Category: Cinema/Theater
Almost Brothers / Quase Dois Irmãos
This searing look at the class struggle in Brazil over a period of four decades is told through the closely linked yet fatallz divided lives of Miguel, a middle-class white rebel, and Jorge, his black childhood friend. Remembering their time of imprisonment by the right wing government in the 1960s, Miguel returns as a progressive politician to the prison where Jorge serves a sentence as a gang leader, to seek his help in changing the cycle of death and poverty.
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Drama, Politics/Human Rights, Social IssuesAura, El
Espinoza is a shy taxidermist who secretly dreams of executing the perfect robbery. On his first ever hunting trip, in the calm of the Patagonian forest, his dreams become reality when he accidentally kills a man who turns out to be a real criminal and inherits his scheme: the heist of an armored van carrying casino profits. Caught up in a world of complex new rules and frightening violence, Espinoza's lack of experience puts him in real danger. And he has another, more dangerous liability: he is an epileptic. Before each seizure he is visited by the ''aura'': a paradoxical moment of confusion and enlightenment where the past and future seem to blend. Is a world of violence what he really wants and can he actually survive? Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Argentina, Cinema/Theater, DramaBlack God, White Devil / Deus E O Diabo Na Terra Do Sol
This richly allegorical film, set amid bandits and prophets in arid Northeastern Brazil of the early twentieth century, is a classic work of cinema novo by one of Brazil's premier directors, Gláuber Rocha.
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, ClassicBlood and Wine
A shocking new thriller from the acclaimed Brazilian filmmaker based on the award winning novel Veias e Vinhos by Miguel Jorge on a horrifying story buried for over 40 years. Blood and Wine centers on Mateus, a modest business owner, his wife Antonia, their three children and Mateus' brother Pedro. After Mateus launches a restaurant in Goias in central Brazil, he and his familz find themselves persecuted by a wholly corrupt, graft-laden police force. The outcome is terrifying as almost all of Mateus family is brutally murdered. Will the sole survivor see the criminals brought to justice?
Cinema/Theater, Drama, Politics/Human RightsBorder Brujo
The acclaimed performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña directs himself in this video focusing on issues of cross-culturalism along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his performance he switches in and out of various characters reflecting different aspects of border culture.
Art, Border, Cinema/Theater, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USACandida Erendira, La
Avant-garde performance art / plays performed by the Buendía theatre group in 1992. La increible y triste historia de la Candida Erendira y su abuela desalmada
Cinema/Theater, CubaCarandiru
Based on the real life experiences of Doctor Drauzio Varella as a social worker inside the Carandiru state penitentiary in Sao Paulo, the largest correctional facility in Brazil. Hundreds of prisoners live in degrading conditions while an elite group of prisoners rule the actual prison based on their own codes and laws. This rule ends in bloodshed in October 1992 when 300 policemen storm the facility and kill 111 unarmed inmates.
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Social IssuesCarla’s Song
1987, love in time of war. A bus driver George Lennox meets Carla, a Nicaraguan exile living a precarious, profoundly sad life in Glasgow. Her back is scarred, her boyfriend missing, her family dispersed; she's suicidal. George takes her to Nicaragua to find out what has happened to them and to help her face her past. Once home, Carla's nightmarish memories take over, and Carla and George are thrown into the thick of the US war against the Sandinistas. A mystery develops over where Carla's boyfriend is, and the key to his whereabouts may be Carla's friend Bradley, a bitter American aid worker.
Cinema/Theater, Drama, History, Nicaragua, Politics/Human Rights, Social Movements/ResistanceCarmen Miranda: Bananas is my Business
This film relates the intimate saga of the star who captured the world's heart and imagination. It reveals the lasting image of Latin American women she created and serves as a celebration of her glorious talents. Using active footage, film fragments, interviews and dramatic re-enactments, acclaimed director Helena Solberg goes behind the scenes to convey the true life story of the "Brazilian Bombshell."
Biography, Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Music/DanceChulas Fronteras y Del Mero Corazon
Documentary films of the borderland between Texas and Mexico. Norteña music filled with the poetry of daily life-love songs, passion, death, humor, and loss is explored from dancehalls, small towns, and family gatherings.
Cinema/Theater, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Music/Dance, USACine Mambembe / Cinema Discovers Brazil
A pair of filmmakers journey to the interior of Brazil, screening short films to audiences in town squares. From Bahía to the Amazon, they discover a vast country going to the movies, seeing themselves on the big screen for the first time.
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Social IssuesCouple In The Cage
This film documents the traveling performance of Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Coco Fusco, in which they exhibit themselves as caged Amerindians from an imaginary island, providing a vivid and provocative interpretation of cultural encounters.
Anthropology/Archaeology, Art, Cinema/Theater, Latinos/Chicanos, USACuba: The Broken Image
This program gathers together the most representative of exiled Cuban filmmakers, who recount their personal experiences of having to abandon their work and start a new life away from their country, culture and natural environment. The program features clips of their film and photographs as it takes viewers on a journey from Cuba in the late 1950s to the lives of the filmmakers today. Although Castro encouraged the development of a state sponsored cinema in Cuba, opening doors for many talented filmmakers, his policies towards intellectuals led many of these same filmmakers to abandon the island, leaving behind a broken image, an interrupted flow of creativity which some were able to find again abroad but others were not.
Cinema/Theater, Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, USADenying Brazil
A documentary film about the taboos, stereotypes, and struggles of Black actors in Brazilian television "soaps." Based on his own memories and on a sturdy body of research evidence, the director analyzes race relations in Brazilian soap operas, calling attention to their likely influence on Black people's identity-forming processes.
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Country/Region, Drama, History, Politics/Human Rights, SubjectDEUS E O DIABO NA TERRA DO SOL
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, ClassicEisenstein En México: El Círculo Eterno / Eisenstein In Mexico: The Eternal Circle
The great Soviet filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein went to Mexico in 1929 to shoot the film Qué vive México using surrealist and muralist influence. The project was never finished. However this documentary film follows the work of Eisenstein including stills of footage, interviews with collaborators, and photographs and studies of the project.
Art, Cinema/Theater, MexicoFace De L’ombre, La (The Face Of The Shadow)
Milka has known Alexis since they were children, and loved him for as long as she can remember. When Alexis falls in love with and decides to marry another woman, Milka makes a deal with a mysterious stranger with unusual power in an attempt to win him back.
Cinema/Theater, HaitiFace De L’Ombre, La /The Face Of The Shadow
Cinema/Theater, HaitiFilhas Do Vento
Two sisters from the state of Minas Gerais are reunited after several years apart when their father dies and are forced to confront each other about the ill feelings generated by the hurts of the distant past.
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Social Life and CustomsGringo In Mañanaland
This film is a montage of scenes from travelogues, dramatic films, industrial films, newsreels, military footage, geography textbook illustrations and political cartoons. Together they explore the stereotyped image of Latin America in popular US media during the 20th century.
Biography, Cinema/Theater, Latin America, Latinos/Chicanos, USAHistory Of A Committed Cinema
This is a short fast-paced film displaying the work of the Nicaraguan Film Institute, INCINE, which is a part of the Sandinistan government in Nicaragua. It outlines the difficult technical, cinematic and political tasks confronting INCINE as it strives to build a native film industry.
Cinema/Theater, Comedy, Country/Region, Nicaragua, SubjectLos Que Hicieron Nuestro Cine
A collection of video shorts that examine the history of Mexican cinema. This volume examines recent movies that have addressed issues concerning power, analyzing particularly the movie Morir en el Golfo (1989).
Cinema/Theater, History, MexicoMadagascar
Nominated for best film award and recipient of the Special Jury's Prize in Havana's 1994 film festival, this movie tells the story of a Havana University Physics Professor's torturous relationship with her daughter during the special Period in Cuba. Based on the 1984 short story by Mirta Yáñez "Beatles Contra Duran Duran," the film marks a departure from director Fernando Pérez previous style of documentary-like realism and evokes a hypnotic trance-like feel as it presents generational conflict and the adolescent search for identity as metaphoric representations of post-revolutionary Cuban society.
Cinema/Theater, Cuba, DramaMargarette’s Feast
The film tells an allegory of Brazil's social struggles without words while making use of Brazilian music. After losing his job, goodhearted but penniless Pedro comes into possession of a miraculous suitcase that never runs out of money, allowing him to throw an extravagant birthday party for his wife.
Art, Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Music/Dance, Social IssuesMiddle Of The World, The
Romao, illiterate and unemployed, feels destiny drawing him on an odyssey to Rio de Janeiro in pursuit of a job and a decent life. Based on a true story, the movie follows a family of seven on a journay 2000 miles across the hinterlands of Brazil on bicycles. Along the way, director Vicente Amorim beautifully explores the inner dynamics of a family facing a great challenge. The Middle of the World is an unimaginable road movie, both graceful and tender, about having the courage to pursue your dream.
Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Drama, Social Issues, TravelMilagro De Tepeyac, El
Released in 1917, this silent film focuses on the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. Lupita, a young woman in Mexico is concerned about her fiancée's trip to Europe because of the war. The woman asks for the intervention of Guadalupe to protect him.
Art, Cinema/Theater, Classic, Drama, MexicoMy Filmmaking, My Life
An intriguing documentary on the life of the renowned and vibrant filmmaker. Landeta is seen in her 70's remembering her productive years. Includes interview with filmmaker Marcela Fernandez Violante.
Biography, Cinema/Theater, MexicoO outro lado da rua / The Other Side Of The Street
Regina, a lonely and retired grandmother, defies social expectations maintaining a very active lifestyle in Rio de Janeiro's urban life. She does this largely by supplying the police with tips on criminal activities in the area. When she witnesses what she believes is a murder across the street, she tries to obtain incriminating statements from the supposed perpetrator but in the process her whole world changes...
Anthropology/Archaeology, Brazil, Cinema/Theater, Drama, Gender/Sexuality, Social IssuesPapeles Secundarios
Awarded best film in 1990 at the New York Festival Latino. A theater group in crisis is the setting for this story. Its aging actors, on stage as in life, confront their fears and failures. The story takes a new twist when a group of young actors join the group, unleashing a chain of unexpected events.
Cinema/Theater, Cuba, DramaQue Viva Mexico!
Sergei Eisenstein's lost masterpiece documents the history of Mexico and its people. With sequences devoted to the Edenic land of Tehuantepec, the savage majesty of the bullfight, the struggles of the noble peon and the hypnotic imagery of the Day of the Dead "Qué viva México!" is a vivid tapestry of Mexican life. The film was shot on location in Mexico by Edouard Tisse and financed by American novelist Upton Sinclair. It was later reassembled and restored by Grigory Alexandrov.
Art, Cinema/Theater, Drama, History, MexicoRio Escondido
The cruelty of one Mexican cacique has left his village completely without water, and the population is living in misery. The people of Rio Escondido will have to struggle for justice, and a newly arrived schoolteacher will help them find the courage to do so.
Cinema/Theater, MexicoRodrigo D: No Futuro
The brutal tale of a teenager making a go of it in one of the world's toughest town's: Medellin, Colombia. Rodrigo dreams of playing rock and roll. He rallies his friends into a punk band. From a web of violence, fear, aimlessness, drugs, and jail, rock and roll emerges as salvation, escape, hope --and agony. Employing a cast of young actors and real-life street toughs – some of whom meet violent ends before the film was released – Rodrigo D invites comparisons to Luis Buñuel's classic Los Olvidados.
Cinema/Theater, Colombia, Social IssuesSleep Dealer
Sleep Dealer is a futuristic science fiction story set in a world not much different from our own, in which borders are closed, and a global, high speed network ties distant people and places together. The story centers on 3 characters who inhabit very different spaces in this world: a migrant, a soldier, and a writer. Sleep Dealer won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for both the Gotham and Independent Spirit awards. Geoffrey Gilmore, the festival director, describes the movie as "a combination of The Matrix, Blade Runner, and The Border". Already a Latino Sci-Fi classic, this film has been praised by critics and audiences alike.
Border, Cinema/Theater, Drama, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USASOY CUBA (I AM CUBA)
Cinema/Theater, Cuba, HistoryTo The Left Of The Father
Based on the eponymous book by award-winning writer Raduan Nassar, the films is set in the Brazilian countryside and focuses on the relationship between a young man, André (Mello), and his religious but caring family. After running away from his Lebanese-Brazilian abode, André has to confront Pedro (Leonardo Medeiros), the older brother determined to convince him to return to the protective cares of their parents played by acclaimed Brazilian actors Raul Cortez and Juliana Carneiro da Cunha. Torn apart by an unresolved incestuous past with his younger sister Ana (Simone Spoladore), Pedro has to choose between a life of utopian freedom, removed from past connections, or, in the case of an eventual return home, a re-engagement with strict patriarchal norms.
Cinema/Theater, Gender/Sexuality, Social IssuesYanco
In this tale of fantasy and folklore, Yanco, a small Indian boy, is considered bewitched because of his hypersensitivity to sound. When his music teacher dies, the boy begins to play mysterious melodies during the night. His talent reaches such a peak that the villagers feel that it is the old teacher coming back to haunt the village.
Art, Cinema/Theater, Classic, Drama, Mexico