Spanish

Life and death come wrapped in a mutual embrace, both absurd and poignant, in this smart comedy about an unlikely friendship between a grieving cinematographer and a morbidly obsessed drifter. At work on a schlocky, low-budget horror film, Gaspar is still reeling from the untimely death of his older brother when he meets Alvaro at yet another premature funeral.

Move over Ed Wood! Mexico’s half-forgotten B-movie master, “involuntary surrealist” Juan Orol, receives a pitch-perfect tribute in this irresistible love letter to a self-made man of showbiz. In glorious black-and-white flashback mingling movie-tainted memories of his Galician childhood, Cuban exile “Juanito“ pursues failed careers as baseball player, boxer, bullfighter and gangster before landing in the movies.

Viggo Mortensen plays a double role as twin brothers Agustín and Pedro in this tense drama, his fourth Spanish-language film, and first film shot in his childhood home of Argentina. Embroiled in a seedy hotbed of organized crime, Agustín experiences a life crisis and goes to visit his brother, Pedro, who is dying of cancer. When Pedro dies in front of him, Agustín sees an opportunity to change his future and escape his life of crime forever.

It’s hard to pin down Amor Crónico with any one label; the film is a documentary, comedy, romance, road movie, and musical, all driven by the irresistible personality of Cuban-born, New York-based pop star Cucu Diamantes.

Winning the top prize in the Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes, filmmaker Michael Franco’s emotionally charged drama explores the after effects of extreme loss, and the challenges of huge live changes. When Roberto’s wife dies in a car accident, he moves to a new city with his teenage daughter Alejandra, only to find the new city comes with an entirely new set of problems. Emotionally dethatched, Robert is unable to offer support to Alejandra, who becomes the target of intense bullying at her new school.

Tomas, an Afro-Colombian teenager who fled across the country from the war, faced the difficulties of growing up in Bogota, a city of exclusion and racism. When his younger brother and closest friend disappears, Tomas plunges in the streets of the city. His search becomes an initiatory journey that reveals a unique perspective of a vibrant and unstable city that, like Tomas, stands on the threshold between what once was and what might be. Premiered at Cannes 2012.

Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States on a southward migration that carries them to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. Since 2006, nearly 1,000 camioneta drivers and fare-collectors have been murdered for either refusing or being unable to pay the extortion money demanded by local Guatemalan gangs.

Director Ávila’s semi-autobiographical drama is not your average coming-of-age story. Growing up in Argentina in the 1970s meant living under military rule–and for 12-year-old Juan, whose parents are radical freedom fighters, it means living with a secret identity. Juan is in a new city, with a new name, and he is just adjusting to new friends and a budding romance when it appears he will be uprooted yet again. With its confident period setting and powerful animated interludes, this is a stylish and truthful story about clandestine life and love.

An epic and emotional history of the events leading up to the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, when the small, poorly equipped Mexican army stunned its French occupiers with a decisive victory. Immortalized for the past 150 years in Cinco de Mayo celebrations, Rafa Lara’s war film brings to life the dramas of the politicians, the generals, and the soldiers on the ground, as well as their wives waiting back at home. Utilizing hundreds of extras, this is a grand, classical war film rarely seen from Latin America.

Rivaling the excitement, action and inventiveness of Hollywood thrillers, 7 Boxes follows teenage Victor, who ekes out a living delivering packages in Asunción, Paraguay. On a hot, sticky Friday amid the city’s tangled streets, Victor receives a request to deliver 7 boxes in exchange for $100 -- it is too good an opportunity to pass up. But this seemingly easy job soon gets very complicated. Something in this cargo is highly coveted, and Victor quickly finds himself boxed in.