SXU Film Series Highlights Female Latin American Directors

Saint Xavier University’s Latin American Studies Program will host a three-week film series highlighting female Latin American directors from Wednessday, April 6, through Wednesday, April 20.

The series, titled “Latin American Women Directors,” is free and open to the public.

Each viewing will take place in room S113 in the Warde Academic Center at SXU’s Chicago campus, 3700 W. 103rd St. All films begin at 5:30 p.m. and are followed by discussions.

The series kicks off with Bananas is My Business. Directed by Helen Solberg, the documentary tells the story of Portuguese-Brazilian star Carmen Miranda, one of Hollywood’s most iconic figures in the 1940s and one of the first highly-paid Latina stars in the U.S.

I, the Worst of All is a highly imaginative film inspired by the life and times of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Mexico’s greatest figure of the Baroque and an impassionate poet, essayist and defender of women’s right to a life of the mind. Directed by Maria Luisa Bemberg, it will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles on April 13.

Brava Gente Brasileira is often described as an anti-epic that charts the experiences of a young Portuguese cartographer in the 18th century during an expedition into the Amazonian rain forest, home to the indigenous Guaicuru Indians. Directed by Lucia Murat, it will be shown in Guaicuru and Portuguese with English subtitles on April 20.