While accounts of life under oppressive dictators and stories of different cultures and world views may seem ubiquitous, the reality of these accounts can at times be difficult to grasp without watching them unfold visually. The New England Festival of Ibero-American Cinema of 2011, hosted at the College from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9, offered students the opportunity to more fully immerse themselves in stories from Ibero-America, a term used to refer to Spain, Portugal and former colonies of Portugal and Spain.
Joining NEFIAC this year, Dartmouth screened Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese films, short films, documentaries and animations in Silsby Hall and Filene Auditorium. Brown University, Yale University and Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., collaborated to host the festival.
The Hanover festival kicked off on Oct. 5 with an international premiere of Chilean director Francisca Silva's feature film, "Ivan's Woman" (2010), a dark, chilling portrayal of 40-year-old Ivan and his 15-year-old captive, Natalia a story reminiscent of "Lolita," without the playfulness. Silva himself attended a question and answer session after the film in which he discussed the themes and ideas behind the film. Other directors were also in attendance for their respective films' screenings.
"The festival itself has brought a lot of directors to New England," Susan Biron, Latin American, Latino and Carribean studies department chair, said. "We at Dartmouth hope to tap into that so our students can meet and interact with them"
Biron was responsible for bringing the festival to Dartmouth's campus.
Over the course of five days, various independent films of all genres were screened. On Oct. 6, Brazilian film "Riscardo" (2010) portrayed a young actress's struggles to play her first big film role. Heavier topics included Colombia guerilla wars as depicted in "Impunity" (2010) and the repression of civilians during Guatemala's dictatorship in the documentary "The Island" (2010). The festival ended on a lighter note, with a humorous film about a Mexican unionist who turns his taxi into a raft to "legally" enter Miami in "Acorazado" (2010).
As in several movies in the series, powerful stories of ordinary lives as they intersect with larger political events are aptly examined in the documentary "The Island." As a group of Guatemalans sort through the archives of the secret police, they come across the details behind the disappearance of their own family members who were revolutionaries.
In one scene, a woman describes how her mother was tortured and hanged before her eyes. "I have never been happy again," she says painstakingly as she breaks down. A heavy silence characterizes the film because many of those interviewed are unable to continue due to the painful memories or disbelief at the monstrosity of what happened. The documentary also intersperses archival footage of protests and police brutality, editing that makes the personal and political dichotomy all the more arresting.
"We tried to show a variety of genres such as shorts, features, documentaries every evening and also a range of countries of origin," Biron said.
For example, one collection of short films from Argentina, which screened on Saturday, provided a refreshing array of different styles and topics. Due to the shorter length, many of the Argentinean shorts were bewildering at times, but left enough doubt and mystery for the audience to ask intriguing questions like, "Was she a prostitute?" or "Is that chicken made of clay?"
While Biron said the festival was a modest success, attracting at least 20 people to each screening, the festival was not heavily publicized because it was intended to be a test run to determine whether Dartmouth should continue to host the festival in the future.
"We kept it low-key because we are doing it as a pilot run," Biron said.
Biron said she hopes to expand the festival in years to come so more Dartmouth students are involved.
"It's a marvelous opportunity for not only students of LALACS but students in film studies, government, history, international studies, women and gender studies, Spanish and Portuguese and anybody in the arts in general," she said. "After all, it's also about innovative art and international filmmaking."
Although it typically takes a great deal of critical acclaim and renown for a foreign film to be screened at the Hopkins Center, the Ibero-American film festival provides the opportunty to watch lower-budget independent films from other countries that might otherwise go unknown.
Headquartered in Providence, R.I., NEFIAC launched last year for "the promotion of the Hispanic and Portuguese cultures through the exhibition of feature films, documentaries, shorts and animations," according to the festival's website. The entire festival also holds various panels and showcases Latin American arts on other campuses, and awards an emerging filmmaker with the Grand Jury Award.
"We are all volunteers who find one way or another a reason to do this from very much deep inside," the festival director Jos Torrealba said in an email to The Dartmouth. "As an event, I think we are still developing and changing, and we could be going around the different locations in New England to find where it works best and where we are most needed."
A film is a powerful medium of cultural understanding, Torrealba said. As Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Brown University, he observed that students and faculty would often refer to films in discussion.
"We have so many educational institutions in this region of the USA that have a great demand for cultural events, and film is one of the easiest and most useful and used means to get to that in classrooms around the country," he said. "It is a special moment to share, experience, learn and live a different culture in your own city."
