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| Raul Julia and William Hurt play cellmates in the groundbreaking Kiss of the Spider Woman. |
Things are getting hot down in the Dal Art Gallery.
As one of the venues for the Atlantic Film Festival, the gallery is screening films made in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. Latin American cinema is flourishing, with filmmakers including Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro, to name a few, making their mark in the mainstream.
Film curator Ron Foley Macdonald looked for films that would give a taste of Latin American cinema, from the road tripping of The Motorcycle Diaries, with its stunning cinematography of South America, to the surreal, offbeat flavor of Cronos, a sci-fi film by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth).
“Latin America cinema is certainly the dynamic cultural force right now,” says Mr. Macdonald. “And they echo us (Atlantic Canada) to certain degree with its sense of marginalization.”
He’s particularly pleased to be able to screen Kiss of the Spider Woman. The film, starring William Hurt and Raul Julia as cell mates in a South American prison, was the first indie drama to score big at the Academy Awards, including an Oscar win by Hurt playing a gay man.
“It’s a landmark film from the mid-'80s, and it just came out on DVD in July so people haven’t seen it for awhile,” he says.
The films screen daily at 5 p.m. in the Dal Art Gallery, located downstairs in the Dal Arts Centre. Admission is free.
Here is the rest of the series, Fiesta at Five, already in progress:
 | Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985): Based on a novel by Argentina's Manuel Puiz, Kiss of the Spider Woman examines the unlikely relationship between a flamboyant gay man, brilliantly played by Oscar winner William Hurt, and a macho, homophobic political activist (Raul Julia) who share a jail cell in a repressive South American country. Tuesday, Sept. 16, 5 p.m. |
 | Cronos (1993): Mexican director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) makes his debut with this sci-fi flick about an elderly antiques dealer who accidentally activates a device granting eternal life. Wednesday, Sept. 17, 5 p.m. |
 | Y Tu Mamá También (2002): Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Akhban) directs this road trip about raging hormones, intense friendships, and the headlong rush into adulthood. Thursday, Sept. 18, 5 p.m. |
 | The Motorcycle Diaries (2003): Gael Garcia Bernal plays the young, pre-revolutionary Che Guevara on an eye-opening trip exploring the stunning poverty and geographical wonders of South America. Friday, Sept. 19, 5 p.m. |
LINK: Dal Art Gallery