Latin American film festival to open in Seoul next week

SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) — A Latin American film festival will be held in Seoul next week to introduce Korean audiences to the region’s cultural diversity, organizers said Monday.

The 2nd Latin American Film Festival will show 12 movies from 12 Latin American countries at Korea University from Oct. 31-Nov. 4, the Mexican Embassy here said in a press release.

The event will be jointly hosted by the embassies of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as Korea University’s Department of Spanish Language and Literature and Institute of Hispanic Studies.

This image, provided by the Mexican Embassy, shows a poster for the 2nd Latin American Film Festival.

On Monday, the festival will open with a screening of the comedy “Old Friends” from Peru, which tells the story of a group of octogenarians who get in trouble while celebrating the life of a recently deceased friend.

In the same genre, Chile will present “The Gift,” a film that shows that age is no obstacle for unusual adventures, while Honduras will present “Whatever,” which humorously portrays the tenacity and spiritual determination of Latin Americans in the face of hardships.

Ecuador’s film, “In the Name of the Daughter,” tells the story of an 11-year-old girl who struggles to defend her convictions in the ideologically polarized region of the 1970s.

Music and football, two of Latin America’s favorite themes, will feature in Colombia’s documentary film “The Trip of the Accordion” and in Costa Rica’s “Two Waters,” which follows a boy’s endeavors to join a football school.

To address recent social phenomena, Bolivia will show “American Visa,” a movie about migration, and Brazil will present “Two Lost in a Dirty Night,” which follows the journey of two Brazilians in pursuit of the American Dream in New York.

Other films on offer are “Spielberg Generation” from Mexico; “A Bad Day to Fish” from Uruguay; and “The Blue Apple Tree” from Venezuela.

Argentina will close the festival on Friday with a screening of “Francis: Father George,” a biographical film about the life of Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church.

Admission is free to all events.

More information can be found at www.kucinetrap.kr.