Latin American Cinema & Song
Gaucho cowboys and Argentinian vistas star in this year's offering from the Sydney Latin American Film Festival.
Overview
The Sydney Latin American Film Festival (SLAFF) is a film festival with a conscience. Since 2006 the good people behind this non-profit film festival have been pouring their proceeds into various community support programs in Latin America including the Argentine Institute for Sustainable Construction (IARCOS) and Misión México, a refuge for Mexican children run by Queensland couple, Pamela & Alan Skuse.
September and October, the SLAFF is presenting a series of film and cultural events under the banner of Latin American Cinema & Song. September, Cine en Construcción will bring five films from the San Sebastian International Film Festival to Sydney with screenings at the Spanish Cervantes Institute in Chippendale.
The pick of the festival though sounds like it might be Cine 428 - a night on the green of the Addison Road Community Centre - all themed to whisk you away to the gaucho cowboys and romantic terrain of Argentina. With a screening of the coming-of-age film, The Last Summer of La Boyita (looks like Deenie meets Shane on the set of The Motorcycle Diaries - yes, that's a blanket covering those stereotypes), music by DJ Spex, fiesta-style party lights, hay bales and meats for sale in the form of asado (traditional Argentinian BBQ) - tell me, is there much more you could ask for? Oh, and it's only eight bucks. Please, travel never smelt so sweet.