Much of South America enthusiastically embraced cinema in its early years, with the cities providing huge audiences -- Argentina in particular went mad for the movies, and the '30s and '40s were a golden age. But as much of the continent became politically unstable, cinema fizzled out as filmmaking became, in some cases, a pretty dangerous job. Since the '90s though, an oddly synchronic re-boot of the film industry across a whole group of South American countries has simultaneously occurred. The legacy of neo-realism has resurfaced and many of the new films are subtly political. For the whole of August the BFI highlights recent South American films together with established filmmakers including Brazil's Walter Salles (Central Station and The Motorcycle Diaries). Nationally, Argentina has again taken the lead, producing rising stars Pablo Trapero (with a screening of Crane World, his debut film), Lucretia Martel (The Headless Woman) and the sadly late Fabian Bielinsky (with his David Mamet-esque script and fiendish double-cross plot in the brilliant Nine Queens). Surprisingly those "little fishes" Paraguay and Uruguay also provide proof that they are not just ace at football, but also filmmaking, with the poignant Paraguayan Hammock, the slightly odd Gigante, and the marvellously droll, Aki Kaurismaki-like Whisky. The season will also include a small section of recent South American documentary.

NB: South American Renaissance runs till 31/08. Also of note is the release in London of Javier Fuentes-Leon's Undertow on 06/08.