By Alejandro Martínez

On Friday October 1st, students and faculty from different departments attended the first screening of the The Boquitas Pintadas Club, a film club organized by SPO graduate students Oriele Benavides, Renee Congdon and Catarina L. Oliveira. Over thirty people gathered to watch a critically acclaimed Colombian film which was followed by an informal discussion over dinner and refreshments.

Graduate student Oriele Benavides introduced the film and outlined its visual and poetic quality as well as the political implications of this outstanding piece of recent Latin American cinema. Set in the Amazonian Rainforest, the film portrayed the consequences of economical exploitation of one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, and the human heritage that is to be lost afterwards. Considering the actual context in which legal and illegal destruction of Amazonia is aggressively acting, Benavides said that it was pertinent to share a film that allows us to imagine through art what is at stake.

According to Catarina L. Oliveira, “The Boquitas Pintadas Club presents films from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking worlds to a broader public, creating a space for socialization among graduate students from different departments while also facilitating the discussion of important issues related to our field”.

The Boquitas Pintadas Club is open to all graduate students in the Princeton community and covers three main regions: Luzo-Brazilian, Spain and the Spanish-speaking Latin America. The next film will be dedicated to Brazil, taking place on November 5. For more information contact Oriele Benavides, Renee Congdon or Catarina L. Oliveira.