The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Cinema Tropical are teaming up to explore Latin America's cinematic, cultural, political and social tropes as shown through a mix of multifaceted mediums -- from documentary and fiction to experimental films.

The world-class Guggenheim showcases Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern and Contemporary art. Cinema Tropical is a New York-based film institute and a "leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the U.S."  

The two creative entities create an expansive platform for artists in New York and around the world; they will co-produce a film series, "Tropical Uncanny: Latin American Tropes and Mythologies" on Fridays from Aug. 8 through Sept. 26, as well as Saturday, Sept. 20.

"The intention with the film series was to create dialogue between different filmmakers and visual artists as well as presenting diverse cinematic forms in order to rethink how Latin America represents itself within and outside the continent," Cinema Tropical's Raúl Guzmán told Latin Post.

"The opportunity to curate a film program that accompanies the exhibition "Under the Same Sun" allowed a reconsideration of the notion of 'Latin America cinema' and of present curatorial habits. The diversity of recent cinematic work from the region defies easy categorization. The series attempts to capture this diversity by mixing genres, formats and narrative styles, as well as highlighting important works that have had limited exposure in the US in order to perhaps start thinking of Latin American cinemas in the plural." 

"Tropical Uncanny: Latin American Tropes and Mythologies" is programmed by Carlos A. Gutiérrez, executive director and co-founder of Cinema Tropical, in collaboration with film critic Jerónimo Rodríguez.

There will be several films created by exhibition artists, including Carlos Motta's "Nefandus" and Juan Downey's "The Laughing Alligator" as well as two documentaries: "Stars" by Federico León and Marcos Martínez, and "You Look Like a Carriage that Not Even the Oxen Can Stop" by Nelson Carlo.

Films and videos will be screened in the New Media Theater and are free with museum admission. For more information and a full schedule of films, click here.

The exciting new series is presented in conjunction with "Under the Same Sun: Art from Latin America Today" -- the second exhibition of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative curated by Pablo León de la Barra, Guggenheim UBS MAP curator. "'Latin America -- Tropical Uncanny' proposes a dialogue between the filmmakers and visual artists and reexamines representations of Latin America at home and abroad," according to its official press release.

"'Under the Same Sun' attempts to deconstruct notions of Latin America. ... It's a zone of activation, of tension, where different ideas are put in confrontation with each other," de la Barra said.

"The basic idea for the title comes from thinking about this common ground that could be shared between all of these countries, which are very different. We cannot talk about one only, Latin America. What we can do is talk about a shared common ground and shared intersections that exists between the artists, the works to a common history that comes from 300 years of colonial occupation by either Spain or Portugal," de la Barra added.

"But also a shared history of modernity an idea of progress that was very present in the whole of the continent, also followed by periods of impressive governments, military occupation and economic crisis," he said. "So in a way the way artists deal with the present and also use the past as a tool to understand what is happening today."

"Under the Same Sun," which will be on view until Oct. 1, delves into the creative interpretations of 40 artists and collectives representing 15 countries.