We’re looking forward to welcoming local director Mike Todd this Thursday, for a post-screening Q&A following his film Under the Bridge, which explores Mexican-American identity through the story of San Diego’s Chicano Park. The documentary contains contributions from key Chicano cultural figures, and Mike will be joined by artists Guillermo Aranda and Macedonio Artiaga to discuss the making of the film and the issues raised.
For fans of documentaries, we also recommend Circo (screening this Saturday) which presents a moving portrait of a circus family and their struggle to decide whether to give up their nomadic way of life so their children can go to school, or pass on century-old circus traditions.
If you’ve been inspired by our guest blog post from director Daniel Vega, there’s one last chance to see Octubre this week. Set in Peru, this is the bittersweet tale of Clemente, a misanthropic moneylender, who’s forced to expand his human interactions beyond clients and prostitutes when a newborn baby is deposited in his care.For all of you Spanish speakers and learners, why not listen to our special Spanish language podcast on the ¡Viva! blog. We chat about bringing the festival to life, share our film highlights for the tail-end of ¡Viva! and hear what you’ve thought of it so far.
So it’s nearly goodbye for another year from ¡Viva! – but if you’d like to help us see the festival out in style, we hope you’ll join us this Saturday for the ¡Fiesta clausura! (Closing Night Party) hosted by our festival partners Instituto Cervantes. Don’t forget that ¡Viva! does continue on Sunday with more screenings and your final chance to see our exhibition Oscar Muñoz: Biografías.