Amsterdam Spanish Film Festival

Focus Latino at the Amsterdam Spanish Film Festival: A Showcase of the best & newest Latin America cinema from this year, with a selection of films that will give you a glimpse into Latin America cinema.

The pianists street / La calle de los pianistas (Director – Mariano Nante)
Argenina – 26/05 – 21h

In a little street in Brussels named Rue Bosquet, two identical buildings stand together. In one of these buildings lives the famous Argentine concert pianist Martha Argerich, one of the most temperamental pianists of her time. Next door we find the Tiempo – Lechner family, renowned by their lineage of piano prodigies, all of whom have performed on the world’s most prominent stages: the matriarch and pedagogue Lyl Tiempo, her renowned children Sergio Tiempo and Karin Lechner, and Karin’s very young daughter Natasha, only fourteen years old.

Natasha, the last promise of “Pianist Street”, has to bear the legacy of four generations of great musicians. At an age when, naturally, the question of her future arises, Natasha starts to wonder: what does it actually mean to be a pianist?

Paulina (Director – Santiago Mitre)
Argentina/Brazil – Fri 27/05 – 18:30h & Sun 29/05 – 16:00

At 28 years, Paulina (the mesmerising Dolores Fonzi), gives up a brilliant lawyer’s career in order to dedicate herself to teaching in a depressing region of Argentina. In a rough environment, she sticks to her teaching mission and to her political commitments, agreeing to sacrifice her boyfriend and the trust of her father, a powerful local judge. Upon her arrival, she is violently assaulted by a gang of young people, some of them being her own students. Despite the trauma and her inability to understand, Paulina will strive to stand up for what she believes in.

¨Paulina¨ is a social thriller that explores the characters connected to an act of violence—both the victims and the perpetrators—and examines how that violence triggers different ideas of justice.

The plants / Las plantas (Director – Roberto Doveris)
Chile –  Sun 29/05 – 14h

For a whole summer, 17-year-old Florencia has to look after her brother, who is trapped in a persistent vegetative state. From time to time she reads to him from a comic book called Las Plantas, which is about plant souls that take control of human bodies at full moon. Images of her monotonous daily routine and a vibrant fantasy world merge to create a fascinating tale of a young woman as she self-determines her own sexual awakening. Dreamlike sequences and atmospheric, metallic music create the mood of a thriller.

The 33 / Los 33 (Director – Patricia Riggen)
Chile, Colombia – Sun 29/05 – 21h

On the afternoon of 5 August 2010, dozens of workers were inside the Chilean San José gold and copper mine. Everything seemed to be normal until suddenly the space collapsed, trapping 33 men inside.
When they managed to reach the rescue chamber, they discovered that nothing of what should guarantee their lives (ladders, food, medicine) was there, and from that moment on, a true battle of survival and desperately holding onto hope began 700 metres underground, lasting two whole months.

In the meantime, outside, the families of The 33 began a public battle to push the government into a mission to rescue their loved ones.

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