The CESAM Platform is proud to announce the first Latin American film series: Luminárias.

In close cooperation with KASKcinema, we have selected four dynamic and independent films with very different themes. All films will be introduced by relevant experts which will lead to more reflection and new ideas afterwards.

KASKcinema is a screening platform for films that fall outside the regular circuit. The programme consists of festival hits that were not traditionally distributed in Belgium, classics and cult films, documentaries and animation work, audiovisual experiments and short films. And so KASKcinema tries to satisfy the hunger of both film lovers and students through an original and high-quality programming. The Luminárias series fully reflects this philosophy and so an interesting and challenging programme is composed by the programming team:

• Elisa De Schepper, Lennart Soberon (KASKcinema)
• Daniel Biltereyst, Barbara Claeys, Alexander De Man, Yves Haeck (UGent)
  
  

‘KASKcinema = films for the daring’. And let ‘Dare to Think’ just be the credo of Ghent University!

More info and tickets: www.KASKcinema.be and https://ticketshop.ticketmatic.com/tickets_gent/shop-8
Venue:
KASKcinema
Godshuizenlaan 4 – Ghent

Programme:

• Tuesday 07 december | 20:30
  Luminárias: Pirotecnia (Federico Atehortúa Arteaga, Colombia, 2019, 83’)
  In this powerful film essay, Federico Atehortúa Arteaga weaves personal stories with a reflection on film history and the media representation of violence in Colombia. Pirotecnia (2019) starts with images about the execution of the men who wanted to kill Colombian President Rafael Reyes Prieto in 1906. For the filmmaker, these historical film recordings are the occasion to reflect on the role of the media in a country where violence and terror held each other in a stranglehold.
  In an interview, the director said that he didn't want to talk about war and violence in such a way with the film, but rather about the role of images: “The way we experience war takes place on an aesthetic level, precisely because an image never just happens. is an image, but above all a series of relationships that unleash power and emotion.”
  This film is introduced by film and literature researcher Santiago Alarcon.
  
  
• Wednesday 08 december | 20:30
  Luminárias: A Febre (Maya Da-Rin, Brazil, France, Germany, 2019, 98’)
  A Febre (2019) is Maya Da-Rin's enigmatic feature-length debut about Justino (Regis Myrupo), a middle-aged widower and member of the Desana community who moves to Manaus to work as a dock worker. When his beloved daughter plays with the idea of leaving him behind for a scholarship in Brasilia, his desperation manifests itself in a transcendental fever. Da-Rin introduces the mystique of the Amazon rainforest with the rigid character of urbanized modernity under a hypnotic soundscape of loud insects and screeching machinery.
  
  This makes A Febre an atmospheric questioning of the triangular relationship between man, city and nature, which adopts a humanistic attitude about the place that remains for indigenous population groups. Eco cinema that deserves to be seen, was also the opinion of the jury in Locarno two years ago when it awarded the FIPRESCI prize.
  
  The film is introduced by Philippe Meers, Head of the Center of Mexican Studies, UA
  
  
• Wednesday 08 December | 22:30
  Weird Wednesday: The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico, 1973, 114’)
  Colonial bullfrogs, plastic Christ dolls and sexual shamans; if you find a combination of these things, chances are you've entered Alejandro Jodorowsky's subconscious. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Chilean scandal director achieved immortality in cinephile circles with his absurdist feverish dreams and politically tinted rounds of provocation. The Holy Mountain (1973) is one of the most megalomaniac attempts to exorcise the violent ghosts of Latin American cinema. A man wakes up naked in the desert and heads to a metropolis ravaged by political corruption and rampant capitalism. There he finds himself in the middle of a mythical battle that bends the fabric of reality towards unseen destinies.
  
  With hallucinatory imagery and a penchant for obscenities of all forms, Jodorowsky shakes up a tarrot card deck of visions and taunts about a world in disarray. The result is without a doubt one of cinema's most captivating hypnosis sessions that will leave you foaming at the mouth and in a state of disgust and wonder.
  
  This film is introduced by programmer Lennart Soberon and is part of KASKcinema’s monthly program of late-night cult cinema.
  
  
• Thursday 09 december | 20:30
  Luminárias: Once Upon a Time in Venezuela (Anabel Rodríguez Rios, Venezuela, 2020, 99’)
  In Once Upon a Time in Venezuela we sail into Congo Mirador, a village built on water in Venezuela. In the run-up to the parliamentary elections, we follow local businesswoman and Chávez-enthusiastic politician Tamara, who is collecting votes. Opposite Tamara we have Natalie, a teacher who supports the opposition so she can keep her job. Through politically colored eyes we gain insight into the disappointments that cause the inhabitants of Congo Mirador to sink into their shoes. In addition to this emotional sedimentation, the village also suffers from ecological deposition, which is why more and more people choose to leave the village.
  
  Once Upon a Time in Venezuela is an activist-inspired portrayal of how a small village built on stilts fights against corruption, pollution and political decay.
  
  The film is followed by an online Q&A with filmmaker Anabel Rodríguez Rios.