
Sunday April 29 (The Whitney Humanities Center auditorium, 53 Wall St., Yale Univ.) 7pm
Sergio y Serguei (Cuba, 2017, 93 min.)
Sergio (Tomás Cao) is struggling as a university professor to support his mother and sweet young daughter; he also enjoys being an amateur radio operator who has conversations with fellow enthusiasts around the world in particular an American conspiracy theorist (Ron Perlman). The Cuban makes a surprise contact with a cosmonaut named Sergei (Héctor Noas) who is stuck in outer space resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG8dCE1PJ9c
Q&A with Ernesto Daranas
Sponsored by CLAIS & The Cuba Initiative, MacMillan Center, Yale University and the Whitney Humanities Center
facebook.com/liffyyale/
All films have English subtitles and feature a discussion with the filmmaker following each screening.
All events are FREE and OPEN to the general public!