CLACS @ NYU

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies NYU, Cinema Tropical, and the World Council of Peoplesfor the United Nations / What Moves You?, will host the latest installation of  “INDOCUMENTALES: A Film and Conversation Series Exploring Latin American Migrant Experiences in the United States,” on Thurs., Nov. 15 and Tues., Nov. 27 6-9pm, at NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center’s auditorium (53 Washington Square South.

INDOCUMENTALES will include a Nov. 15 screening of David Riker’s critically acclaimed “La Ciudad” (1998), followed on Nov. 27 by Jim McKay’s most recent feature, “En El Séptimo Día” (2018).

Twenty years between their releases, the films nevertheless employ similar narrative structures and production models: both are filmed on location in New York, in Spanish, with primarily non-professional actors. Both films speak to the struggle of newly arrived Latin American migrants for survival, respect, and meaning in unfamiliar territories.

Both screenings are followed by panel discussions meant to bring together filmmakers, scholars, activists, policy makers, and community representatives. The discussion will be conducted in English.

“La Ciudad” (David Riker, 1998, 88 min. In Spanish, English, and Korean with English subtitles)

Four gritty stories chronicle the Latino immigrant experience in New York City. In the first, desperate day laborers risk their lives working in unsafe conditions for low pay. Then, newcomer Francisco (Cipriano Garcia) gets a respite from loneliness when he meets a kindhearted woman. Next, homeless puppeteer Luis (Jose Rabelo) battles bureaucracy to register his daughter for school. Finally, garment worker Ana (Silvia Goiz) struggles for the paycheck that could save her sick daughter’s life.

Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E0gXl-oGWw

“En El Septimo Dia” (Jim McKay, 2018, 92 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)

En el Séptimo Día is a fiction feature following a group of undocumented immigrants living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn over the course of seven days. Bicycle delivery guys, construction workers, dishwashers, deli workers, and cotton candy vendors, they work long hours six days a week and then savor their day of rest on Sundays on the soccer fields of Sunset Park. José, a bicycle delivery worker, is the team’s captain – young, talented, hardworking and responsible. When José’s team makes it to the finals, he and his teammates are thrilled. But his boss throws a wrench into the celebration when he tells José he has to work on Sunday, the day of the finals. José tries to reason with his boss or replace himself, but his efforts fail. If he doesn’t work on Sunday, his job and his future will be on the line. But if he doesn’t stand up for himself and his teammates, his dignity will be crushed. Shot in the neighborhoods of Sunset Park, Park Slope, and Gowanus, En el Séptimo Día is a humane, sensitive, and humorous window into a world rarely seen. The film’s impact is made quietly, with restraint and respect for the individual experiences, everyday challenges, and small triumphs of its characters.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYg3mAJTWSE

In Latin America, 1968 marked the apogee of the social, political, and cultural transformations that had been unfolding in the wake of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. To mark the 50th anniversary of this momentous year, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) offers a film and lecture series that will explore and celebrate its significance in the region.

The first two events of the series focused on cinema, featuring screenings of new films by the Argentine director Albertina Carri and the Chilean director Javier Correa. 

On November 5th, CLACS will host a public dialogue with the Brazilian musician and composer Tom Zé, a foundational figure of Tropicália movement of 1968, a brief but powerful movement in music, theatre, film, and visual art. Known for his juxtaposition of avant-garde poetics and popular music, Zé’s music and performance is steeped in irony and social critique. Having launched his career with Tropicália, he fell from public view as he continued to develop more experimental pop music. In the 1990s, he regained international visibility with the release of a compilation of his work from the 70s and two innovative albums featuring new material. He continues to perform and lives in São Paulo. Tom Zé will be in conversation with professor Christopher Dunn of Tulane University, the leading scholar of Tropicália and Brazilian culture of the 1960s and 70s.

Events are held at NYU’s King Juan Carlos Center, 53 Washington Square South, at 6:30PM. Advance tickets are available and are required for entry.

Central Valley of Chile

by Fernanda Martinez Varela, MA scholar at MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish. 

RESULTS

Similarities

a) Context of use

Some psalms and a particular type of the Cantus to the divine have its use in ceremonies and community celebrations. The Cantus to the divine based on the “Angel’s farewell” refers to those songs that are performed after the death of a baby during his wake in order to alleviate the sadness of the parents through singing. It is a celebration because is assumed that the boy or girl will go directly to heaven since he or she is free from sin. On the other hand, in biblical psalms we can find some texts that have their use in ceremonies and feasts. Psalms 114, 115, 116, 117, 135 have their use during Easter; psalm 118 during the Pentecost; psalm 47 during the New Year… This resemblance may be due to the fact that both songs are connected by their ritual nature, which, according to the RAE, is related to ceremonies by custom that are performed with a sacred character. In the case of “Angel’s farewell”, the passage from life to death; in the psalms, in general, the festivities highlighted by Christianity.

b) Past and present

The tradition that is updated in those who pray or sing is important in both discourses. In the Cantus to the divine is the tradition that contributes to knowledge, since the songs are transmitted from generation to generation, but is also the tradition updated in the singers according to the situation where the enunciation takes place. For example, in the “Angel’s farewell” the song is updated to comfort the mother who suffers because the death of her son/daughter; the mother is named, the guests are greeted, etc. On the other hand, in the biblical psalms, is the man´s experience with god what is transmitted to the next generation but it is also updated because is the prayer who shares from his present the experience transmitted by the text. Thus, both come together in a common religious feeling. Regarding the above, Collin (1997) writes: “El salmo es un poema bíblico, es decir, un instrumento para recordar la tradición de un pueblo; es un instrumento que todo usuario recibe y que debe tomar en la mano y agarrarlo con fuerza” (p.7).