Victims of Sin

18 TBC

In the neon-lit Cabaret Chango, Cuban rumbera Violeta (Ninón Sevilla) attracts adoring crowds with her daring dance performances. When she rescues a baby from the garbage one night, she attracts the wrath of brutal gangster Rodolfo (Rodolfo Acosta) and is propelled into a desperate downward spiral. Violeta’s self-sacrifice attracts the potentially redemptive attention of rival club owner Santiago (Tito Junco), but the threat of tragedy is never far away. Gritty noir meets swooning melodrama and breathtaking musical performances in this stunning showcase for Sevilla. The pairing of director Emilio Fernández and cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa is widely acclaimed, but the often overlooked contribution of frequent collaborator Gloria Schoemann also deserves credit - as the editor of over 230 films across a 40 year career, Schoemann is one of the defining artists of the Mexican Golden Age.

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This film will be introduced by Leeds DIY Film Club Film Quarry.

Film Quarry is all about digging in to the past to shed light on cinema’s hidden gems, curating and contextualising classics to help you discover new favourites. Primary focusing on mid-century pictures, Film Quarry’s goal is to introduce audiences to classics outside the traditional cannon and strengthen connections with a previous era of cinema.

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Showing as part of our season Too Much: Melodrama on Film - supported by the BFI and Film Hub North, and Invisible Women. 

Invisible Women have budget for free solidarity tickets available. These are tickets for people who would otherwise struggle to attend due to financial reasons. For anyone who would like to claim one, they just need to email invisiblewomen.archives@gmail.com or send a request via Instagram DM.  

Invisible Women seek out and champion the work of women and filmmakers with marginalised identities who have been overlooked, un-credited or left out of the history of cinema. By drawing attention to these forgotten stories, we aim to reinsert female voices into the story of film.