ARAYA (1959) on 35mm

40 Arts Circle Drive,Evanston IL 60208

27 January, 2023

Description

Friday, January 27 - 7 PM ARAYA (Margot Benacerraf, 1959, 90 min, 35 mm) A landmark of Latin American cinema, ARAYA (1959) is Margot Benacerraf’s brilliant nonfiction tone-poem of the life and work of the traditional salineros (salt workers) of the Araya peninsula, a region off the northeast coast of Venezuela known for its natural salt marshes. ARAYA lyricizes the daily toil and timeless gestures of a community whose workers follow traditional methods deeply interconnected with an environment of endless sea and blazing sun. The two-person crew of Benacerraf and cameraman Giuseppe Nisoli captured this visually enthralling portrait of the rhythms of daily life just before introduction of industrial machinery transformed a practice of land subsistence that had stayed the same for nearly 500 years. Credited as a predecessor to feminist cinema in South America and the launch of New Latin Cinema, ARAYA is a hybrid nonfiction classic of lasting importance and spectacular beauty. Presented as a 35 mm print courtesy of Milestone Films.