Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles presents the second annual celebration of liminal spaces and states of being in film
CINE NEPANTLA
Featuring the 2018 Mexican horror mockumentary Feral
Thursday, March 19, at 7:30PM at the Downtown Independent
Nepantla is a Nahuatl word which describes the state of living in-between different cultures. It can also refer to living in the borderlands or being at a literal or metaphorical crossroads. In line with this concept, Cine Nepantla aims to create a space in which meaningful dialogue among audiences of different socio-economic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, ages, abilities, genders, sexualities, nationalities, and religions can take place and effect change.
About Feral (Andrés Kaiser, Mexico, 98 minutes)
Somewhere in the Oaxacan mountains are the burnt-out remains of a shelter that housed a psychoanalyst priest who was obsessed with rehabilitating savage children to place them back into society. Through videotape diaries, viewers are treated to a portrait of a man whose singular pursuit of this goal saw him excommunicated from the church he holds dear, separated from society, and plagued by a self-doubt which chipped away at his humanity. However, a more sinister picture begins to emerge as interviews with individuals from the nearby village and his close family appear.
Kaiser’s found-footage documentary weaves a spellbinding tale by featuring deep character explorations that threatens to spill into malevolence at any moment. Examining questions of blind faith, trust, and doubt, Kaiser explores the individual in relation to the church through a critical lens that highlights the hypocrisies prevalent within religion and builds on the idea of the “other,” an ostracized figure both feared and reviled. A small cast of remarkable actors helps keep the atmosphere tense and frightening in the build-up to a haunting and unforgettable climax. Feral is a compelling debut that marks Kaiser as a talent to watch.
WATCH THE TRAILER! https://youtu.be/L9jRHTiyfHk
About Andrés Kaiser
Mexican director, writer and editor Andrés Eichelman Kaiser studied directing and film writing at Escuela Superior de Artes y Espectáculos in Madrid, Spain. After returning to Mexico, he worked as an assistant editor for the film Rudo y Cursi (2008) by Carlos Cuarón. A year later, he wrote, produced and edited the short documentary En algún lugar, which is about the migration of Central Americans to Mexico. It was presented at the Festival Internacional de Cine Documental in Mexico City, the DOCSDF, in 2010. His directorial debut comes with Feral (2018), which was screened at the Festival Internacional de Cine in Morelia, MX in 2017. Most recently, Kaiser has been working on the horror film Preciosísima sangre, which takes place in 18th-century Mexico and follows a priest sent to investigate a series of strange murders that have taken place within one of the convents of the church.
LACLA curator and screenwriter Guido Segal will host a question and answer session with Kaiser following the screening.
