LAS KIKAS CINE CLUB
A FILM CLUB en español
Join our Spanish film club! Each month we gather online to watch a film in Spanish and then discuss the film afterward. This club is for anyone who wants to practice Spanish. Native speakers and learners are welcome. This is open to all levels. Keep scrolling for our schedule and you can also find our film list on Letterboxd.
Our Next Event:
Why am I doing this?
I’ve had this idea for a while and then about a year ago I found Idlewild Book’s Spanish Film and Conversation class. I’ve taken this twice with Juan at the Manhattan location and it has always been an excellent time. They are still offering this class online and I highly suggest it!
When I’m not in the class, I have a hard time finding films I want to watch in Spanish and spend way too much time just scrolling through Netflix only to find something mediocre or find a film that looks really good, but not find anywhere to watch it online. So, early this year I finally took a few days and did some serious research — I went through awards, other blog posts, and cinephile film lists to find these ten films that are available to watch online. Just in time for social distancing (I’m in NYC so I won’t be going to the movies or socializing at all anytime soon).
Will this always be online?
We’ll see. Depends on how things go and when we can gather in person again. The good thing though — now you don’t have to be in NYC to participate!
Are you a native Spanish speaker?
No. I am Chicana — meaning I am an American of Mexican decent. Unfortunately, my parents’ parents did not teach them Spanish (at that time they wanted their kids to assimilate and speak English), so I didn’t get the language passed down. I’ve learned by taking classes in high school and college, living in Spain, and continuing education. This is why I’m so into this — I really want to be fluent and the only way is to speak a lot and immerse yourself in the language. If you are a native Spanish speaker, please join us!
Las Kikas Cine Club FILM Schedule
ABRIL
El Norte, 1983, Dir. Gregory Nava, 140 min
English subtitles.
Rent for $3.99 on Amazon
“Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. A work of social realism imbued with dreamlike imagery, El Norte is a lovingly rendered, heartbreaking story of hope and survival, which critic Roger Ebert called "a Grapes of Wrath for our time." — via The Criterion Collection
MAYO
Joven y Alocada, 2012, Dir. Marialy Rivas, 95 min
English Subtitles
Rent for $2.99 on Amazon
“17-year-old Daniela, raised in a strict Evangelical family and recently unmasked as a fornicator by her shocked parents, struggles to find her own path to spiritual harmony.” — via IMDB
JUNIO
El ángel exterminador, 1962, Dir. Luis Buñel, 93 min
English subtitles
Rent for $3.99 on Amazon or watch on The Criterion Channel
“A group of high-society friends are invited to a mansion for dinner and inexplicably find themselves unable to leave in Luis Buñuel's daring masterpiece The Exterminating Angel. Made just one year after his international sensation Viridiana, this film, full of eerie, comic absurdity, furthers Buñuel's wicked takedown of the rituals and dependencies of the frivolous upper classes.”—via Amazon
JULIO
La mujer sin cabeza, 2008, Lucrecia Martel, 89 min
English subtitles
Rent for $3.99 on Amazon
“A mysterious and intriguing tale of a woman who may have killed someone or something while driving on a dirt road.” — Amazon
AGOSTO
Redes, 1936, Dir. Emilio Gómez Muriel and Fred Zinnemann, 59 min
Rent for $3.99 on Amazon or watch on The Criterion Channel
“An iconic product of the Mexican Revolution, Redes (1935) combines the talents of a master composer, Silvestre Revueltas, and a master cinematographer, Paul Strand.”—via Amazon
SEPTIEMBRE
Pelo Malo, 2014, Dir. Mariana Rondon, 93 min.
Rent for $3.99 on Amazon
English subtitles.
“A nine-year-old boy's preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother. “ - via Amazon
OCtubre
Viaje, 2015, Dir. Paz Fábrega, 69 min
English subtitles
Free on Amazon or rent for $3.99
“Pedro and Luciana meet at a party and end up spending the night together. The next day, he has to make a trip up to Rincón de la Vieja, a volcano area in Costa Rica, where he is working on his scientific thesis project. Since she's leaving on a trip soon, they may never see each other again... unless she goes along with him for the weekend. Viaje is about this first weekend together.”—via Amazon
Noviembre
Cría cuervos . . ., 1976, Dir. Carlos Saura, 109 min.
English subtitles
Rent for $3.99 on Amazon or watch on the Criterion Collection
“Disturbed, eight-year-old Ana, living in Madrid with her two sisters, mourns the death of her mother, whom she conjures as a ghost.”—via Amazon
Deciembre
De Cierta Manera, 1974, Dir. Sara Gómez, 72 min.
English subtitles
Watch for free on YouTube
“De Cierta Manera (One Way or Another) is a 1974 Cuban romantic drama film. Directed by Sara Gómez, the film mixes documentary-style footage with a fictional story that looks at the poor neighborhoods of Havana shortly after the Cuban Revolution of 1959.” — via YouTube