Working in a reflexive mode, the filmmakers in this program contemplate their chosen medium, its history, defining characteristics, and iconic movements. If there exists any specifically Latin American mode of meta-cinema, THE VAMPIRES OF POVERTY (1977), by Luis Ospiña and Carlos Mayolo, is one of the starting points of that tradition, a reflection on the representation of poverty in Latin America. Ospiña and Mayolo accompanied the 1978 Parisian premiere with a manifesto entitled “What is Poverty Porn?”, which marked a new level of self-awareness and critique surrounding the foreign perception of Latin American film. CINEPOLIS, THE FILM CAPITAL (2003) presents an insider’s unsettling perspective on the everyday world of image-making and image consumption. The cinematic apparatus is foregrounded in Enrique Colina Barnet’s CHAPUCERÍAS (1987), a Cuban critique of flawed and careless production, while the Brazilian short DUEL (1973), by Daniel Santiago, is a conceptual game that represents the tensions between Super 8 and 16mm filmmakers.

Luis Ospiña & Carlos Mayolo THE VAMPIRES OF POVERTY / AGARRANDO PUEBLO (Colombia, 1977, 29 min, 16mm-to-digital)
Daniel Santiago DUEL / DUELO (Brazil, 1979, 3 min, Super-8mm/16mm-to-digital)
Ximena Cuevas CINEPOLIS, THE FILM CAPITAL / CINEPOLIS, LA CAPITAL DEL CINE (Mexico, 2003, 22 min, digital)
Teo Hernandez SOUVENIR DE CANNES (Mexico/France, 1982, 12 min, Super-8mm-to-digital)
Enrique Colina CHAPUCERÍAS (Cuba, 1987, 11 min, 35mm-to-digital)
Total running time: ca. 80 min.