Co-presented with 18th aluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival.

Vidas/Lives (Panama/Argentina/Colombia, 2018) *Canadian Premiere*
Director: Abner Benaim

SXSW Audience Award for 24 beats per second.

Life surprises you, life brings you surprises, oh God…

The famous phrase by Ruben Blades synthesizes, with wisdom, life in Latin America: a rich and vibrant culture where the unexpected is one of its many wonders. Another one of its great wonders is, undoubtedly, the music - music by Ruben Blades and music by many other composers. In this program we present two films in which music is the central theme.

We dive into the everyday life of two musicians with very different lives. We start with a short film about a musician from Toronto who divides his time between his job as an electrician and his salsa band. To close, the award winning film on the fascinating life of – as Garcia Marquez said – “the most famous unknown person” : Ruben Blades.



Length: 84'
Genre: Documentary

aluCine 2018 Curatorial Statement:

From October 3 - 6, 2018 the 18th edition of aluCine will focus on diversity in its broadest sense. The artistic vision of the 18th annual festival is a reflection of how each person perceives reality in a different way according to culture, tradition, and history. Through those lenses, we are compelled to celebrate our diversity via cinema.