Latin American Film Festival is underway

The Latin American Studies Program kicked off its inaugural Latin American Film Festival on Oct. 11, with a showing of La vida es silbar, or Life is to Whistle.

Combining surrealism, humor and insightful drama, Life is to Whistle alternates between the romantic mishaps of three troubled people living in Havana. The film, released in 1998, is directed by prominent Cuban film director Fernando Pérez. All films will include English subtitles.

Life is to Whistle was the first in the series of five films to be screened between Oct. 11 and Nov. 14 to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Additional showings include:
• Oct. 17, Maginnes Hall’s Room 113, La ley de Herodes (Herod's Law), a 1999 film by Luis Estrada of Mexico
• Oct. 24, Maginnes Hall’s Room 113, Rue Cases Nègres (Sugar Cane Alley), a 1983 film by Euzhan Palcy of Martinique
• Oct. 31, Maginnes Hall’s Room 101, El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), a 2006 film by Guillermo del Toro of Mexico and Spain
• Nov. 14, Maginnes Hall’s Room 480, Los olvidados (The Young and the Damned), a 1950 film by Luis Buñuel of Mexico

The film festival is co-sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Global Union, Joint Multicultural Program, and Office of Multicultural Affairs.

For more information, please contact Antonio Prieto, the director of the Latin American Studies Program, via email or by calling (610) 758-3088.

--Tricia Long