LAUSR

Since the turn of the millennium, a significant number of Latin American films have portrayed the experiences of impoverished children, seeking thereby to evoke in global audiences an affective reaction to the poverty of the region. Taking Hermano (Marcel Rasquin, 2010, Venezuela), Voces inocentes (Luis Mandoki, 2004, Mexico), and Los colores de la montana (Carlos Arbelaez, 2011, Colombia) as representative examples of the genre, this paper explores the filmmakers’ focus on the hyperlocal and the lived experiences of their young protagonists, and their corresponding refusal to engage with ideological readings of poverty, or to explore the broader sociopolitical or historical processes underpinning their subjects’ circumstances. The films’ circumscribed depictions of children in crisis solicit from their international audiences an affective response. In so doing, they acquire a universalism that suggests a critique of global capitalism and a reflection on the political and moral failings of the nation state.