Latin American Legacies: Films of Leandro Katz

Argentine artist and writer Leandro Katz presents a selection of his stunning films from two research projects centered on significant moments in Latin American history, from the United Fruit Company to Che Guevara. Paradox contrasts footage of an ancient Mayan stone altar in Quiriguá with images of manual labor on former United Fruit Company banana plantations in Guatemala and Honduras-thus reflecting on two paradoxical legacies of Latin America. In a single shot, Los Angeles Station depicts a community living along a railroad track in Quiriguá. Crowd 7x7 examines a mass of people in Quito using different optical treatments. The award-winning The Day You'll Love Me (El día que me quieras) is a complex and moving meditation on the photos taken of Che Guevara after his execution by the Bolivian army in 1967. “The film is not a political documentary in the usual sense, but presents itself as an investigation into the death and the power of photography, veering between evocation and straightforward reporting” (Rotterdam Film Festival). Like Paradox, it is part of an extended project that also includes installations, books, and photographs.

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