Cine Latino Film Festival 2018

Overview

Australia's Cine Latino Film Festival is back for 2018, and in a big way. Returning for its third year, the annual showcase of  cinema from Central and South America boasts two of the most notable flicks not just from the region, but from the international scene in general over the past twelve months.

The first, Roma, is the latest feature from Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón — and this gorgeous, moving black-and-white tale of a domestic worker in Mexico City comes to Melbourne straight from winning the top award at this year's Venice Film Festival. The second, Birds of Passage, is a sweeping Colombian drug tale; however this Indigenous story is unlike any drug war flick you've seen before.

In total, 26 movies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Paraguay are on the CLFF's 2018 lineup, with Cuarón's work bookending the fest. Not only is Roma the opening night pick, but the filmmaker's 2001 Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna-starring effort Y Tu Mamá También will close out proceedings. Other highlights include Bernal in The Accused, a drama about a 21-year-old woman on trial for murder; Westworld's Rodrigo Santoro in A Translator, playing a professor helping child victims of Chernobyl; and this year's Sydney Film Festival prize winner The Heiresses.

Running from Tuesday, November 13 to Wednesday, November 28, CLFF screens at Sydney's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth and the Astor Theatre.