Underprivileged characters and their daily struggles to cope with adverse surroundings are a major presence in today’s cinema from Latin America and Spain. Feature films and documentaries alike center on characters that have a vulnerable status in their respective societies; such as children, the elderly, maids, sex workers, and immigrants living in precarious socio-economical contexts. Those figures are presented in nuanced ways that go far beyond the simple typology of the “little guy.” Filmmakers frequently adopt a neorealist language, fast-paced narrative rhythm, and real-life settings to convey the circumstances of those who barely make ends meet.

The prominence of the figure in contemporary film leads to further research questions, a key one among those is related to the conception of minor filmic storylines that challenge established national and nationalist narratives. They propose instead perspectives that align them with other marginalized figures in a transnational sphere marked by neoliberal realities. Mexican Alejandro González Iñárritu’s fulminant Amores perros has been hailed as a paradigm of this awareness and aesthetic (its canine metaphor served as inspiration of the theme of our conference).

This conference strives to be both a conversation in and beyond disciplines: Thirteen colleagues from three different SUNY and CUNY campuses will participate. The research topics approach the subject of the underdog from a variety of methodological, theoretical and geographical angles. In addition to the individual presentations, the event will include a workshop dedicated to strategies to locate films and visual images from Latin America and Spain, a student panel organized by graduate students of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, and final round table discussion related to the specificities and challenges of the teaching of film in our diverse disciplines. The roundtable participants represent the areas of Film Studies, English, Sociology, Political Sciences, and second language acquisition.

This event is made possible thanks to a Conversations in the Disciplines (CID) grant (The State University of New York), and generous support from the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Contact: Ilka Kressner ikressner[at]albany.edu

Photo Credit: Film still from Amores perros (Mexico, 2001, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu)