For nearly 15 years, Ibermedia has been instrumental in the continued ascent of Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese films. This intergovernmental organization began with seven member countries; today films from over 20 member countries appear on festival schedules and in cinemas the world over. Ibermedia facilitates and finances co-productions of documentaries and fiction films between its Spanish- and Portuguese-language member countries, and grants money for international distribution and promotion. Professional film organizations from the country sponsoring the proposal select the projects to be helped by the Ibermedia umbrella organization, thus ensuring each project’s autonomy; no strings are attached to the joint financing, which protects the filmmaker’s personal vision and allows the project to retain the rooted particularity of a national and/or personal-historical tradition. To date, Ibermedia has supported over 500 films—encompassing a broad variety of filmmaking genres and approaches—and provided training for professionals. This is MoMA’s third program of Ibermedia films, and this year’s selection ranges from internationally renowned directors like Portugal’s Manoel de Oliveira (The Strange Case of Angelica) to promising new talents from countries with rapidly developing film cultures, including Peru’s Rosario Garcia-Montero (Bad Intentions), Venezuela’s Marité Ugás (The Kid Who Lies), Colombia’s Ruben Mendoza (La sociedad del semaforo), and Ciro Guerra, whose 2009 ode to music and landscape, The Wind Journeys, opens the series. Several filmmakers will be present to introduce their films.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film.