The MIT Ibero-American Film Series 2022 features five critically acclaimed films by directors from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guatemala, with a diverse range of Latin American contexts and perspectives, and in Portuguese, Spanish, Kaqchikel Mayan, and English (all with English subtitles).

Bad Hair / Pelo malo (2013, Venezuela)
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Room 6-120
7:00 pm brief introduction by Margery Resnick
7:15 pm film screening

In-person event. Free and open to the MIT community. Please arrive at 6:45 to have your MIT badge or digital ID scanned at the door.

Introduction

An introduction will be made to the film by Margery Resnick. Resnick is a professor of Literature at MIT.

About the film

A film by Mariana Rondón. In Spanish with English subtitles. With Samuel Lange, Samantha Castillo. Run time 1h 33m.

A nine-year-old boy’s preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother, in this tender but clear-eyed coming-of-age tale. Junior is a beautiful boy, with big brown eyes, a delicate frame, and a head of luxurious dark curls. But Junior aches to straighten those curls, to acquire a whole new look befitting his emerging fantasy image of himself as a long-haired singer. As the opportunity approaches to have his photo taken for the new school year, that ache turns into a fiery longing. Junior’s mother, Marta, is barely hanging on. The father of her children has died, she recently lost her job as a security guard, and she now struggles to put a few arepas on the table for Junior and his baby brother. TRAILER

Awards

Winner of numerous awards including from Toronto International Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival Golden Seashell, Mar Del Plata Film Festival, Montreal Festival of New Cinema, Rencontres Cinématographiques De Cannes, and more.

 

About the Series

The MIT Ibero American Film Series 2022 features five critically acclaimed films by directors from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guatemala with a diverse range of Latin American contexts and perspectives, and in Portuguese, Spanish, Maya, and English (all with English subtitles). The featured films engage with topics such as: the clash between natives and newcomers, urban living, ecological degradation, family relations, and sexuality in a variety of genres: psychological thriller, science fiction, coming of age tale, “mob epic for the ages,” and domestic drama. More information: languages-events@mit.edu

Sponsors

This series was made possible with the support of Global Languages, Committee on Race and Diversity, MindHandHeart, Council for the Arts at MIT.

Thanks also to MISTI; History at MIT; Literature; Latino ERG; Hermanas Unidas; MIT Program in Women’s and Gender Studies; Program in Science, Technology, and Society; Comparative Media Studies/Writing; and MIT Linguistics.

This series is part of the Spanish Film Club, and was made possible with the support of Pragda, SPAIN arts & culture and the Secretary of State for Culture of Spain.

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