FANS of the Latin American Film Festival must be careful this year.

The hugely popular event is shifting from the National Museum of Australia to the James O. Fairfax Theatre at the National Gallery of Australia, so all those ANU students who used to pack in after lectures will have to journey across town.

With 376 seats as opposed to 160, the embassies are expecting a bumper crowd.

The 8th festival will screen 11 films from all over Latin America – documentaries, thrillers, dramas and rom-coms.

It’s an exciting move, says Susan Chiriboga, of the Ecuadorian Embassy, which presents this year’s opening-night film, “Prometheus Deported”.

“We’ve managed to do an amazing sponsorship deal with the NGA,” she says.

This year, too, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Council on Australia Latin America Relations has come up with support, too.

“Film really improves Australia-Latin American relations,” says Ecuadorian ambassador Raúl Gangotena. “It’s a very effective way of expanding knowledge.”

An eloquent advocate for his region, Gangotena believes film directors are free-minded people who tell their stories truly. But he suspects sometimes his ambassadorial colleagues are uncomfortable about the more cutting-edge films, as they like their nations to be presented in a favourable light.

“We have a history of inequity… if filmmakers did not stress that ‘big fact’ they would be hiding the reality and audiences wouldn’t be interested,” he says.

But there’s good news.

“We have recovered from dictatorships… and the love of freedom and human rights is strong – I feel I can say that for the whole region,” says Gangotena, who also notes a strong drive to defend discrimination against indigenous, African and sexual minorities.

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The popularity of the film festival coincides with evidence that our trade with Latin America is growing faster than with any part of the world except for China.

“Australians are culturally cultivated people who were willing to see the world in a different way,” says Gangotena. He expects 1500 Canberrans to attend and about the same in the other cities.

One uncomfortable reality concerns economic emigrants from Latin America. Ecuador’s opening film, “Prometheus Deported” (a twist on the title of Aeschylus’ tragedy “Prometheus Bound”) dramatising the lives of the 400,000 Ecuadorians now living in Spain, about 1/6 of the home population.

The film is set in the immigration room of an airport somewhere, as waves of immigrant Ecuadorians pass through for processing.

“You get an idea of Ecuadorians, regional rivalries, the food and the life of the country,” the ambassador says.

The 8th Latin American Film Festival, National Gallery of Australia, starting Tuesday, April 24. A different movie will be screened at 6.30pm? each night until May 4. Entry free. All films are R18+ and subtitled in English.

[box] What’s coming?

Mexico, “Nora’s Will”: Before dying, Nora makes an elaborate plan for José, her ex-husband, who will have to manage her wake (comedy).

Paraguay, “108 Cuchillo de Palo”: The life of an individual reveals part of the silenced history of Paraguay (creative documentary).

Peru, “The Vigil”: Two contradicting characters share an intense and strange night in Lima (thriller).

Uruguay, “The Pope’s Toilet”: During Pope John Paul II’s visit, the locals hope to profit by building a toilet in front of his house and charging for its use (drama).

Venezuela, “Macuro”: Workers in a small fishing village rebel when a local cement factory with its own power plant rejects a plea for help (drama).

Colombia, “Spectro”: Vega lives like a hermit in an apartment with a dark past (fiction).

Cuba, “Benny”: A fictional story about the famous Cuban musician Benny Moré (drama/musical).

Chile, “For Rent”: Failed musician Gastón, begins a new career path then meets Elisa (romantic comedy).

Brazil, “The Year My Parents Went on Vacation”: Mauro, is left alone in a Jewish neighbourhood in 1970, the year of the World Cup and the dictatorship (drama).

Ecuador, “Prometheus Deported”: A group of Ecuadorian immigrants are locked in a waiting room of a “first world” airport (drama).

Argentina: “Roma”: Joaquín, an Argentine writer living in Spain, hires young Manuel to help him with his next book (drama). [/box]