The “Latin America and the World” Film Festival had its second screening last night (September 13, 2023) with a showing of The Future Perfect (2016, Argentina), co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) and the East Asian Studies Center. The audience enjoyed the story of Xiaobin, a Chinese 18-year-old woman who moves to Argentina. Julia Keblinska (Postdoctoral scholar at the East Asian Studies Center) and Henrique Yagui Takahashi (PhD candidate in Latin American Cultural and Literary Studies) led a vibrant post-film discussion that touched on issues of language and language learning, social hierarchies, and agency, with students sharing how they were able to identify with the protagonist’s struggles of learning a new language and being in a foreign country. 

If you were unfortunately unable to attend last night, the film will remain available online until September 20. Please register to receive viewing instructions here. 

The film festival will continue in the following weeks with screenings of Perro Bomba, Los Lobos, The Territories and This Stolen Country of Mine in Hagerty Hall 180 (see links for screening dates). Each film connects Latin America with one or more other world regions and emphasizes the global, interconnected nature of conflicts, cultures, and experiences. The films take place in a variety of settings, address a wide range of themes, show the perspectives of diverse communities, and feature multiple languages (though all films have English subtitles). The film festival is made possible with the support of Pragda, SPAIN arts & culture, and the Secretary of State for Culture of Spain.