CineCulture Club promotes cultural awareness through film and post-screening discussions.

"BOTERO" (2018)
When: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15.
Where: Peters Education Center Auditorium (west of the Save Mart Center in the Student Recreation Center building)

All films screened on campus are free and open to the public. Parking is not enforced after 4 p.m. on Fridays.

Discussant: Don Millar (director)

Fernando Botero is one of the world’s most popular living artists with millions of fans transcending cultures across the globe. While his art is instantly recognizable, the story of how he became “the Maestro” is largely unknown. "BOTERO" changes that. This beautifully filmed documentary offers an inspiring look at the power of relentless vision, unwavering conviction and a lifetime of discipline. We follow an unknown, self-taught painter from provincial Medellin in 1932, as he propels himself to the pinnacle of the art world. The film brings together the man and his art to capture Botero’s essence — the quiet resolve and strength of character that allowed him to overcome poverty, decades of harsh criticism and the tragic death of his four-year-old son.

Never-before-seen moments come to life as his children uncover 50 year-old sketches in a shuttered storage facility, as our cameras go behind the scenes at as how his work is exhibited alongside Pablo Picasso’s and as the artist takes us on a private tour of his studio. BOTERO weaves together original footage shot in 10 cities across China, Europe, New York and Colombia, with decades of family photos and archival video. Unprecedented access to the artist and his family is combined with a colorful cast of historians, curators and academics to reveal the creativity and convictions at the heart of Fernando Botero. In his sunlit studio, Botero explains that despite the fame, the accolades and the financial success, he is still learning and discovering because “my life is to paint.”

Sponsors: The French Program and the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures and Center for Creativity and the Arts

Coming next: Short Film Program: "Life Between Borders: Black Migrants in Mexico," "Jamaica y Tamarindo: Afro Tradition in the Heart of Mexico" and "After La Nopalera"

"Life Between Borders: Black Migrants in Mexico" by Californian filmmaker and Central Valley native Ebony Bailey discusses the context in which thousands of Haitians seeking entry to the United States are now left stranded at the northern Mexico border after a change in immigration policy. But “Black migration” is not new to Mexico, as people from the African Diaspora have lived here for centuries. In Bailey’s short documentary, we meet Haitians stuck at the border as well as Africans in Mexico City and explore Black migration and identity in Mexico.

In Bailey’s second short film, "Jamaica y Tamarindo: Afro Tradition in the Heart of Mexico" we learn that the Jamaica flower and tamarind are iconic ingredients in Mexico but their history comes from a place much further away. To understand this, we meet four people and explore with them what African identity means in the context of Mexico City, an identity that goes beyond the color of one’s skin.

Bailey’s third short documentary "After La Nopalera" presents daily life in a small village in the state of Morelos in central Mexico after the Sept. 19, 2017 earthquake as vividly told by a local resident and an earthquake survivor.

For a complete schedule, visit the College of Arts and Humanities blog.