Neighboring Scenes 2022
Film at Lincoln Center and Cinema Tropical announce the seventh edition of Neighboring Scenes, the annual wide-ranging showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema featuring established auteurs as well as fresh talent from the international festival scene, February 24–28.
Tickets for Neighboring Scenes are now available!
The selections in this year’s slate of premieres exhibit the expansive styles, techniques, and approaches of Latin American filmmakers today, representing a wide variety of countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Kicking off the festival is Opening Night selection The Other Tom, the fifth and most recent collaboration between Rodrigo Plá and Laura Santullo, who also wrote the novel on which it’s based. The Centerpiece selection is The Box, Lorenzo Vigas’s complex psychological thriller that takes a critical look at Mexico’s maquiladora system. Two Cannes 2021 Directors’ Fortnight selections to be presented are The Employer and the Employee, writer-director Manolo Nieto’s provocative Brazilian border-set drama starring Nahuel Pérez Biscayart [BPM (Beats Per Minute)]; and Medusa, Anita Rocha da Silveira’s visionary follow-up to Kill Me Please (ND/NF, 2015), a reinterpretation of the mythological Greek figure of the title in a misogynistic, Bolsonarist Brazil. Additional notable presentations include Aurora, director Paz Fábrega’s delicate drama on motherhood and maternity; and Red Star, Sofía Bordenave’s film essay revisiting the locations where the Russian Revolution occurred 100 years earlier.
The lineup showcases multiple New York, U.S., and international debuts such as the documentary Dirty Feathers, produced by Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini and directed by Carlos Alfonso Corral, a sensitive portrayal of the residents of a homeless community on the U.S.-Mexico border; About Everything There Is to Know, Sofía Velázquez’s playful debut documentary set in Santiago de Chuco, birthplace of César Vallejo, one of the most important Latin American authors of the 20th century; Thais Fujinaga’s The Joy of Things, from acclaimed Brazilian production collective Filmes de Plástico, portraying the routines of a middle-class family; Me & the Beasts, a deadpan comedy by Nico Manzano about finding meaning in the least expected of places; The Sky Is Red, Francina Carbonell’s powerful film about the 2010 fire at San Miguel prison in Santiago, Chile, using images from security cameras, archival audio, and extant documents; and Natalia Garayalde’s potent 2021 Jeonju Film Festival Grand Prize–winner Splinters, revisiting footage she recorded in 1995 of a major military factory explosion in her hometown of Río Tercero (Argentina).
Neighboring Scenes also presents a dazzling array of short films, including León Siminiani’s dystopian twist on Colombian history, The Stillness Syndrome, featuring filmmaker Luis Ospina; Dear Chantal, a moving tribute to filmmaker Chantal Akerman by Nicolás Pereda (Fauna, NYFF58); Sol de Campinas, from another NYFF alum, Jessica Sarah Rinland, following the work of a group of archeologists in a Brazilian city; Pablo Marin’s mesmerizing Super-8-shot Light Trap; Azucena Losana’s Holiday, a visual journey through images of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo shot on 16mm; and Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña’s (The Wolf House, NS 2019) stop-motion The Bones, winner of Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival.
Organized by Carlos A. Gutiérrez and Cecilia Barrionuevo.
The Other Tom
Opening Night | Q&A with Rodrigo Plá | Free Sangria and Popcorn
Set in the border city of El Paso, Texas, the fifth and most recent collaboration between Rodrigo Plá and Laura Santullo tells the gripping and intimate story of Elena, a working-class single mom and her nine-year-old son, Tom, who has been diagnosed with ADHD.
The Box
Centerpiece
The second fiction film by Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas, whose debut feature From Afar became the first Latin American film ever to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, tells the story of Hatzín, a teenager from Mexico City who travels to the north of the country to collect the remains of his estranged father, who died under unknown circumstances.
About Everything There Is to Know
North American Premiere
In Sofia Velázquez’s playful debut documentary film, the filmmaker pays homage to writer César Vallejo, using first-person tales from different people in Santiago de Chuco, the Andean town in northern Peru where Valejo was born and raised. Screening with León Siminiani’s The Stillness Syndrome
Aurora
North American Premiere
In her third feature film, Costa Rican director Paz Fábrega delicately dramatizes different perspectives on motherhood and maternity as she tells a complex story about a pregnant teenager and the teacher who decides to help her.
Dirty Feathers
Introduction by producer Roberto Minervini
The remarkable debut feature by Mexican-American photographer and director Carlos Alfonso Corral, produced by Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini, is a lyrical and sensitive documentary that intimately portrays the residents of a homeless community on the U.S.-Mexico border. Screening with Azucena Losana’s Holiday.
The Employer and the Employee
U.S. Premiere
In his third feature, Uruguayan writer-director Manolo Nieto (The Dog Pound, The Militant) continues his insightful and provocative examination of class conflict with a slow-burn drama set in the countryside, close to the Brazilian border.
The Joy of Things
North American Premiere | Q&A with Thais Fujinaga, Thiago Macêdo Correia and Lara Lima
In the debut feature produced by acclaimed Brazilian production collective Filmes de Plástico, director Thais Fujinaga portrays the routines of a middle-class family, full of broken promise, in search of escape and happiness. Screening with Nicolás Pereda’s Dear Chantal.
Me & the Beasts
North American Premiere
This mysterious deadpan comic debut from Nico Manzano, who also composed the film’s songs and served as its cinematographer, follows a frustrated musician looking for meaning during Venezuela’s economic crisis.
Medusa
Q&A with Anita Rocha da Silveira
Set against the darkness of night and the glow of neon lights, Anita Rocha da Silveira’s visionary follow-up to Kill Me Please (ND/NF, 2015) reinterprets the myth of Medusa in a conservative, misogynistic, Bolsonarist Brazil.
My Brother Dreams Awake
Red Star
International Premiere | Q&A with Sofía Bordenave and Jessica Sarah Rinland
Sofía Bordenave’s film essay revisits the locations where the Russian Revolution occurred 100 years earlier, bringing the past into the present and stopping at the moment when “the future was infinite.” Screening with Jessica Sarah Rinland’s Sol de Campinas.
The Sky is Red
U.S. Premiere | Introduction from Lucas Engel
Francina Carbonell's powerful debut feature uses images from security cameras, archival audio, and extant documents, all part of a court filing, to narrate the story of the 2010 fire at San Miguel prison in Santiago, Chile, where 81 people died. Screening with Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña’s The Bones.
Splinters
U.S. Premiere | Q&A with Natalia Garayalde
In this poignant story of memory, family, and history, director Natalia Garayalde revisits footage she recorded in 1995 of a major military factory explosion in her hometown of Río Tercero that left seven people dead and became a major political scandal. Screening with Pablo Marin’s Light Trap.Tickets for Neighboring Scenes are now available, and are $15; $12 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $10 for Film at Lincoln Center members.
Save with the discounted All-Access Pass for $80 and the discounted Student All-Access Pass for $20.
All-Access Passholders can pick up their physical pass at the box office on the day of their first screening. Passholders must present this pass for entry at each screening and will not need individual tickets.
Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema
Now in its fifth year, Neighboring Scenes is Film at Lincoln Center's wide-ranging showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema, highlighting impressive recent productions from across the region. Read More
Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema 2019
Now in its fourth year, Neighboring Scenes is the Film Society’s showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema. Highlighting impressive recent productions from across the region, this selective slate of premieres exhibits the breadth of styles, techniques, and approaches… Read More
Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema 2018
Now in its third year, Neighboring Scenes is the Film Society’s showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema. Highlighting impressive recent productions from across the region, this selective slate of premieres exhibits the breadth of styles, techniques, and approaches employed by Latin American filmmakers today. Read More
Neighboring Scenes 2017
Now in its second year, Neighboring Scenes is the Film Society’s showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema. Highlighting impressive recent productions from across the region, this selective slate of premieres exhibits the breadth of styles, techniques, and approaches employed by Latin American filmmakers today. Neighboring Scenes spans a wide geographic range, and features established auteurs as well as fresh talent from the international festival scene. Read More
