SBS On Demand is proud to premiere a selection of films as part of the Latin American Film Festival (LAFF). The LAFF offers a chance to view films from a region largely underrepresented on Australian screens, and we could not be happier to be involved.
Together with the Latin Embassies of Australia, SBS On Demand is streaming these 10 films (available until 30 April):
1 February
The Dognapper (Mato Sem Cachorro) - Brazil
Deco (Bruno Gagliasso) is a wasted musical talent who lives on the couch at home. Until the day he meets his two great loves: the beautiful radio host Zoé (Leandra Leal) and Guto (Dusty / Duffy), a dog that passes out every time he gets excited (he suffers from narcolepsy). Deco and Zoé rescue Guto and the three live as a family. Two years later, Zoé gives Deco the boot and takes Guto with her. Deco decides to take a stand and with the help of his cousin Leléo (Danilo Gentili), forms a plan to kidnap Guto.
Introduction
Watch The Dognapper at SBS On Demand
Rey (King) - Chile
In 1860, a French adventurer established a kingdom in an independent region of southern Chile, uniting the native Mapuche. The Chilean army’s response was devastating. At least, that’s one version of this true story. Or, was he a French spy? Banished? Died but somehow returned? In Rey, the tension between history and memory materialise in the degradation of image and sound. The film is an odyssey through a land of fantasies and dreams.
Introduction
Watch Rey at SBS On Demand
2 February
Alma De Heroe (Hero Soul) - Colombia
Two young lieutenants, recently graduated from the Military School, have to face the painful adventure of the war in Colombia.
Introduction
Watch Hero Soul at SBS On Demand
Panama - Ecuador
Two Ecuadorian twenty-seven-year-olds, former high school classmates, run into each other by coincidence in Panama City in 1985. They haven’t seen each other since their graduation and, although quite close at that time, have followed opposite paths: Esteban (Diego Coral López) works as a banker in Ecuador and is there for business, not always legitimate. Jose Luis (Jorge Alejandro Fegan) presents himself as a journalist, but is really a member of guerrilla group Alfaro Vive Carajo, living clandestinely while preparing a new action in Ecuador: the kidnapping of a banker. Inspired by a true story.
Introduction
Watch Panama at SBS On Demand
3 February
Hunting Party - Guatemala
Fausto (Fernando Franco), Augusto (Hector Pizarro) and Oliverio (Chris Kummerfeldt Quiroa) escape together from their inconsequential urban lives for one last night to bohemian paradise, Antigua Guatemala. They have 12 hours to blow Fausto’s corrupt bribe money in one last epic party before Oliverio leaves the country the next morning. Their bulletproof plan is to find foreign girls, hook up with them, laugh, drink, dance, smoke and not get killed.
But when charming playboy Fausto meets Genevieve (Camille Pellerin), he discovers that it takes more than his seducing skills to actually make love work. Meanwhile inseparable friends Oliverio and Augusto find themselves falling for the same mysterious woman, Agnes (Emily K. Rose). Now all five of them must fight for their friendship, future and love in that one short decadent night, which could be their last.
Introduction
Watch Hunting Party at SBS On Demand
Kimura - Panama
Tristan is an underground fighter, wracked with guilt about causing the death of his youngest brother. Years later, he returns to beg his family's forgiveness, but finds many unexpected changes that will test him, amongst them, his much-changed older brother, and his beloved ex-girlfriend, Diana, who risks losing everything to settle her late father's debt to a mob boss. Tristan wants to help Diana keep her home, even if it means returning to the sad violent world of his past.
Introduction
Watch Kimura at SBS On Demand
4 February
Guaraní - Paraguay
Atilio sets out on a long journey to try and convince Helena that she should give birth in Guarani land.
Introduction
Watch Guaraní at SBS On Demand
Las Toninas van el Este (Dolphins Go East) - Uruguay
Miguel Ángel García Mazziotti, a Río de la Plata's decadent showbiz gay figure (aka 'The Fat'), receives a visit from his estranged daughter, Virginia. His initial reluctance gives way when she reveals that she is pregnant with his grandchild.
Introduction
Watch Las Toninas van el Este at SBS On Demand
5 February
La pasión de Javier - Peru
The story of Peruvian poet and guerrilla fighter, Javier Heraud. It's the early 1960s, a time marked by the effervescence and romanticism of the Cuban revolution in Latin America, and Javier Heraud, an outstanding literature student and young poet, goes in search of his controversial calling, confronting the expectations that his parents and society have of him and contradicting his own vocation. His life takes a diametrically opposite turn as he begins a journey that will open his eyes and take him to an unexpected destination, although strangely foretold in his poetry.
Introduction
Watch La pasión de Javier (Javier's Passion) at SBS On Demand
El Baile de la Gacela (The Gazelle's Dance) - Costa Rica
A 72-year-old man sees the chance to fulfil his dream of winning a big trophy when he hears of a tropical dance contest. While searching for a suitable partner, he's forced to re-evaluate some old prejudices.
Introduction
Watch El Baile de la Gacela (The Gazelle's Dance) at SBS On Demand
