Welcome! Bienvenidos! Bem-vindo! The AFI Latin American Film Festival is one of North America's largest and longest-running showcases of Latin American cinema. Now in its 35th year, the Festival is one of Washington's top cultural events and features award-winning films, in-person conversations with filmmaker guests and exciting Embassy-hosted parties.

With the inclusion of films from Spain and Portugal, the festival celebrates Ibero-American cultural connections during National Hispanic Heritage Month. Don't miss your chance to see film-festival favorites, local box-office hits and debut works by promising new talents. Join a diverse audience of film lovers!

Schedule:

7:00 - LA COCINA

Special Features: Opening Night - Q and A with filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios, plus post-screening reception sponsored by the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC.

Mexican auteur Alonso Ruizpalacios (A COP MOVIE, GÜEROS, MUSEO) brings new meaning to kitchen-sink realism with his adaptation of British playwright Arnold Wesker's "The Kitchen," transferring the action from mid-century London to present-day New York City to craft a tragicomic tribute to life behind the scenes of a busy Times Square restaurant. Shifting between the balletic machinations of a kitchen during the lunchtime rush and the explosive interpersonal conflicts boiling just beneath the surface of its well-oiled routine, Ruizpalacios channels THE BEAR as if reimagined by John Cassavetes, creating a high-wire drama that explores the illusions of the American dream and the lengths to which the kitchen's working class and largely undocumented staff must go to achieve it. At the heart of the brilliant ensemble cast is Raúl Briones (A COP MOVIE) as Mexican chef Pedro, a fiery-tempered dreamer entangled in a turbulent affair with Julia (Oscar-nominated actress Rooney Mara), a harried waitress with her own crosses to bear. When $800 goes missing and everyone becomes a suspect, the resulting tension threatens to push the kitchen's unrelenting pace and hierarchical divisions further into chaos. Official Selection, 2024 Berlin and Tribeca film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Alonso Ruizpalacios, from the play "The Kitchen" by Arnold Wesker; PROD Gerardo Gatica, Lauren Mann, Ivan Orlic, Ramiro Ruiz. Mexico/U.S., 2024, b&w, 139 min. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.

Run Time: 139 Minutes

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