A Potpourri of International Films Worth Watching

MADEINUSA (Peru, 2006)

Is a Spanish and Peruvian production directed by Claudia Llosa. The film takes place in an imaginary village in the middle of the Peruvian mountains called Manayaycuna, a word which means “the town where no one can enter” in Quechua. A young guy from Lima arrives unwillingly to the town during Holy Week, amid a festivity where a strange tradition is followed during that precise weekend. The locals believe that since God is dead and therefore cannot see, nothing is considered a sin. Madeinusa (beautiful Magaly Solier) is the main character, a local Quechua girl who is forced to deal with her father’s incestuous desires with her sister and herself- wishes to be taken to Lima, where her mother lives. A series of events develop where it is possible to observe one of the main themes: traditional village life and its many contradictions regarding religion, sex, and encountering the Other. Cinematography rocks and so does the script!


THE DAUGHTER OF KELTOUM (Algeria, 2001)

Mehdi Charef is the director of this Algerian film that portrays the story of Rallia, a beautiful girl, originally from a village in the Maghreb, but raised by an adoptive family in Geneva, Switzerland- who has decided to search for her mother who abandoned her when she was a baby. Holding on to this hope she returns to her traditional northern African village to find her grandfather and her lunatic aunt, although not her mother, who is supposedly working as a cleaner in a luxury hotel in another town. Rallia immerses herself in village life and eventually decides to venture to the city to find her mother.
The movie holds a central theme that goes beyond a daughter’s search for her mother. It strongly criticizes gender roles in northern African Islamic villages and portrays a bipartisan view of western versus eastern gender and cultural values and appreciations. Plus, in the end you will be surprised... Check it out!

The Sea Urchin (France, 2009)

In this film directed by Mona Achache, the general themes portrayed are the pathological compulsion for accumulating wealth, objects, and money versus the loneliness and extreme depression experimented by many people living in a large city as is Paris. The Sea Urchin is a great story involving Paloma, a pseudo-genius girl who lives with her parents and sister in a luxurious Parisian building and is incredibly depressed despite her young age. She insists she will commit suicide before her 11th birthday and therefore decides to document all the movements and conversations of the people around her in an effort to prove that everybody is incredibly depressed, neurotic, and unsatisfied in their lives. The film also portrays another relationship that develops between the building’s concierge, another neurotic and extremely lonely woman and a very wealthy Japanese man who ends up falling for her and teaching her to love again. Great storyline! Totally worth watching!

Movie Update: POLAND

In my last entry I revealed a valuable discovery that´s been successfully turning into a new hobby: Video Place and its wide array of international movies. I also promised to include a selection of the films I consider some of the best I’ve watched so far. Here are some of the titles categorized by their country of origin.



The first position goes to Poland, primarily because of the fact that I will shortly be living in this country and have become increasingly obsessed with anything born and bred there.

The trilogy Three Colors or Trois Coleurs occupies first place among my favorites. Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski geniously co-wrote, produced, and directed this series while living in France during the 90’s.



The three very interesting movies: Red, White and Blue represent the colors of the French flag, as well as the revolutionary ideals of this country.

1. In the first film Red (Rouge), the main theme seems to be a strange relationship or bond that forms between a model and student played by actress Irène Jacob and a retired judge played by Jean-Louis Trintignant who spends his days eavesdropping people’s telephone conversations in an effort to establish justice. The film is my favorite among the three, and develops an important lesson between good and evil and a criticism towards law professionals and the judicial system. The color red is present throughout the plot, as well as other symbolism such as telephone conversations, broken glass, and the characters’ link to their past (a common theme in the other two films also).


2. White (Blanc) my second favorite movie in this trilogy, where this color is present throughout the whole plot (mainly through snowy scenes), begins in Paris and continues in Warsaw. Here, Karol Karol plays the main character: a shy man who is left by his wife and desperately tries to get back together with her after a series of despiteful events. He then attempts to restore his life and obtain revenge from her. The main theme here traces itself back to another of the French revolutionary ideals: equality. White’s tone is satiric combined with black humor.

3. My third favorite film of this trilogy is Blue (Bleu), and actually the first of the three. Juliette Binoche plays the main character, a woman whose husband and children have been killed in a car accident and now has to face being alone. She decides to cut all bonds from society and live secluded from anything that ties her to other human beings. The only belonging she keeps is a blue lamp: the color present throughout the film. The main theme here is liberty (emotional rather than political). In Blue’s last scene, the main characters of all three films come together.

4. Katyń (2007)
Is a film directed by Academy Honorary Award winning director, Andrzej Wajda and takes place in 1940 Poland during the massacre of Katyn, where more than 20,000 POW (prisoners of war) officers were executed by the Soviet authorities. The truth about this crime was covered and denied by the Soviets, who blamed the Germans, until 1989 when the Soviet rule collapsed. The film is based on the book Post Mortem: The Story of Katyn by Andrzej Mularczyk, a true story. The main character in Katyń is a captain played by Artur Zmijewski, who has been captured by the Soviet army and keeps a diary of all of his experiences and the horrid tortures he witnesses. Throughout the plot it is possible to see the censorship that took place during this time, first with the closing of a university and deporting its professors to concentration camps, and finally with a detailed description of the massive execution that took place at Katyń. The movie is definetely worth watching, especially because it is based on the director’s father’s memoir and displays a historic account of events, although extremely explicit and harsh at times.

A Valuable Discovery

Looking for an escape from Ph.D work, teaching summer classes, and with evenings free from duty, I have started to engage in a new passion: movie-watching. And I'm not referring to just any sort of movie. Forget Hollywood. NO action flicks, Brad Pitt look-alikes or any of that carry on. I refer to movies that educate and inspire transporting oneself to another nation, another culture, another reality. The kind of fix that only independent and international films can provoke in travellers at heart like myself. I have always adored engaging in hour-long international movie watching, although when living on a small island, the task of finding non-Hollywood flicks can be a nearly impossible mission. That is... until I found this impressive hole in the wall rental, which unlike its exquisite and varied selection of movies, goes by a very simple name: Video Place.

Video Place opened its doors the same year of my birth, almost 30 years ago, in Rio Hondo Mall, a landmark that divides 3 different towns: Toa Alta, Cataño, and Bayamón. Its owners, Miguel López and Carmen Mazzeo, his wife, are true film connoisseurs, who enjoy recommending different movies to all of their customers. Their enormous collection is divided by genre, geographical location and topic, and is able to satisfy almost any pallet: Italian, Polish, German, Eastern European, Cuban, Spanish, Indian, Mexican, Argentinian, local cinema, documentaries, drama, comedy, action, cut-vein, and other films ranging from the early 1930's to the present.

Considering the fact that during the past years most family-owned small video rental stores have not been able to compete with or survive the claws of multinational movie companies such as Video Club or Blockbuster, it is truly admirable to see how there are still a few exceptions, as is Video Place, where the public can be offered valuable on-screen art that portrays subjects other than mere violence, sex, and drugs.

This said, Video Place has become my week escape from work and daily stress, up to the point that since I discovered it two weeks ago, I have been back and forth several times and have watched at least 10 movies! For those of you who share this passion, I have included a short list and synopsis of the flicks, which I consider my favorite so far, and soon I´ll update another array of titles which I am currently engaging in.

Fire (1996, Director- Deepa Mehta)



Forms part of a trilogy entitled Elements, dedicated to some of India´s most controversial and tabooed social issues. The other two films that compose this trilogy are: Water (2005),



a story about Chuyia, an eight year old girl who becomes a widow and must move to a ashram in Varanasi to live the rest of her life in renunciation and as an outcast of society. This was a common practice in India during the British Raj, where it was believed that widows not only are burdened with bad karma and considered a financial burden for their families, but also because half of a woman also dies when she becomes a widow. This is a great film as well and I highly recommend it because of its superb cinematography, spirituality, plot development, and even music!

The other film is Earth (1998),


which I consider to be one of the best. Earth portrays the story of Lenny, a girl who polio and her wealthy family who tries to maintain neutral amid the brutal tensions between Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus. Great love story and very educative in order to understand the many cultural and religious identities in a country as complex as India.

Fire, on the other hand, is the first film of this trilogy (although it is not indispensable to follow the order). It is one of the few Indian films to portray a homosexual relationship between two women: Sita (a young girl who has recently married a man who doesn't love her and has another lover) and Radha (Sita's husband's sister in law, who is also caught in an unhappy marriage to her husband who under the influence of his spiritual leader, or Swamiji, has decided to maintain a vote of chastity). These two women initially become connected because of their common dissapointment in their husbands, and end up finding comfort and solace in one another until their relationship evolves and they become lovers.

The story is beautiful and is a fantastic way of viewing this social taboo through the eyes of New Delhi's conservative mindframe. Besides Sita and Radha's romance, the film revolves around a main theme: DESIRE (Fire) from each of the character's experience.

The screening of the movie in 1998, anyhow, cause major uprising in Mumbai, Calcutta, and other cities around the country. Members of the Shiv Sena (right wing political party) invaded and looted cinemas, people were injured, and others were arrested... The trilogy Elements is worth watching and unique to most mainstream Indian films, especially because of its theme treatment and development.

The three of them are totally worth watching. Three thumbs up to Deepa Mehta, great job!!!

Moolaadé (Protection)- 2004, Senegal.



Is a film directed by Senegalese writer and director Ousmane Sembène.
The movie portrays a central theme: female genital mutilation, a common practice among some African and Arabic countries. Moolaadé takes place in a remote village south of the Sahara Desert, where Collé, a woman, protects a group of girls from becoming ¨purified¨. She must confront the people of her village who believe that this brutal practice is necessary and forms part of the pillars of Islam. The film is not only ethnographic and a great portrayal of African village life, but also a hopeful sign that the positive effects of globalization and gender roles are evolving even in the most remote areas of the world.

Stay tuned for more movie posts...

"Nosotras y Ellos"

¡Saludos a todos!
En mi primera clase de español esta mañana, discutí con mis estudiantes este ensayo escrito por Rosa Montero, que aparece en su obra titulada "La vida desnuda".

Dado a que me he tornado un poco monotemática últimamente con esto de las relaciones de pareja, encontré pertinente compartir este pensamiento con ustedes. A mis estudiantes les encantó y a mi también. ¡Espero que lo disfruten!


NOSOTRAS Y ELLOS



He tardado muchos años de mi vida en llegar a comprender que si me gustan los hombres es precisamente porque no les entiendo. Porque son unos marcianos para mí, criaturas raras y como desconectadas por dentro, de manera que sus procesos mentales no tienen que ver con sus sentimientos; su lógica, con sus emociones; sus deseos, con su voluntad; sus palabras, con sus sueños.

Se habrán dado cuenta de que esto mismo es lo que siempre han dicho los hombres de nosotras: que las mujeres somos seres extraños e imprevisibles. Definidas socialmente así durante siglos por la voz del varón, que era la única voz pública, las mujeres hemos acarreado el sambenito de ser incoherentes e incomprensibles, mientras que los hombres aparecían como el más luminoso colmo de la claridad y la coherencia. Pues bien, de eso nada: "ellos" son desconcertantes, calamitosos y rarísimos. O al menos lo son para nosotras, del mismo modo que nosotras somos un misterio para ellos. Y es que poseemos, hombres y mujeres, concepciones del mundo diferentes, y somos, las unas para los otros, polos opuestos que al mismo tiempo se atraen y se repelan.

No sé bien qué es ser mujer, de la misma manera que no sé qué es ser hombre. Sin duda, somos identidades en perpetua mutación, complejas y cambiantes. Es obvio que gran parte de las llamadas características femeninas o masculinas son producto de una educación determinada, es decir, de la tradición, de la cultura. Pero es de suponer que la biología también debe influir en nuestras diferencias. El problema radica en saber por dónde pasa la raya, la frontera; qué es lo aprendido y qué lo innato. Es la vieja y no resuelta discusión entre ambiente (naturaleza) y herencia (crianza y proceso de socialización).

Sea como fuere, lo cierto es que hoy parece existir una cierta mirada de mujer sobre el mundo, así como una cierta mirada de varón. Y así, miro a los hombres con mis ojos femeninos y me dejan pasmada. Me asombran, me divierten, en ocasiones me admiran, a menudo me irritan y me desesperan, como irrita y desespera lo que parece absurdo. A ellos, lo sé, les sucede lo mismo. Leí en una ocasión un ingenioso artículo de Julián Barnes, uno de los jóvenes (ya no tan jóvenes) escritores británicos, en el que, tras hablar de lo raritas que somos las chicas, hacía un decálogo de misterios para él irresolubles en torno al alma femenina. He olvidado los demás, pero recuerdo uno de esos enigmas: ¿por qué las mujeres al conducir, se preguntaba Barnes, mueven todo el cuerpo hacia un lado o hacia el otro cuando toman las curvas? O sea, que así de remotas permanecemos los unos de las otras, como una ballena de un batracio, o como un escarabajo de un profesor de ciencias naturales.

A veces se diría que no pertenecemos a la misma especie y que carecemos de un lenguaje común.

El lenguaje, sobre todo el lenguaje, he aquí el abismo fundamental que nos separa. Porque nosotras hablamos demasiado y ellos hablan muy poco. Porque ellos jamás dicen lo que nosotras queremos oír, y lo que nosotras decimos les abruma. Porque nosotras necesitamos poner en palabras nuestros sentimientos y ellos no saben nombran nunca lo que sienten. Porque a ellos les aterra hablar de sus emociones verbalmente. Porque lo que ellos dicen no es lo que nosotras escuchamos, y lo que ellos escuchan no es lo que nosotras hemos dicho. Por todos esos malentendidos y muchos otros, la comunicación entre los sexos es un perpetuo desacuerdo.

Y de esta comunicación surge el deseo. Siempre creí que a lo que yo aspiraba era la comunicación perfecta con un hombre, con ese príncipe azul de los sueños de infancia, un ser que sabría adivinarme hasta en los más menudos pliegues interiores. Ahora he aprendido no sólo que esa fusión es imposible, sino además que es probablemente indeseable. Porque de la distancia y de la diferencia, del esfuerzo por saltar abismos y conquistar al otro o a la otra, del afán por comprenderle y descifrarle, nace la pasión. ¿Qué es el amor, sino esa gustosa enajenación; el salirte de ti para entrar en el otro o en la otra, para navegar por una galaxia distante de la tuya?

De manera que ahora, cada vez que un hombre me exaspera y me irrita, tiendo a pensar que esa extrana criatura es un visitante de, pongamos, Júpiter, al que se debe tratar con paciencia científica y con curiosidad y atención antropológicas. Hombres, seres extraordinarios y disparatados, capaces de todo tipo de heroicidades y bajezas. Esos hombres ásperos y dulces, amantes y enemigos; espíritus ajenos que, al ser lo otro, ponen las fronteras a nuestra identidad como mujeres y nos definen.

Rosa Montero (¨La vida desnuda¨)

Bieke 2011

La libertad de los caballos viequenses no es cuestionable. Hacen lo que quieren, cuando quieren y jamás se les excluye su entrada en lugares públicos. A la mayoría de los visitantes o residentes de la Isla Nena se les hace difícil, por ejemplo, entrar en el nuevo y ultra-lujoso Hotel W. Sin embargo, los caballos entran como Juan por su casa, nadie los objeta y si alguien se atreviese a ponerlo en duda, la respuesta es siempre la misma: "los caballos de Vieques son libres". En el terreno que han separado para los acampantes en el balneario Sun Bay, desde luego, se les ve a los caballos casi siempre de noche. En otras ocasiones, aprovechan cuando quedan pocas personas para deleitarse de los manjares que han sido dejados fuera de las casetas de acampar.

Ese fue nuestro caso la primera noche cuando las chicas decidieron irse en kayak a la bahía luminiscente y yo por mi parte, me quedé con Néstor, mi amigo viequense, cenando pizza en un local de la Esperanza. Al regresar unas horas más tarde hallamos un silencio absoluto en el camping. La bolsa que cargaba con prácticamente toda la comida que llevaba que no se limitaba a: sandwichitos de mezcla, galletas hechas en casa, frutas, barras de cereal y otra picadera, la encontramos patas arriba. Quedaba sólo la patética presencia de media bolsa de plástico de pan de hotdog que nos miraba tristemente a los ojos. Una de las neveras había sido devorada también junto con el manjar de frutas que llevaba dentro. Se habían comido todo. ¡Malditos caballos!, repetíamos con una mezcla de furor, risa y estupefacción. No me podía creer que las horas que estuve en la cocina pre-viaje preparando todos aquellos gustitos con tanto amor, habían parado en las tripas de aquellos animales, que en un principio habían parecido tan dóciles y ahora de repente se habían convertido en depredadores nocturnos.

Al final, fuimos capaces de asimilar nuestra tragicomedia, ya que gracias a Dios, no fuimos las únicas acampistas principiantes que dejamos nuestra comida al aire libre. A medida que pasaban los días nos íbamos enterando de otros vecinos que habían sido robados desmedidamente también por los caballos viequenses. A unos chicos incluso, le pisotearon la caseta hasta el punto en que tuvieron que volver a armarla.

Ahora que comienzo a pensar y reflexionar sobre estos animales creo que he encontrado una metáfora de la realidad de esta pequeña isla. Los caballos viequenses son posiblemente los únicos seres libres que habitan sobre la Nena. Hacen lo que les da la gana, cuando les da la gana y quieren dar a entender a todos que esa es su tierra. Les vale madre lo que piensen los otros. A diferencia de sus hermanos viequenses, su presencia es evidente y sus derechos como residentes de la Nena también.

Aquellos que logran sumergirse más allá de los escenarios paradisiacos y de la arena de talco y el mar turquesa lograrán entender que la realidad de esta isla es triste. Existe una cruda existencia plagada de pobreza, invasión del extranjero, terrenos demasiado costosos e inasequibles, tráfico de drogas, desempleo, violencia, un organismo policial que es incapaz de poner orden y, sobre todo, la falta de opciones para los viequenses. Es increíble pensar que siendo una isla municipio de Puerto Rico, localizada solo seis millas al sureste de la Isla Grande, más del 72% de la población vive bajo el nivel de la pobreza y más del 54% está desempleada.
Uno de los pocos estudios médicos que se llevó a cabo en la Isla Nena hace una década fue liderado por la Escuela de Salud Pública de la Universidad de Puerto Rico y refleja que Vieques sufre de una incidencia de cáncer 27% mayor que el resto de Puerto Rico. La tasa de mortalidad por cáncer en Vieques es 34% mayor que la de todo Puerto Rico.

Incluso, el antiguo hospital que hace poco fue trasladado al pueblo ya no admite a mujeres embarazadas que están próximas a dar a luz, ni ofrece tratamientos médicos más avanzados de enfermedades como lo son el cáncer. Este es el caso de Tuti, un hombre de aproximadamente 70 años que conocimos durante nuestra estancia en la Isla. Hace unos años, Tuti fue diagnosticado con dos tipos de cáncer sumamente agresivos: colon y próstata. Afortunadamente, su pronto diagnóstico es la razón por la cual sigue vivo y con un tremendo sentido del humor a pesar de que tiene días en que sufre de dolor y pesadumbre. Dado a que no puede atenderse por un médico en Vieques debe viajar hasta el Hospital Auxilio Mutuo en Río Piedras, cada vez que necesita recibir tratamientos para su condición.


La historia de Néstor, de 34 años quien también reside en Vieques, es igualmente conmovedora y refleja la lucha y pasión que siente por todo lo que hace. Además de defender la protesta en contra de la marina toda su vida y terminar en la cárcel en varias ocasiones por este motivo, Néstor ha decidido no dejarse vencer. Hace unos años montó la empresa que dirige, que dicho sea de paso, es la única compañía viequense que ofrece excursiones eco-turísticas en la isla. A pesar de que admite que algunos días tiene que luchar por motivar a los muchachos a trabajar, porque según él "la ética de trabajo es otra cosa en esta Isla", no se da por vencido. Ahora cursa su doctorado en historia en el Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, donde viaja desde la Isla Nena a menudo para asistir a sus cursos y cumplir con su vida académica.


Cada año intento visitar Vieques, ya que además de ser un santuario natural y un lugar ideal para desahogarse y llenarse de energía natural, en cada trayecto aprendo un sinfín de cosas. Aprendo a compartir. Aprendo a valorar lo que tengo, que aunque a veces parece poco, es inmensurable al lado de la realidad de otros. Aprendo a sonreír a pesar de todo, como lo hacen Tuti y Néstor y aprendo que para ser libre se debe luchar y ser apasionado como ellos. A pesar de que en la Isla Nena la libertad de los residentes corre peligro, las historias prodigiosas de estos dos hombres constituyen un ejemplo para muchos. Gracias Tuti y Néstor por enseñarnos un pedacito de tanto…

Detachment and Non-doing: Two Lessons in Love

During the past years I have become increasingly interested in the incredibly difficult, although possible, practice of detachment, common in Buddhism. Wikipedia defines detachment as: a state in which a person overcomes his or her overwhelming desire for things, people or concepts of the world and thus attains a heightened perspective. Besides Buddhism, it is also known to be an important pilar of many spiritual philosophies such as the Bahá'í Faith, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Jainism, Kabbalah and Taoism- which mostly view attachment as an obstacle to living a fulfilled and happy life.

We must renunciate to this so-called attachment that can be found in relationships with other people, material objects, feelings, obsessions, traumas... This is what we have been taught, but up to what point is this non-attachment practice feasible?

As humans it is evident we are not islands, nor can we survive without any contact or embrace from other living beings. If you love something or feel interested in an energy or a certain chemistry, it is more than logical to become attracted to it. Nonetheless, becoming extremely attached to people or objects is rarely a healthy trait that will lead to happiness. According to Zen Buddhist philosophy: ATTACHMENT is the origin, the root of suffering; hence it is the cause of suffering. Jainism, another religion which I learned about upon a trip to India in 2008, believes that in order to achieve a hightened state of mind and soul, monks (both male and female) must observe and practice these five vows:



1. Non-violence - Ahimsa
2. Truth - Satya
3. Non-stealing - Achaurya or Asteya
4. Celibacy/Chastity - Brahmacharya
5. Non-attachment/Non-possession - Aparigraha


Non-attachment / Non-possession (Aparigraha):
---------------------------------------------
Jainism believes that the more worldly wealth a person possesses,
the more he is likely to commit sin to acquire the possession, and
in a long run he may be more unhappy. The worldly wealth creates
attachments which will continuously result in greed, jealousy,
selfishness, ego, hatred, violence, etc.

Attachments to worldly objects results in the bondage to the
cycle of birth and death. Therefore, one who desires of spiritual
liberation should withdraw from all attachments to pleasing
objects of all the five senses.

Detachment seems a pretty simple practice when applied solely to material possesions and money, but what about relationships? Well, what about we find a middle ground and begin by accepting the fate of relationships. People enter and exit our life for a purpose, and when the deadline has arrived, it is only healthy and natural to let go. What has come, has come for a reason, and must consequently move on. If two chemistries are not fundamentally harmonious it is definetely time to LET GO. This is the Natural Order of the Universe. Have you learned from your relationship? This is what's important. Focus on the positive outcome of it all and practice letting go of the harsh feelings, the regret, the sorrow... Leave in your heart only what's really worthwhile.

Also, I would like to leave you guys with another so-called Buddhist lesson that greatly aids in this process, and in our everyday lives: Non-doing (acceptance of the present moment). Because things are what they are: only perfect.


Non-doing is, above all, an attitude of mind. It's a wish. It's a decision to leave everything alone and see what goes on, see what happens. Your breathing and your circulation and your postural mechanisms are all working and taking over. The organism is functioning in its automatic way, and you are doing nothing.

If you're going to succeed in doing nothing, you must exercise control over your thinking processes. You must really wish to do nothing. If you're thinking anxious, worried thoughts, if you're thinking exciting thoughts that are irrelevant to the situation at hand, you stir up responses in your body that are not consistent with doing nothing. It's not a matter of just not moving--that can lead to fixing or freezing--it's a matter of really leaving yourself alone and letting everything just happen and take over.

Non-doing and detachment are two practices that require plenty of discipline and self-love. Like most other things in life, it isn't some-thing that you can achieve by simply wishing to do so, by just thinking, 'Well, I will now leave myself alone and not do anything.' Unfortunately, it doesn't work out like that. The whole process requires a lot of practice, and a lot of observation.

Therefore, may we begin today with letting go of things that have left us and accepting the present moment as it is... Harmonious and Perfect.