European Studies, School of Modern Languages and Cultures HKU

This film, released in 1992, portrays the experiences of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, one of four survivors of the shipwrecked Narváez expedition (1527), who spent eight years traveling among Native societies in what would be the present-day American Southwest, before returning to Spanish Mexico. He subsequently returned to Spain and published an account of his travels, the basis of this film. The film depicts Cabeza de Vaca's alienation and isolation--from his Native captors, and, later from his Spanish comrades. It challenges viewers to consider the destructive nature of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and contemplate what exactly is civilized and barbaric behavior. 112 minutes.

In Spanish with English subtitles

31 January 2019

European studies film screening Cabeza de Vaca 31 Jan 2019 (Thu) 7:30 pm to 9:20 pm CPD-LG.34, Centennial Campus, HKU
This film, released in 1992, portrays the experiences of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, one of four survivors of the shipwrecked Narváez expedition (1527), who spent eight years traveling among Native societies in what would be the present-day American Southwest, before returning to Spanish Mexico. He subsequently returned to Spain and published an account of his travels, the basis of this film. The film depicts Cabeza de Vaca's alienation and isolation--from his Native captors, and, later from his Spanish comrades. It challenges viewers to consider the destructive nature of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and contemplate what exactly is civilized and barbaric behavior. 112 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles