Mezcla Fantástica: Cocote (Amsterdam Première)

It is the beauty of cinema to sometimes skew traditional plot structures and surprise us with a disorienting experience that cannot be completely pinned down. Expanding the limits of storytelling and pushing at the aesthetic boundaries of the cinematographic medium has been the fascination and goal for many contemporary Latin American directors including Argentina’s Lucrecia Martel and Mariano Llinas and Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas. With Mezcla Fantástica, we explore the most adventurous films from these unconventional auteurs. 

Cocote

Alberto (Vicente Santos) is a devout Christian who works as a gardener in a wealthy family’s villa in Santo Domingo, the Domincan Republic’s capital city. When he hears news of his fathers death, he embarks on a trip to his remote hometown to attend the funeral. Upon his arrival, Alberto learns that his father was violently killed and that he’s been summoned for the vudu mourning rituals and is expected to avenge the family. The chants and cries for vengeance come from a culture that the urbanized Alberto despises, but that slowly grows on him. Winner of the 2017 Signs of Life Award at Locarno Festival, Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias’s extraordinary film merges realist documentary with experimental narrative in a fascinating attempt to decolonize cinematic storytelling. Come enjoy COCOTE’s first theatrical screenings in the Netherlands outside of the festival circuit.

Directed by Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, 2017, Argentina/Germany/Qatar/Dominican Republic, 105 min. Screened in Spanish with English subtitles. 

€5/3.5 (Cineville)