FilmLocos at Pontio Arts Centre Bangor, Wales

This fourth screening took place at Pontio Arts Centre in Bangor, Wales. 

For the event we worked closely together with Pontio Arts Centre; in particular with Emyr Williams, the film and cinema programmer at Pontio and Hannah Dobson, the Marketing and Audience Co-ordinator. 

We decided to call the event Film Locos Bangor – Latin American Film Takeover

All our posters were written in Welsh and English to reach most of the Welsh audience, and we also created a special connection with The Herald, and they wrote an article about us.

The event opened with Gerald Williams, a local musician who sang for us “Solamente una Vez”. Solamente Una Vez had a very special meaning to Gerald,

Who told Filmlocos on the day “When I was four years old. My uncle was the manager of the cinema in Bangor. I laughed when I saw Donald Duck fall in love with Dora Luz. Maybe I fell in love with her myself! I remember it with great fondness and joy. It was a continuation of the story to sing that song with the help of a Colombian lady some years ago (almost to fall in love again!). And now with your help, (60 years later!) I have sung the same song from my heart on a cinema stage in the same town. That means so much to me.”

We also had other musicians such as Owen (A Gent Orange)  and Marcos Contant who very much enjoyed performing their modern approach to “La Bamba”  with some rapping verses. 

In addition to the music, we had Noemi Vox, a commissioned artist performing a very touching poem for the public. 

Then, we went to the main event. 

Andrea Perez one of our Producers did an outstanding job talking about Filmlocos ethos and values, as well as the importance of representation of diverse characters on film and tv, and introducing season 1 of short films. Each film was introduced by the directors via pre-recorded videos, as many of them could not join us on the day, however, Hands-Ondirected by the Brazilian Raquel Arraes and Closer Than Ever, directed by Bolivian Victor Rios were present discussing the process of making the films.

The short Closer than Ever, written by Santiago del Fosco and directed by Víctor Ríos, part of the Latin American Shorts: S1, was shot at St. Gabriel’s College and counted with some performances of the students of Latin American background.  

The films were shown as follows:

  • You’re Just My Type, directed by Peruvian Mauro Pedretti 
  • Pretty Fly for a Doña, directed by Dominican Karlina Veras
  • Closer Than Ever, directed by Bolivian Victor Rios
  • Hands-On, directed by Brazilian Raquel Arraes
  • The One in the Mirror, directed by Brazilian Rauni Barros da Silva
  • Over a Bottle of Rosé, directed by New Zealander Cortney Stowers 

Special shoutouts to Felype Campos and Owen Lee Maclean who helped with photography/videography on the day.

This event was successful as we achieved the desired connections and impact in the Bangor community. It also allowed people to present their work through a Latin-American lens, and it was fascinating. It was great to see what connected us as humans, and this event was all about sharing and getting people out of their comfort zones, we achieved it by working with the local community and council. 

For more information, follow us on all socials @filmlocos.

Written article by: Andrea Perez