And We're Hooked To The Silver Screen: David Bowie's High Line Film Festival

Some of you may have heard about the upcoming David Bowie-curated High Line Festival that kicks off this Wednesday, May 9th, with a concert by Arcade Fire at Radio City Music Hall (see you there!) here in New York. The festival runs until May 19th and features concerts by Air, Daniel Johnston, Deerhoof, The Polyphonic Spree and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, among others, as well as comedy by Ricky Gervais.

What may have been overlooked, however is a mini-festival of Spanish and Latin American films, chosen by Bowie. His original goal was to have one film from each of the last 10 decades, but that clearly didn't work out. However, I am sure you'll all agree that The former Thin White Duke has done a pretty good job. Almost all of these are rated 8 or higher by IMDB users and we all know that those who watch foriegn-language films take these things more seriously than those who don't!

The film lineup is as follows:

El Automovil Gris - Dir. Enrique Rosas Priego, Mexico, 1919
Limite - Dir. Mario Peixoto, Brazil, 1931 (Bonus film)
El Prisionero 13 - Dir. Fernando de Fuentes, Mexico, 1933
Dos Monjes - Dir. Juan Bustillo Oro, Mexico, 1934
Aventurera - Dir. Alberto Gout, Mexico, 1949
Robinson Crusoe - Dir. Luis Bunuel, Mexico, 1954
Memorias del Subdesarrollo (Memories of Underdevelopment) - Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Cuba, 1968
El Espíritu de la Colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive) - Dir. Victor Erice, Spain, 1973
Oriana - Dir. Fina Torres, Venezuela/Francia, 1985
Los Amantes del Ciculo Polar Lovers of the Arctic Circle -Dir. Julio Medem, Spain, 1998
Machuca - Dir. Andrés Wood, Chile/Spain, 2004