Today

Film Screening and Live Q&A
The Order I Live In: An Indoor Urban Symphony
With Co-Director Francisco Cruces

Cities have been narrated from manifold perspectives, but rarely from the inside. This ethnographic documentary on contemporary urban life highlights the voices of 20 people in Madrid, Mexico City, and Montevideo. Through narrative, stories, and objects, the “city” is no longer an anonymous locus of commodities, industry, and mass human relations, but rather a space for personal assertion and self-discovery, as well as the continuities and ruptures of modern living. 63 minutes. Spanish with English subtitles.

After the screening, co-director Francisco Cruces will take part in a live Q&A. He is Professor of Anthropology at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia in Spain, and a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley.

Monday, November 4, 4:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street

Next week: Dams and Brazil

Itaipu Dam in Brazil. (Photo courtesy of Duke University Press.)

Jacob Blanc
Before the Flood: The Itaipu Dam and the Visibility of Rural Brazil
A Conversation with the Author

In the 1970s and 1980s, Brazilian communities facing displacement by the Itaipu Dam — which is now largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world — stood up against the military officials overseeing the dam’s construction. In the context of an emerging national fight for democracy, they elevated their struggle for land into a referendum on the dictatorship itself. Jacob Blanc will discuss his new book, which traces the protest movements of Brazilians living in the shadow of the Itaipu dam, challenges the primacy of urban-focused narratives, and unearths the rural experiences of dictatorship and democracy in Brazil.

Jacob Blanc is a Lecturer in Latin American History at the University of Edinburgh. His new book, Before the Flood: The Itaipu Dam and the Visibility of Rural Brazil will be published by Duke University Press in December 2019.

Tuesday, November 12, 4:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street

New screening

(Image from ¡Las Sandinistas!)
Cine Latino
¡Las Sandinistas!
Directed by Jenny Murray (United States, 2018)

Trailer for the film

¡Las Sandinistas! reveals the untold stories of Nicaraguan women warriors and social revolutionaries who shattered barriers during Nicaragua’s 1979 Sandinista Revolution and the ensuing U.S.-backed Contra War. Today, as the current Sandinista government is erasing these women’s stories of heroism, social reform, and military accomplishments from history books, these same women are fighting to reclaim history – and are once again leading inspiring popular movements for equality and democracy. 96 minutes. Spanish with English subtitles.

“A documentary of ripe impact and value… with its rich archival footage, and its nuts-and-bolts view of a revolution that was every bit as seismic as the one in Cuba, it’s instructive to see how the rebellion against an autocracy gets built: gun by gun, body by body, skirmish by skirmish.” – Variety

All Cine Latino screenings are free to the public. No registration or tickets are required. Please check clas.berkeley.edu to confirm time and location

Tuesday, November 12, 7:00 pm
NEW LOCATION: 106 Moffitt Library