aluCine Toronto Latin Media Arts Festival presents the Toronto premiere of Andrés Livov?Macklin’s documentary film A Place Called Los Pereyra, screening July 9-12 at The Royal (608 College St. West, at Clinton St.). www.theroyal.to
A Place Called Los Pereyra tells the story of how life in a tiny community in the Argentine jungle is unexpectedly changed by a visiting charitable mission. Subtle, sweet, often humorous, but also poignant, A Place Called Los Pereyra examines adolescence, charity and the clash of two worlds.
An observational film, made in the cinema verité-style (reminiscent of Pierre Perrault), A Place Called Los Pereyra premiered at IDFA (Amsterdam) and has screened at prominent international festivals, earning praise from Carlos Reygadas.
For more info go to www.lospereyra.com.
Screening dates at The Royal:
Friday July 9 at 7:00pm
Saturday July 10 at 7:00pm
Sunday July 11 at 7:00pm
Monday July 12 at 7:00pm
Director Andrés Livov-Macklin will be in attendance at each screening for an introduction & audience Q&A. (Alternavox will have an upcoming interview with the director shortly)
Follow the film on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lospereyra
Tickets are $8 for students & seniors, $10 general admission. Street parking available on College; free parking on side streets off of College. Theatre is located on College St., between Bathurst & Ossington.
The press release states:
Director Andrés Livov-Macklin discovered Los Pereyra after numerous scouting trips to
communities across rural Argentina where sponsoring (“Godfathering/mothering”) is
practiced. Charmed by its people, its natural surroundings and intrigued by its isolation,
Livov-Macklin found Los Pereyra to be the ideal location to tell the film’s story.
Rosa Casco, the teacher featured prominently in A Place Called Los Pereyra, was
bestowed the honour of “Outstanding Teacher of the Country” by the Argentine
government in 2005.
The school that the “Godmothers” attend is Northlands School, an all-girls private school
in Buenos Aires. Exclusive and highly reputable, Northlands is considered the finest and
most expensive high school in the nation’s capital. Students’ families include prominent
figures in business and politics, while former students even include royalty: Princess
Maxima of the Netherlands attended Northlands as a teenager.
The Godmothers act as patrons to less fortunate schools in isolated villages. At the start
of every new school year, The Godmothers provide their school of choice essential
materials like books, pencils and paper. Once a year, a weeklong field trip is organized to
visit the school of patronage. The headmistress and several girls from the graduating class
make the trek to remote areas to visit the boys and girls they helped sponsor at the start of
the year. Some of the students go on these trips because it is required for their
International Baccalaureate programs, while others do it because they genuinely want to
help.
Patronage of schools in frontier communities, those difficult to access and more than 20
kilometres from urban areas, is not uncommon in Argentina. According to APAER, an
NGO whose mission is to coordinate such activities between schools and patrons (also
referred as “godparents”), more than 50,000 people in Argentina engage in godparenting,
either individually or in groups, such as social clubs, community centers, work
groups, high-schools and churches to name a few. More than 4,500 schools receive help.
For more information: http://www.apaer.org.ar
Patronage is also popular in Canada, where high schools, particularly private schools,
organize community-service field trips to Central America, Asia and Africa.