Panama Canal Stories
(Historias del Canal)
Abner Benaim, Carolina Borrero, Pituka Ortega-Heilbron | Drama, Fiction, Romance
2014 | 106 minutes | Panama
Spanning a century, from 1913 to 2013, this impressive, sweeping historical drama chronicles five incredible stories of people who helped build the famous canal and Panama itself.
Synopsis
This impressive, sweeping historical drama chronicles five incredible stories of people who helped build the famous canal and Panama itself.
Spanning a century, from 1913 to 2013, the film weaves together the tales of five remarkable characters: Clarice, a young Jamaican laborer forced to choose between love and survival at the hands her American and British bosses during the Canal’s construction; Jake, the son of an engineer who grows up in the ‘American zone’ in 1950s Panama but who really wants to be with his Panamanian friends; José, a student caught up in the 1960s political unrest and his love for a pretty American girl, Lucy; Silverio, a chauffeur for visiting U.S. politicians who is hired to spy on them by local political activists in 1977; and Clarice Jones, a jazz singer in New York City who discovers that her great-grandmother worked on the canal and decides to go to Panama to explore her roots.
Reviews
"A milestone for a young industry." — John Hopewell, Variety
"Stories which are unique and even riveting as they uncover a history of the Panama Canal which expands beyond what little we may know of the country's history." — Sydney Levine, IndieWire
Citation
Main credits
Borrero, Carolina (film director)
Mon, Pinky (film director)
Brantley, Luis Franco (film director)
Ortega Heilbron, Pituka (film director)
Ortega Heilbron, Pituka (film producer)
Benaim, Abner (film director)
Novas, Ileana (film producer)
Schverdfinger, Pablo (film producer)
Rodríguez, Manolito (screenwriter)
Fadel, Alejandro (screenwriter)
Mauregui, Martín (screenwriter)
May, Lakisha (actor)
Morris, Andre (actor)
Wise, Kathleen (actor)
Other credits
Directors, Carolina Borrero (1913), Pinky Mon (1950), Luis Franco Brantley (1964), Abner Benaim (1977), Pituka Ortega Heilbron (2013).
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Afro-Latin Studies
Central America
Criminal Justice
Culture + Identity
Economics + Social Class Issues
History
Human Rights
International Relations
Latin American Studies
Migration Studies
Political Science
Sociology
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
Latin American Film Festival Canada
Miami Film Festival
Panama International Film Festival
St. Louis Film Festival
DIRECTOR: Abner Benaim, Carolina Borrero, Pituka Ortega-Heilbron
NATIONALITY: Panama
YEAR: 2014
GENRE: Drama, Fiction, Romance
LANGUAGE: English; Spanish
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adults
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
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