Cine Latino festival offers immersive weekend of fiestas, flamenco and films

In the Twin Cities art scene this weekend, the Cine Latino Film Festival presents 25 narratives exploring gender equality, education, and Indigenous heritage, among other topics. At the Children’s Theatre Company, a play set in 1990s Minneapolis combines live comic-strip drawing with a young girl’s journey to embrace her Korean heritage. Meanwhile, the MacPhail Center for music brings the rhythms of North Indian classical music to Minneapolis, fusing traditional and contemporary sounds.

Minnesota documentary ‘Profe’ featured at film festival

The 12th annual Cine Latino Film Festival returns to Minneapolis, featuring more than 25 Latin American and Ibero American films, including a documentary on bilingual education at two Minnesota schools; a profile of a deaf flamenco dancer; an exploration of Spain’s

Rioja winemaking region; a feature film about a Colombian woman who dreams of becoming a boxer; and a story set in an Indigenous Kichwa community in the Ecuadorian Andes. Presented by the MSP Film Society , the event will also include live music, fiestas and food trucks.

Hebe Tabachnik , the festival’s artistic director, said Cine Latino is a “meeting point for the community,” offering thought-provoking cinema and immersive social gatherings. “I hope we can give people a moment where they can, for a few hours, feel at home, enjoy music, enjoy the stories and connect,” Tabachnik said.

Tabachnik has curated the festival for over a decade, bringing her extensive experience programming festivals in Seattle, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and Cartagena, Colombia.

“I’m the first audience for many of the films I present,” Tabachnik said. “If the film provokes an emotion in me — it could be laughter, crying, or anger over a certain issue — then I know it will resonate with others and so I imagine myself as a conduit of all this amazing storytelling and visions of the world.”

This year’s festival highlights emerging trends in Latin American cinema, including gender equality in “La Suprema,” inclusive education in the Minnesota-filmed “Profe” and the preservation of Indigenous heritage in “Ozogoche.” Tabachnik noted an increase in gender diversity among filmmakers, with more stories about women, written by women, and a growing willingness to blur the lines between genres.

One standout film is “Memories of a Burning Body,” a hybrid documentary that uses real testimonies along with dramatic reenactments to explore sexuality and societal constraints on women. Another film, “Igualada,” highlights Francia Márquez, the first Afro-Colombian woman to become vice president of Colombia.
The festival will also feature cultural festivities tied to the screenings. The opening night kicks off with the Brazilian film “I’m Still Here,” followed by a Brazilian-themed party. Other highlights include a wine tasting after the documentary “Rioja: The Land of a Thousand Wines” on Friday, and a celebration featuring flamenco dancers and tapas between screenings of “La Singla” and “Close Your Eyes” on Saturday.

Date: Through Sunday, October 13.

Time: Varies for different films and events.

Location: The Main Cinema, 115 S.E. Main St., Minneapolis

Cost: Individual tickets for each screening are $12 for general admission, $8 for MSP Film Society Members and $6 for students. All-access passes are $100 for general admission and $75 for members. Purchase tickets here . For more information: Visit mspfilm.org

Drawing Lessons

Playwright Michi Barall’s “Drawing Lessons,” premiering at the Children’s Theatre Company , follows Kate (Olivia Lampert), a Korean American girl growing up in 1990s Minneapolis. As she navigates adolescence, identity and her love for manhwa — Korean graphic novels — Kate begins to redefine what it means to create her own “American story.”

At the heart of “Drawing Lessons” is Kate’s search for self-acceptance. Initially, she views her quiet nature, academic struggles, and Korean heritage as shortcomings. However, over the course of the play, she discovers that “these are her strengths and they’re not just strengths for her, but really important contributions to her community,” Barall said.

The play challenges cultural assumptions, particularly those surrounding the “model minority” stereotype often associated with Asian Americans. “Kate is not your stereotypical Asian American. She is not good at school, and she’s a quiet kid,” Barall said. “We rarely see quiet characters on stage, and her power or being able to be in a place of pure attention is something we can really learn from.”

The actors create art on stage in real time, offering the audience a glimpse into the characters’ creative processes. These illustrations not only function as part of the set but also provide insight into the inner lives of the characters. Actor Jim Lichtscheidl, who plays Paul, a comic strip artist, fully embraced the challenge of live drawing.

“Jim has really become a comic strip artist. Like, it’s really been an amazing journey,” Barall said. “The comics that he draws have just become so whimsical and full of individuality and quirkiness.”

“Drawing Lessons” also touches on generational differences within immigrant families. “There are three generations in Kate’s family, and they all have different ways of understanding what it means to be American,” Barall said. “There’s no one kind of American experience within a community or even within one family.”

Date: Opening night is Saturday, October 12 at 7 p.m.. The show runs through November 10.

Time: Varies by date, Thursday through Sunday.

Location: 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis

Cost: $15-$73. For more information: Visit childrenstheatre.org .

North Indian classical music

The MacPhail Center for Music will present “Ragas of India: Samarth Nagarkar – Khayal Ensemble,” a concert celebrating Khayal, one of the three main genres of North Indian classical music. Leading the performance will be vocalist Samarth Nagarkar , who will blend melodic (ragas) and rhythmic (talas) improvisation with elements of jazz, electronic music and experimental sounds.

Joining Nagarkar are Suhail Yusuf Khan , who plays the traditional Indian bowed string instrument known as the sarangi, and Abhinav Sharma , who plays the North Indian hand drums called tabla. The ensemble also features Michael Cain , MacPhail’s director of electronic music recording arts, on piano, along with Isaac Rohr , who will create live visual projections during the concert.

The concert is presented in conjunction with the Goldstein Museum’s exhibition “Narrative Threads: Embroidered Textiles from the Donald Clay Johnson Collection” at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, which explores the embroidery traditions of northern India and Pakistan.

Date: Saturday, October 12.

Time: 8 to 9:30 p.m.

Location: Antonello Hall, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis

Cost: $5-$25.

For more information: Visit macphail.org .

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