The Brooklyn Film Festival — all 10 days of it — is back this summer with a program that includes over 120 movies. As usual, Latin American films are comfortably represented. In particular, two documentaries are sure to find some buzz at the New York City fest. Agustina Comedi’s El Silencio es un cuerpo que cae (Silence is a Body That Falls), for example, looks to follow in the footsteps of family documentaries like Memories of a Penitent Heart and graphic novels like Fun Home. Focused on Comedi’s father and the many home videos he took before he was killed in an accident in 1999, the film excavates the closeted life he led. As she was told by one of her father’s friends, “When you were born, a part of Jaime passed away.” With a grainy VHS-feel, El silencio is a tender portrait of the price many men then and since have paid in staying silent.
With a tagline like “Life made them warriors. Football made them champions,” you know you’re in for quite a doc. Then again, it’s not often you get a sports documentary about female soccer players. But Jennifer Socorro, Edwin Corona Ramos and David Alonso’s Nos llaman Guerreras (They Call Us Warriors) mixes its on-the-field camerawork with stark images you’re more likely to find on the news or on a socially-conscious doc about Venezuelan poverty. Following the country’s female soccer team as they’re set to obliterate their rivals at the World Cup, the fast-cut doc is an inspiring feminist rallying cry.
Elsewhere, the fest will also be showing a slew of short films from Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba tackling fishing communities, undocumented immigrants, and family dramas. But in addition to these films, aspiring filmmakers should also check out the the Brooklyn Film Festival Exchange (BFFX) program on June 9th. Designed to connect filmmakers with film distributors, the day-long event at the Kickstarter offices offers a series of informative panels. One to watch out for in particular is titled “Film Finance in the US and Latin America.” Featuring Mauricio Aguinaco, Film Commissioner of Mexico City, Carlos Gutierrez from Cinema Tropical, Priscilla Torres (producer, Nos llaman guerreras), and filmmaker (and BFF alumnus) J. Xavier Velasco (director, Zerch), among others, the panel will include valuable information on how US filmmakers can use financing programs for their film projects in Mexico City. So whether you’re excited to catch some great indie flicks or are eager to flex those networking muscles, be sure to plan a visit to the Brooklyn Film Festival this year.
Brooklyn Film Festival runs June 1-10, 2018.