Chile con Drama

A potpourri of films — ranging from the poignant and political to the truly preposterous — seeks to reconcile Chile’s tumultuous past with the nuance of the present. Film Chile Miami offers a vivid panorama of Chilean culture through the lens of the nation’s burgeoning cineastes. The five-day event opens at 7 p.m. at the Colony Theater with El Brindis, a tale of three souls searching for the meaning of life and love. In director Shai Agosin’s bittersweet first film, a Mexican photographer travels to Chile to visit her terminally ill estranged father and falls in love with a rabbi.

La Hija del General relates the life story of Michelle Bachelet, who became Chile’s first woman president, despite being a socialist, agnostic, and single mother, in one of South America’s most conservative nations. The film also recounts how her father, a Chilean Air Force general, was imprisoned after Pinochet seized power. For sheer wackiness, don’t miss Normal con Alas, in which two Catholic schoolgirls traffic dope smuggled in tampons under the nose of a frustrated rock-star priest and clueless high-society parents. The fest continues through September 15. Movies are in Spanish with English subtitles. Tickets cost $10. For screening schedules and a complete list of venues, call 305-374-0697 or visit www.filmchilemiami.com.
Sept. 10-15, 2008