Monthlong festival celebrates ‘Reel Latin America’ Director from Chile will lecture, attend film screenings

Director Diego Rougier will attend screenings of two of his movies and talk about the film industry in Argentina and Chile during the University of Louisville’s free, public “Reel Latin America” Film Festival Oct. 6-Nov. 1.

The 23rd annual festival offers multiple screenings of nine films in Spanish with English subtitles. Locations will be Ekstrom Library’s Room 104W and Swain Student Activities Center’s Floyd Theater on UofL’s Belknap Campus in addition to the downtown Muhammad Ali Center, 114 N. Sixth St.

This year’s offerings are from Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Chile and the United States. UofL faculty or staff members with expertise in film or the movies’ social justice themes will introduce the films and lead discussions after the screenings.

Rougier’s talk will begin at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 in Room W104, Ekstrom Library. He also will lead discussions after the Oct. 20 screening of his 2011 “Sal: The Film” at 7 p.m. in Floyd Theater, Swain Student Activities Center, and the Oct. 22 screening of his 2015 film “Alma (Soul),” starting at 7 p.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center. The Argentinian TV series and film director-writer, who now lives in Chile, is co-owner of the Picardia Films production company. His “Sal: The Film,” considered the first Chilean Western, received more than 60 prizes in international film festivals.

The Spanish section of UofL’s classical and modern languages department organizes the film festival in conjunction with the Spanish language newspaper Al Dia en America.

For a listing of the festival films, descriptions, times, locations and additional sponsors, check http://medina502.com/reel_latinamerica_2016/index.php.

For more information, contact Manuel Medina, classical and modern languages, at 502-419-6114, 502-852-0501 or manuel.medina@louisville.edu.