“If Ecuador is the name of an imaginary line….”: The 8th Festival de Cine Cero Latitud

Prometeo Deportado

Article by Libertad Gills
This article was written for and published by Senses of Cinema on December 20th, 2010: link to article here

Festival Cero Latitud
15 – 31 October 2010
Festival website: http://cerolatitud.com/

In most parts of Quito, Ecuador, the fact that you make, study or are passionate about cinema can only be understood as a hobby, a recreation, a pasttime. When I opened my bank account, for instance, the clerk asked me what I studied as an undergraduate. I responded the way I always respond. I say, “Film Studies” and I see the woman hesitating at the keyboard, waiting for me to say something else, something more academic-sounding, more professional. “And Political Science”, I add. With a look of relief, she starts typing away. I ask her, “Does Film Studies not count?” She smiles politely, “It’s better if I write Political Science.” “Menos mal estudie dos careras,” I respond. Having graduated four years ago from a university where being a film major had the social prestige of being a football player at any other US university and the academic prestige of attending MIT, I was in cultural shock.

Read More