Dialogues with Che: Appropriations of a Revolutionary Figure

In Person: Venezuelan Actor Rolando Peña

Images of Ernesto "Che" Guevara are the most contested and reproduced in Latin America, and this program explores ways this iconic figure has been represented. Diálogo con el Che (Dialogue with Che, 1968, newly restored, 53’), is a legendary film by queer Nuyorican artist José Rodriguez Soltero that parodies Hollywood portrayals of the revolutionary hero. Una foto recorre el mundo (A Photograph Travels the World (1981, 13’) by Pedro Chaskel (also know at the editor of The Battle of Chile, 1975) analyzes the iconic photograph of el Che taken by Alberto Korda at a political rally in 1960, and the unending international (and commercial) appropriations of this image. Leandro Katz’ El Día Que Me Quieras (1997, 30’) retraces the story behind the last photographs Freddy Alborta took of Che Guevara as he lay dead, surrounded by his captors, in 1967. 

The film series and publication are produced by Los Angeles Filmforum under the direction of Jesse Lerner and Luciano Piazza. Made possible through grants from the Getty Foundation as part of the Getty-led Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles.

Curated by Jesse Lerner, Luciano Piazza, Steve Anker and Bérénice Reynaud.