Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC's Latinismo begins 4th year on May 16

Photos and story by James Hill

CASCADE CAMPUS Portland Community College hosts the Fourth Annual Latin American Film Festival (Latinismo) from Friday, May 16 through Friday, May 23 at Terrell Hall 122 on the Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth St.The film festival is organized by a group of students who work to raise the awareness of the diversity of Latin culture. This year’s film selection is a backdrop for the theme "Communities in Transition."A community in transition includes physical, political, sexual orientation, gender and class changes in culture. Admission is free and open to the public.The festival will feature Cuban American poet Virgil Suarez, who will make a literary presentation of his work. Suarez will appear at the Latinismo closing reception at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 23 in Terrell Hall 122. Novelist, professor, poet and essayist, Suarez has been recognized for his insights into the Cuban American experience.The schedule of this year’s film festival:Festival Opening Friday, May 16 Reception: 6 p.m.Film Festival Preview: 6:30 p.m.Documentary Showing: 7 p.m.Terrell Hall 112The festival opening will feature the documentary, "Approach of Dawn,"produced by Mary Knoll of World Productions. The film is a personal view of the human rights struggle in Guatemala and shares the story of three women whose lives were shattered by genocidal war the longest civil war in Latin America. Following the film, a panel featuring Martin Gonzalez of the American Friends Service Committee and representatives from the Central American Health Committee will provide analysis and commentary. Jorge Espinosa, PCC seech instructor, will facilitate the discussion. Light refreshments will be served."Untamed Women"(Alberto Isaac, Mexico, 1995)Frustrated by their confined existence and being mistreated by their husbands, four housewives from a small Mexican town leave their husbands and children behind as they try to build new and more satisfying lives. They find work and adventure in a Guatemala cabaret, though danger looms when one of the women becomes involved with a drug dealer. The film was nominated for 14 Mexican Academy awards. In Spanish with English subtitles.Noon on Saturday, May 17, 2 p.m., Tuesday, May 20."Our Lady of Assassins"(Barbet Schroeder, Colombia/France, 2000)Barbet Schroeder’s first film away from Hollywood in 13 years also ranks as one of his best. A writer, with the intention of taking his own life, returns home to Colombia to find his hometown is a center for cocaine production and gang warfare. In Spanish with English subtitles. 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 21."Tieta di Agresta"(Carlos Carlos Diegues, Brazil, 1997)From the director of "Bye Bye Brazil,"Sonia Braga ("The Kiss of the Spider Woman?) stars as the rich and powerful widow of Brazilian industrialist who is caught up in the political upheaval of her girlhood village. In the midst of the uproar, she is forced to wrestle with her past and reveal her darkest secrets. In Portuguese with English subtitles.11 a.m. on Monday, May 19, 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 21."The Party Line"(Mario Barrera, USA, 1996)Rich Maldonado, a 20-something Latino, lives in a world of fantasy. When he calls a phone sex service one evening he discovers his former high school sweetheart on the other end of the line. This romantic comedy soon transforms into a parable about ethnic identity and self-sacrifice.5 p.m. on Monday, May 19, 10 a.m., Thursday, May 22."Midaq Alley"("El Callegon de los Milagros?) (Jorge Fons, Mexico, 1995)The most awarded film in Mexican history, based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. A complex portrait of lives in a Mexico City neighborhood, and the connections between them.10 a.m., Tuesday, May 20; 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 21; 2 p.m., Thursday, May 22.