La Mami
La Mami is screening in the cinema for $15/$7 reduced from 4/24-4/27 at 7PM.
Laura Herrero Garvín, 79 min, Mexico/Spain (In Spanish with English subtitles)
A Cinema Tropical/Habanero release
This film is co-presented with Cinema Tropical
Winner of the Cinema Tropical Award for Best Film, the second feature documentary by Laura Herrero Garvín follows Doña Olga, also known as La Mami, who having worked more than 40 years in nightlife is the caretaker of the women’s restroom at the mythical Cabaret Barba Azul in Mexico City. Night after night, she attends to the dancers who perform there to live music. A beautiful friendship gradually develops between her and newcomer Priscilla, as the two exchange intimate details during their shifts, sharing glances in the mirror. Textural, empathetic, and shot completely from the female perspective, Herrero Garvín crafts an exquisite look into a world of women doing what they have to in order to provide for their families and carve a path for themselves and their loved ones under unforgiving circumstances.
A Q&A with the filmmaker will follow screenings on 4/7, 4/8, and 4/9.
Cinema Tropical is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization that has become the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States. Founded in 2001 with the mission of distributing, programming and promoting what was to become the biggest boom of Latin American cinema in decades, Cinema Tropical brought U.S. audiences some of the first screenings of films such as Amores Perros and Y Tu Mamá También.
Our Thursday, April 8 screening and conversation will be moderated by Carlos Gutierrez of Cinema Tropical.
Carlos A. Gutiérrez is co-founding executive director of Cinema Tropical, the media arts non-profit organization, which is the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the U.S. As a guest curator, he has presented several series at numerous institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art, Film at Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, Film at BAM, and Anthology Film Archives. In 2007, he co-curated the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar and currently serves as artistic director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Latin Wave film festival and as co-director of Cinema Tucsón. He sits in Film Forum’s Board of Directors and has served as a juror for various film festivals including Mar del Plata, New Orleans, Morelia, Seattle, Margaret Mead, Ashland, DocsMX and SANFIC. He has served as both expert nominator and panelist for the Sundance Documentary Fund, Tribeca Film Institute’s Latin America Media Arts Fund, and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Our Friday, April 8 screening and conversation will be co-hosted by New York Women in Film & Television:
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is a 501c3 nonprofit that advocates for equality in the moving image industry and supports women in every stage of their careers. As the preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York, NYWIFT energizes women by illuminating their achievements, presenting training and professional development programs, awarding scholarships and grants, and providing access to a supportive community of peers.
Our Saturday April 9 screening and conversation will be co-hosted by NYU’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, and NYU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), with the Q&A moderated by professor Laura Torres-Rodríguez.
Laura Torres-Rodríguez is Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at NYU. Laura’s areas of research and teaching include Mexican literature and film; transpacific ecologies and poetics; feminist aesthetics; and Puerto Rican performance and arts during the debt crisis. She is the author of Orientaciones transpacíficas: la modernidad mexicana y el espectro de Asia [Transpacific Orientations: Mexican Modernity and the Specter of Asia] (2019).
