This week, discover classical Latin American cinema from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Argentina with film screenings hosted by the Royal Film Commission in collaboration with the Columbia University Middle East Research Center.
The films will be presented and discussed by Richard Pena, professor of film studies at Columbia University and former director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City, organising the New York Film Festival and the New Directors/New Films series at the MOMA.
The week kicks off tonight, Sunday at 8:00 pm, with a screening of the 1950 Mexican film “Los Olvidados” (The Young and the Damned), about a group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City. It won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1951. Although cinema arrived early in Latin America, within a year of its unveiling in Paris and other European cities, it was really with Bunuel’s Los Olvidados that one could argue that Latin American cinema truly came into its own. In 2003, the film was admitted into UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” register in recognition for its artistic achievement.
Rainbow Cinema presents a selection of Russian, French, Spanish, and American films this week, as well as a live concert screening of Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour – Live from Wembley Stadium (Friday at 7:30 pm), and a sing-along screening of Moulin Rouge (Saturday at 7:30 pm).
(Trailer of Russian Film “In the Fog”, which will be screened at Rainbow Cinema on Tuesday, 7:00 pm and 9:45 pm)
For an evening of live jazz and fusion music, head to Blue Fig on Wednesday at 9:00 pm. Yacoub Abu Ghosh on bass, Kamal Musallam on guitar, and Christopher Mikhayel on drums will perform a mix of jazz, funk, latin and other improvisations.
The Amman Citadel Festival’s schedule this week features an eclectic mix, starting with Hani Mitwasi and Linda Hijazi along with the Arab Music Ensemble (Sunday at 8:00 pm), the Choir of London’s “Blessed Cecilia” featuring Jordanian Soprano Dima Bawab (Tuesday at 8:00 pm), and concluding the week with the Palestine Youth Orchestra with members of the Amman Symphony Orchestra (Saturday at 8:00 pm). Details and tickets available here.
For details on these events and many more, check out 7iber’s calendar.
