-
Location: Streaming (online)
Location Link: http://www.twitch.tv/screensociety
Screening & Zoom Discussion:
The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)
(Claudia Llosa, 2009, 98 min, Peru/Spain, Spanish/Quechua with English subtitles, Color)
-- Introduced by Miguel Rojas Sotelo (Program Coordinator, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Director, N.C. Latin American Film Festival)
Relevant Publications:
Set in the aftermath of the brutal war between Fujimori’s government and Shining Path in Peru, The Milk of Sorrow tells the story of Fausta’s efforts to take her mother’s body back to her village for burial. Like Creon, in Sophocles’ ancient tragedy, Antigone, Fausta’s uncle is opposed and wants the body to be rather quickly buried in the courtyard of his house. Songs, according to some, the most important in ancient tragedy, also have a special place in this film. It is through Fausta’s mother song that we are introduced to the sexual violence of Peru’s civil war and its long-lasting effects on indigenous women. It is through Fausta’s own song, that we are also led into the aftermath of that colonial violence, when wealthy pianist, Aída, who is struggling to complete a new piece for her recital, non-consensually appropriates Fausta’s song, who depends on Aída’s money to pay for her mother’s funeral.
-- Followed by Zoom discussion (see registration link above)
In preparation for a two-day colloquium on Antigone in the world, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, in collaboration with Screen/Society, is happy to announce a 4-part international film series on Antigone, scheduled throughout Fall 2020. Curated by project co-organizer, Andrés Fabián Henao Castro, the four films selected are not strictly adaptations of Antigone (only one explicitly refers to Sophocles’ play), but each takes up the themes of political violence and contested burials in ways that productively resonate with the ancient tragedy. From Germany to the México-US border, and from Peru to the Congo, the political contestation over who can or cannot be buried exposes more than one violence in its course and invites us to reflect, yet again, on the historical violence that lays at the foundation of the state. The Antigone Film Series has been organized in preparation for a two-day Colloquium on “Antigone’s Worldings,” that will explore the reception, adaptation, and criticism of Sophocles’ ancient drama in a global text, in the Fall of 2021.
Other screenings in this online/streaming series:
Contact: Hank Okazaki
Email: hokazak@duke.edu
Sponsor: Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI)--World Arts series
Co-Sponsors: Cinematic Arts at Duke University; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS); Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Cinematic Arts