IT'S A SMALL WORLD (Latin Cinema)

It's incredible how this child called Latin Cinema has grown leaps and bounds with AFI FEST, and watching him grow has been an eye opener. Although it maintains youthful freshness through his narrative language in each and every one of its movies, each year Latin Cinema surpasses expectations of creativity, characteristic of visionary filmmakers. Despite telling stories that are common to us, they stay true to the essence of the Latin American culture. For those who think the Latino world is a Small World, you are in for a Big World surprise.

For example, this year, immigration is a hot topic, focused as the lion hunting its prey. Despite the perils encountered to cross the border, immigrants still want to come in no matter the risk. The immigration issue is humanized through the eyes of an adolescent boy who yearns for a better life by channeling his dream playing with used car parts: PARTES USADAS (USED PARTS from Mexico).

In a rough and tough world where life-threatening challenges for survival are overwhelming, the viewer is not threatened by this scenario because the film offsets cruelty and injustice through a love story embraced in romantic poetry. Cyrano, half Robin Hood half hoodlum, sweeps you up in a story of heroic survival and love, in CYRANO FERNANDEZ, filmed in a Venezuelan slum. Power abuse by government officials is a demeaning and frustrating issue, however director Sergio Umansky leverages this truth and turns a serious topic into a humorous matter. Latin Americans are aspirational, boisterous of material belongings and sometimes regular show-offs. This true nature is superficial, fictional, irreverent and funnier than "the authority" cares to admit. Not surprising, therefore, that most television soaps have a field day with this trait...and so does ES MEJOR QUE GABRIELA NO SE MUERA (IT'S BETTER IF GABRIELA DOESN'T DIE from Mexico).

A commonality reflected in Latin films this year are children relishing in their childhood, children acting as adults due to lack of alternatives to act otherwise, and adults acting like children to justify their fears and/or immaturity.

We have Gael Garcia Bernal and the son of Cuaron; both exemplify proposals that face the difficult endeavor behind a director's role. On one end Garcia Bernal personifies a frivolous lifestyle, detaching him from responsibilities. Of course, his character is a consequence of dysfunctional parents whose principles and values are usually for sale. On the other end, Cuaron Jr. shows a story that may be simple, but its visual style is a true novelty.

We are witnesses to a story of a mugger, who is not only deceiving, but teaches a life lesson. Intriguingly, the filmmaker captivates us through passive suspense, inviting viewers to become accomplices to the point of feeling we are also assaulted by EL ASALTANTE (THE MUGGER from Argentina).

Also from Argentina, another story exposes us to the world of manipulation and totalitarianism, set in a grey, cold and dreary environment that takes viewers by the hand to believe in a "happy ever after" ending, a gift from a child in LA ANTENA (THE AERIAL from Argentina). An unknown world of mysterious foreign cultures, on our own turf, we would understand if we spoke the language, but for some strange reason we are seduced to follow suit in LUZ SILENCIOSA (SILENT LIGHT, nomination from Mexico to the Oscars.)

Luckily, Latin Cinema is not a reflection of a small world, and as proof of this, you will agree that it mirrors the richness, thoroughness and cleverness of literary "guru" and Nobel Price winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Coincidentally, the closure of AFI FEST will be celebrated with the film AMOR EN TIEMPOS DE COLERA (LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA), based on the novel by Garcia Marquez.