Welcome “Tradition”, “Diversity” and “Renewal” might be the best terms one can use to describe the essence of more than thirty films presented in this Latin Film Showcase organized by the Ibero-American Cultural Attachés Association, which will be free and open to all in the Washington DC metropolitan area. This event showcases films from almost twenty countries, and in its diversity brings together contemporary classics such as La gente de la Universal (Colombia, 1993) and El hijo de la novia (Argentina, 2001), as well as new and surprising examples like La Nana (Chile, 2009) and Juventude (Brazil, 2008). Besides this wide variety of tendencies, documentaries from Spain and Latin American countries are also highlighted, such as El honor de las injurias (Spain, 2007) and the highly acclaimed Cocalero (Bolivia, 2007).

However, there is no single genre that defines this unrestricted type of filmmaking: black humor, political comedy, domestic drama, historical documentary, and even science fiction; all these films have overcome orthodox themes and formal constraints. This film series is very heterogeneous, diverse, pluralistic and striking, and includes both the old and the new; tradition and novelty; the retelling of myths and the search for new images that display a contradictory and troubled world, united by a common historical and linguistic heritage.

A film festival is always good news, and this is particularly true in this case. I believe I do not exaggerate when I say that with this initiative, Latin America, along with Spain and Portugal, now have their own family album to show to audiences of the Washington D.C. area: pages full of memories and fiction that Ibero-American cinema reinvents each day as sign of strength and topicality. Our multifaceted cinema is now finally reunited in one album, enabling us to wonder, contemplate and enjoy. Let’s hope this is not the last time.

Roberto Brodsky
Honorary Artistic Director – Curator
DC Latin American Film Showcase with Portugal and Spain