Latin American Film Festival screens ‘City of God’

“I heard about this in Spanish class. I’ve never been to [a screening]. I thought it would 00be interesting,” said audience member Katherine Reyes.On April 16, Reyes was one of many TAMIU students seated in the Student Center auditorium’s plush seats, prepared to watch the “City of God” movie screening. “City of God,” which could best be described as Slumdog Millionare meets Y Tu Mama Tambien, was one of many events hosted by TAMIU in honor of Latin America Week. As the explicit story unfolded in unforgettable sequential titles, the audience was left expecting one thing, and in true suspense fashion, the film revealed another.From the slums of Rio de Janeiro, the film pursues the true life stories of two boys. As one strays off toward an unlikely path as a photojournalist; the other evolves into a drug dealing, unremorseful murder.From the sharpening of a knife in the opening sequence to the ending shots of a crowd of children walking down an alley with guns in hand, the film’s authentic theme was rooted in the idea of an inevitable slum cycle.”I really enjoyed it. It got me thinking about Third World countries [and] what reporters have to go through. It was a sad rags to riches story,” said TAMIU student, Bellanira Quintero. “We wanted to find movies that aren’t mainstream movies,” said Dr. Roberto Heredia, associate professor of psychology, who led the discussion for City of God, “[So] students can see what’s really going on in Latin America.”