Cine Latino is delighted to announce that comedian Iván Aristeguieta will be this year’s Festival Ambassador. Iván turned his hand to comedy after a successful career as a brew master and food technologist in his homeland of Venezuela. Since migrating to Australia in 2012, Iván has quickly made a name for himself on the comedy festival circuit here and overseas. In 2017, Iván toured his smash hit show ‘Juithy’ around Australia and his sitcom Lost in Pronunciationaired on ABC TV. Iván will bring his unique brand of Australian-Latin American humour to the Opening Night Events in Melbourne and Sydney.

With 26 features including a spotlight on new films from Argentina, a Cuban retrospective, 3 documentaries and 18 Australian premieres, this year’s Cine Latino Film Festival is a fabulous fiesta of the sights, sounds and stories of Latin America, and opens withwith one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year, Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA.

The most personal project to date from Academy Award®-winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También), ROMA follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a young domestic worker for a family in the middle-class neighbourhood of Roma in Mexico City. Delivering an artful love letter to the women who raised him, Cuarón draws on his own childhood to create a vivid and emotional portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst political turmoil of the 1970s. Cuarón’s first project since the ground-breaking Gravity in 2013. ROMA won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and has been selected to represent Mexico in the upcoming Oscars® and Spanish Goya awards. The Opening Night gala screening of ROMA will be followed by a Latin American feast of food, drinks and entertainment.

Cuarón will bookend the festival, with his 2001 breakout hit Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (AND YOUR MOTHER TOO!) set to screen on Closing Night. Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN is a perfectly balanced road comedy which launched the careers of stars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna. Sensual, surprising and poignant, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN will screen in a 2K restoration and is an opportunity to rediscover this gem of Mexican cinema.

Gael García Bernal also appears in THE ACCUSED (Ascusada),an involving and ambiguous Best Film nominee at the 2018 Venice Film Festival from auteur director Gonzalo Tobal (Villegas) about a 21-year-old girl (played by Argentinian singer LalíEsposito) who has to face not only a murder trial but also the scrutiny of an entire nation when she becomes the lead suspect for the murder of her best friend.

Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro (Westworld, Love, Actually)stars in A TRANSLATOR (Un Traductor), the Sundance-nominated drama based on true events, as a professor ordered to translate for the child victims of Chernobyl, pulling him away from his own young family.

Argentinian cinema is enjoying a resurgence and this year and Cine Latino features 8 new films from Argentina including TEN DAYS WITHOUT MOM, THE ACCUSED and the previously announced AN UNEXPECTED LOVE (El amor menos pensado), a funny and hugely entertaining smash-hit romantic comedy starring Ricardo Darín and Mercedes Morán as a long-married couple who begin to question the true meaning of love and desire after becoming empty-nesters.

In the number one Argentinian film of the year, TEN DAYS WITHOUT MOM (Mamá se fue de viaje), an exhausted mother-of-four takes a vacation away from her family, leaving her clueless husband to struggle at home with the kids for ten days with hilarious results!

Also from Argentina comes ALMOST LEGENDS (Casi leyendas), a feel-good buddy movie, in which comedic superstars Diego Peretti, Diego Torres and Santiago Segura play three men in mid-life crisis who rekindle their youthful rock-and-roll dreams in an attempt to save themselves and each other.

Guillermo Francella (The Clan) portrays a man pushed beyond his moral limits when faced with a life-or-death situation; in ANIMAL, one of the most anticipated Argentinian films of the year and from the co-writer of Birdman.

Brimming with energy, the hypnotic 1970s set Argentinian crime drama EL ÁNGEL skyrocketed to number one at the local box office and tells the true story of the beautiful and merciless Angel of Death, Argentina’s current longest-serving prisoner.

Based on the 1949 novel, IN LOVE AND IN HATE (Los que aman, odian) is a breathless romantic crime thriller cast in a classic mould – a luxury hotel, a victim whom everyone has motive to murder – and was seven-time Argentine Academy Award-nominated.

REY’S EDUCATION (La educación del Rey) is an outstanding intergenerational drama, the rise in youth crime in Argentina is explored through a friendship between a retired guard and a teen criminal.

Documentaries include POPE FRANCIS – A MAN OF HIS WORD, as Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Wim Wenders embarks on a personal journey with Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, and one of the world’s most remarkable subjects.

NO DRESS CODE REQUIRED (Etiqueta no rigurosa), a rallying cry for equality and a testament to the power of ordinary people, this award-winning documentary follows Víctor and Fernando, an unassuming couple from Mexico who find themselves in the centre of a legal firestorm over their desire to get married.

NOSSA CHAPE: OUR TEAM, following a devastating plane crash in 2016,thisisthe charged story of Brazil’s Chapecoense football club, made with exclusive access to the new team, the families and the three surviving players.

Also from Brazil comes LOVELING (Benzinho), a captivating, wonderfully moving new drama from Gustavo Pizzi, which traces a mother-of-four whose life is turned upside down when her eldest son is offered the chance to pursue his sporting dreams overseas.

Comedy also features with HOW TO BREAK UP WITH YOUR DOUCHEBAG (Cómo cortar a tu patán) the Mexican smash-hit romantic comedy follows a single break-up expert who specialises in devising elaborate ways for women to break up with their douchebags.

While in hilarious Colombian comedy AMALIA, THE SECRETARY (Amalia la secretaria), Amalia, a cranky secretary has unexpected feelings awakened in her by her building’s chaotic maintenance man, and finds herself going to outrageous lengths to keep him around.

Also from Colombia, a highlight from Los Angeles’ Outfest is EVA + CANDELA (¿Cómo te llamas); the evolution of attraction from sensual to intimate to routine between a filmmaker and her lead actress in this nuanced and passionate romance.

From creators of the Oscar-nominated Embrace of the Serpent, BIRDS OF PASSAGE (Pájaros de verano) is an astounding, epic, visually exquisite story about the Colombian drug trade, told through the perspective of a proud indigenous family.

In LUIS, a tense drama from one of the Dominican Republic’s biggest directors, a decorated policeman must confront the true meaning of justice when his spoiled teenage son breaks the law.

The Chilean winner of Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival, OBLIVION VERSES (Los versos del olvido) centres on an elderly caretaker who discovers the body of an unknown young woman and embarks on an odyssey to give her a proper burial.

From Costa Rica, VIOLETA AT LAST (Violeta al fin), the vibrant and affecting Audience Award nominee at Glasgow, newly divorced 72-year-old Violeta proves that rebelliousness knows no age when finances threaten her newfound freedom.

Winner of Best Film at the 2018 Sydney Film Festival, THE HEIRESSES (Las herederas) is a piercing and emotionally compelling look into the lives of the Paraguayan wealthy through the tribulations of a hesitant woman in quiet crisis.

Cine Latino uncovers modern Cuban cinema with a retrospective trio of films little seen in Australia:

Set against the end of Batista’s dictatorship in 1956 Havana, HELLO HEMINGWAY follows a girl who aspires to a scholarship in America as she reads Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea; Cuba’s 1991 Official Selection for the Academy Awards.

Cuba’s Official Selection for the Academy Awards in 2006, EL BENNY is the musically rich biopic recounts the eventful life of 1950s bandleader Benny Moré, of the greatest Cuban musicians of the 20th century, directed by Jorge Luis Sánchez.
Sánchez also directed CUBA LIBRE (2015). In 1898 Cuba, two young boys experience the defeat of the Spanish Army in their country and the ensuing US Occupation as an intense period in their lives.

The festival takes place nationally from mid-November in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Brisbane.

Cine Latino Film Festival 2018
Melbourne: Tue 13 – Wed 28 November Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Astor Theatre
Sydney: Thu 15 – Wed 28 November Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Palace Central Platinum
Brisbane: Wed 21 November – Sun 2 December Palace Centro on James Street
Canberra: Wed 14 – Wed 28 November Palace Electric Cinema
Perth: Thu 6 – Sun 16 December Cinema Paradiso
ww.cinelatinofilmfestival.com.au

To enter this great competition just fill in the form below:

Competition will be drawn 18 November 2018, winners will be notified by mail.

Widely held as two of Australia’s most outstanding live acts, The Cat Empire & Xavier Rudd will hit the highways together for the first time in January and February 2017 for a series of unique concert events to be held in picturesque open-air settings. Presented by Zaccaria Concerts & Touring, the tour will bring these two incredible acts onto large stages in picturesque non-traditional purpose built outdoor venues in Hobart, Ballarat, Byron Bay, Bribie Island and Adelaide.

Tickets for the handful of distinct concert events go on sale for the general public on Friday 21 October 2016 at 10.00am AEDT Australia. However, a special pre-sale for the concerts will be available from the respective ticketing agencies outlined below on Tuesday 18th October at 10.00am and will be available until Thursday 20 October at midnight AEDT Australia. See ticketing information outlined below.

For over a decade, virtuoso’s The Cat Empire & Xavier Rudd hold commonalities; they’ve remained current in global markets whilst treading a path less travelled, continually doing it in their own way. Celebrated for their individual genre crossing sounds and their enduring careers at a global level, they’ve accrued massive followings throughout Europe, Canada, the USA, South Africa and South America with their legendary live performances. Their incredible musicianship has resulted in successful sold out tours year in and year out, both increasing awareness by putting their music into the hands of overseas travelers who then took their tunes home in their backpacks and spread the word organically across the globe.

The Cat Empire’s genre-bending style has gifted them the tag “the ultimate party band” as they enthuse fans with their uplifting mash up of distinctive sounds. Their infectious tunes bring the crowd alive with their all-time tight and powerful brass section.

2016 has seen their ‘RISING WITH THE SUN’ album debut at number 1 on both the National ARIA & AIR charts at home, top 10 in 6 other countries and Top 20 in 16 countries around the world, along with a global debut at number 9 on the iTunes worldwide chart. Before heading home for their Australian summer dates they’ll complete the last leg of an international tour which has seen them play over 100 shows throughout UK, Australia, Canada and Europe, the biggest global tour of their career in terms of ticket sales.

Looking forward to these summer shows, The Cat Empire’s Felix Riebl said today,

“We’ve been crossing paths with Xavier Rudd at festivals in Australia and internationally for many years, and we’ve always had a great time together. Add Sahara Beck and Harts to the mix, it should be an amazing summer. We’re very excited about this one, it’ll be a full and colourful stage. “

As one of our most adept multi-instrumentalists, Xavier Rudd enthrals audiences as he paints breathtaking pictures with vivid unmistakeable tones. Hypnotic ceremonial rhythms ease effortlessly into tender folk songs. Gritty guitar blues sits perfectly alongside entrancing yidaki (didgeridoo) passages. 2016 has seen Xavier top the charts in the Netherland with his ‘Follow the Sun’ single pipping global hit makers Justin Bieber and Adele to the number one post there whilst achieving platinum sales in Italy. His last European tour sold out months in advance with an incredible 14,000 tickets sold in the Netherlands alone. These Australian summer concert events will see Xavier deliver a magical set as a three piece with Bobby Alu on drums and Ant Aggs on keys.

Xavier Rudd shares his thoughts about The Cat Empire,

“I’ve always had a tonne of respect for The Cat Empire guys since the start. Deadly musicians and lovely people. Over the last 15 or so years touring around the world and seeing their posters in so many different towns and countries has always brought me a smile. I guess it’s about time that we teamed up to do some shows together & I’m stoked to share a stage with these legends back on home soil early in 2017!”

What better way to set the mood with three captivating exceptional young artists. Currently making waves around the world, singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Darren Harts a.k.a HARTS will mesmerize audiences with his individual brand of alternative rock, funk and soul. Sydney six piece OCEAN ALLEY will be bring their unique and refreshing brand of psychedelic reggae fusion. Coming of the back off touring with Ball Park Music, young indie pop rocker SAHARA BECK will kick off proceedings for what is sure to be an atmospheric evening.

Patrons might like to bring along some personal comforts such as a rug, cushion or a low back chair to enjoy the lush surroundings. Don’t forget to check the web for all ticketing information first and be sure to dig out your dancing shoes too for what will be a magical summer evening of music under the stars.

A handful of atmospheric outdoor concert events in remarkable wide open spaces with the eclectic mix of The Cat Empire & Xavier Rudd, along with HARTS, Ocean Alley and Sahara Beck will be a highlight of summer 2017.

The Cat Empire & Xavier Rudd Summer 2017 Tour
Thu 26th Jan 2017 – St Davids Park, Hobart
Sun 29th Jan 2017 – North Gardens, Ballarat
Sat 4th Feb 2017 – Red Devil Park, Byron Bay
Sun 5th Feb 2017 – andstone Point Hotel, Sandstone Point
Sat 11th Feb 2017 – Genelg Beach, Adelaide
Sun 12th Feb 2017 – Stuart Park, Wollongong
www.thecatempire.com