Classic Tuesdays film is Al Otro Lado

On Tuesday evening, Gustavo Loza’s Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side) will be screened at the National Gallery, Castellani House.

Beautiful cinematography and atmospheric music accompany the three different stories of three children missing their absent immigrant fathers in Mexican director Gustavo Loza’s emotional drama, a press release from the National Gallery said.

All three children – a Mexican and a Cuban boy, (Prisciliano and Angél respectively) and a Morrocan girl (Fatimah), choose to embark on a search for their fathers, convinced that they are waiting for them and that they can bring them back ‘from the other side’. Two of the three take on ambitious, perilous journeys, one touched by tragedy and one seemingly miraculously protected far away from home, the release said.

Excellent child actors Adrian Alonso, Jorge Milo and Nuria Badih carry the film with support from a cast including Vanessa Bauche as Prisciliano’s mother, and Carmen Maura, leading Spanish actress (and star of several Pedro Almodóvar films including Volver ), as the aptly named Esperanza (Hope), who befriends Fatima.

Al Otro Lado won the Best Film, Best Actress (for Vanessa Bauche) and Audience Awards at the Lleida Latin-American Film Festival in 2006. It was also the official Mexican entry for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and has been made available for the Classic Tuesdays programme through the courtesy of the Embassy of Mexico in Guyana, the National Gallery said.

The film starts at 6 pm and its running time is 1 hour 30 minutes. The public is cordially invited to attend this event and admission is free.