Austin’s Cine Las Americas 2024 announces film lineup
The Austin-based Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF) announced the film and events lineup for its 26th Anniversary edition. Taking place May 15-19, CLAIFF opens with Alejandra Vasquez & Sam Osborn’s Going Varsity in Mariachi and will close with Lone Scherfig’s La Contadora de Peliculas (The Movie Teller).
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Cine Las Americas will once again present screenings at AFS Cinema (6259 Middle Fiskville Rd.), and Austin PBS (Clayton Lane/Wilhelmina Delco Dr.), with additional special events at We Luv Video (100 North Loop Blvd E), and Nepantla Art Gallery (1209 East Cesar Chavez Street).
As it has for over a quarter century, Cine Las Americas will serve as one of the primary showcases in the United States for films and videos from Latin America (North, Central, South America, and the Caribbean) and the Iberian Peninsula. The film festival celebrates films and videos made by or about Latinx in the U.S. or the rest of the world, with films and videos by or about indigenous groups of the Americas also featured. CLAIFF also features inclusiveness in the programming among the films representing over 15 countries throughout Ibero-America.
Cine Las Americas Executive Director Gabriel Orneles, said, “As we kick off Cine Las Americas’ second quarter century, we are delighted to present screenings with several filmmakers in attendance to encourage that connection between artist and audience. This is a unique film festival that brings together people from several different countries, cultures, and life experiences, whether that means the stories on screen, or literally the people themselves. We are also thrilled to have COPA Airlines join us for the first time, as we continue to make our world that much smaller by bringing more international filmmakers to Austin.”
Opening Night will feature Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn’s festival favorite Going Varsity in Mariachi. Screening on Wednesday, May 15 at AFS Cinema, the documentary follows Edinburg North High School’s Mariachi Oro as they compete for a state championship. With a fiery passion for the music, their coach guides the varsity band through a steep competition season and a fraught year in their adolescent lives. Closing Night will feature Lone Scherfig’s La Contadora de Peliculas (The Movie Teller). The film stars Academy Award® nominee Bérénice Bejo, BAFTA nominee Daniel Brühl, and multiple-time Goya Award winner Antonio de la Torre in a 1960s set story of a young girl with a very special gift – an almost uncanny ability to retell films. The girl’s extraordinary talent will spread throughout the village, changing the fate of her family at the same time that the country is being transformed forever.
Cine Las Americas’ signature programming track, “Hecho en Tejas,” supported by HEB, Austin PBS, and the Texas Film Commission, which showcases local filmmaking talent with varied backgrounds via films and videos shot and/or produced in Texas, returns with a series of inspired shorts during a special presentation taking place at the Austin PBS studios on Saturday, May 18 with a reception and Red Carpet entrances celebrating all the attending filmmakers.
Among the narrative feature films in competition are Nadia Zoe’ A Little Family Drama where a family reunites to revive a cherished tradition in honor of their late grandfather, but as they come together, long-held secrets threaten to unravel their close-knit bonds. Itandehui Jansen’s Itu Ninu (Where the Corn Fields Are) set in the not-so-distant future of 2084, follows two climate migrants under constant surveillance who find freedom through the clandestine system of writing notes and letters. language and Laura González’ Milonga focuses on a woman grieving the loss of her husband and becoming estranged from her only family until she meets a divorcee, with whom she shares her passion for tango. The film will make its North American Premiere at Cine Las Americas.
Documentary feature-length films in competition are Palu Abadia’s Catapum: No tengo dónde caer (Catapum: Nowhere to Fall), a powerful story of three women across three generations who discover strength in Bullerengue, an ancestral musical tradition, using it to resist, heal, and celebrate life. Juan Mejía Botero’s Igualada looks at a presidential campaign launched by a Black woman in Colombia. JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey’s The Strikeexplores what happened during an infamous hunger strike that took place in 2013 at Pelican Bay, one of the most infamous prisons in US history.
Cine Las Americas’ other popular programming tracks return as well. Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase returns with stories of beautiful, haunting, and hopeful tales curated by the Latine-led film organization. Also returning is the popular Emergencia celebration of young filmmakers under 19 and their variety of works. This series of short films compliments the film festival’s ongoing mission of promoting cross-cultural understanding by expanding the regions of the country that are represented in this year’s programs, and foregrounding youth and educator voices in support of inclusive and culturally responsive educational opportunities for all.
Attending filmmakers will include Gabriella A. Moses (Director, Boca Chica), Noelia Lacayo (Director, Comunidad), Lucy Morales (Director, DelMar), Iliana Sosa (Director, God Save Texas: La Frontera), Abby Garcia (Film Subject, Going Varsity in Mariachi), Donnick Cary (Writer/Producer, Hail To the Breadsticks), Nina Barbier (Director, Healing of the Dragonfly), Diane Kessler (Producer, Healing of the Dragonfly), Juan Yepes (Igualada), Core Ruiz (Director, I’m Gonna Disappear), Raquel Herrera (Cast, I’m Gonna Disappear), JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey (Co-Directors, The Strike), Alex Wolff and Joe Rocha (Co-Directors, Taco Mafia).
Cine Las Americas is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Department. For more information about Cine Las Americas, visit https://cinelasamericas.org/.
2024 Cine Las Americas Official Selections
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
Going Varsity in Mariachi
Directors: Sam Osborn, Alejandra Vasquez
Country: United States; Running Time: 104 min
In a South Texas high school auditorium, trumpets ring out, thick guitarrón strings thrum, and violin bow hairs snap and swing wildly through the air. This is the world of competitive scholastic mariachi. This energetic documentary captures the highs and lows of Edinburg North High School’s Mariachi Oro as a green team strives for state championship. With tough love, finely tuned empathy, and a fiery passion for the music, Coach Abel Acuña guides the varsity band through a steep competition season and a fraught year in their adolescent lives. Team captains Abby, Marlena, and Bella prove the value of the skills taught in the band room as they navigate life’s challenges on and off the stage with grace, immutable work ethic, and total charm.
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION
La Contadora de Películas (The Movie Teller)
Director: Lone Scherfig
Countries: Spain/Chile/France; Running Time: 116 min
The 1960s. María Margarita is the youngest of four siblings from a family living in a mining town in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Their most special time of the week is Sunday, when they all go to the cinema to enjoy stories that transport them to other worlds. The girl’s parents soon realise that the young girl has a very special gift, an almost uncanny ability to retell films. The girl’s extraordinary talent will spread throughout the village, changing the fate of her family at the same time that the country is being transformed forever. With standout performances from Academy Award® nominee Bérénice Bejo, BAFTA nominee Daniel Brühl, and multiple-time Goya Award winner Antonio de la Torre, The Movie Teller is a celebration of our capacity to defy even the harshest circumstances, to find love, community, inspiration, and hope where there seems to be none.
NARRATIVE FEATURES – COMPETITION
A Little Family Drama
Director: Nadia Zoe
Country: United States; Running Time: 87 min
The Sepulveda family reunites to revive a cherished tradition in honor of their late grandfather. But as they come together, long-held secrets and simmering tensions threaten to unravel their close-knit bonds. The biggest revelation: matriarch Anselma’s risky move to help her grandson Matias puts their family restaurant and livelihood at stake, forcing them all to reassess their roles within the family.
Itu Ninu (Where the Corn Fields Are)
Director: Itandehui Jansen
Countries: Mexico/United Kingdom; Running Time: 72 min
In the not-so-distant future of 2084, Ángel finds himself trapped as a climate migrant in an unspecified smart city, under constant surveillance. Amidst a bleak and oppressive existence, Ángel makes a living by cultivating plants, preserving the fading wisdom of seeds. Within this desolate landscape he crosses paths with Sofia, another climate migrant who works at a recycling facility. Fate intertwines their lives when a chance encounter reveals an unexpected connection: a shared language. Fueling Ángel’s longing for human connection and a glimmer of hope, he reaches out to Sofia. Aware of the omnipresent digital monitoring, Ángel decides to communicate with her through the timeless medium of pen and paper, fostering an intimate, clandestine bond. As their secret correspondence unfolds, a friendship grows between Ángel and Sofia as does their desire for liberation from excessive control.
Milonga North American Premiere
Director: Laura González
Countries: Uruguay/Argentina; Running Time: 106 min
Rosa still lives by her husband’s rules despite the fact that he died six months ago. Her worsening relationship with her son has left her estranged from her only family. When she meets Juan, a divorcee, with whom she shares her passion for tango, she starts to rediscover herself and something starts to change. But before she can move on she’s confronted with some uncomfortable truths.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES – COMPETITION
Catapum: No tengo dónde caer (Catapum: Nowhere to Fall)
Director: Palu Abadia
Countries: Colombia/United States; Running Time: 72 min
From the Colombian coast to New York City, Catapum: No tengo dónde caer is a powerful story of three women across three generations who discover strength in Bullerengue, an ancestral musical tradition, using it to resist, heal, and celebrate life. Their daily routines, the landscapes they inhabit, and the songs they carry reveal the depth of their experiences, interwoven with the cultural richness of Bullerengue. Themes such as oral tradition, race, community, immigration, and identity emerge within this context. As their individual stories unfold, they converge into a collective memory, offering a narrative of the Colombian armed conflict that honors the universal healing and reconciling power of music.
Igualada
Director: Juan Mejía Botero
Countries: Colombia/Mexico, United States; Running Time: 81 min
In Colombia, a nation marred by profound racial and socio-economic disparities, a Black woman from a rural background challenges the status quo by launching a presidential campaign.
The Strike
Directors: JoeBill Muñoz, Lucas Guilkey
Country: United States; Running Time: 86 min
Amidst the redwood trees on the California-Oregon border sits one of the most infamous prisons in US history – Pelican Bay. For decades, it held mostly Black and Brown men alone in tiny cells for indefinite periods based on questionable evidence. Then one day in 2013, 30,000 prisoners went on hunger strike. The Strike weaves together, thread-by-thread, a half century of personal and criminal justice history into a single, compelling narrative around the drama of the 2013 hunger strike to end indefinite isolation.
SHOWCASE: NARRATIVE FEATURES
Até que a Música Pare (Until the Music is Over)
Director: Cristiane Oliveira
Countries: Brazil/Italy; Running Time: 97 min
Chiara is the matriarch of an Italian-descendant family torn apart. After her youngest son moves out, she decides to go along with her husband Alfredo on his trips as a salesman to the bars of Serra Gaöcha. Their trust in each other breaks down when Chiara finds out about Alfredo’s life on the road and he realizes she hides something. A turtle and a deck of cards will put their 50-year relationship to the test.
Bajo Terapia (Under Therapy)
Director: Gerardo Herrero
Country: Spain; Running Time: 93 min
Three married couples undergoing therapy are summoned by their female psychologist to a meeting. The psychologist won’t be attending the reunion herself, but she will give to them instructions about what they must do. Thus, to the sound of a trumpet (literally), the six protagonists will gradually air their dirty laundry concerning their relationships and bring up issues like taking care of the kids, the different home tasks, money, jealousy and sex, until it all leads to a most unexpected and equally shocking end.
Boca Chica
Director: Gabriella A. Moses
Country: Dominican Republic; Running Time: 97 min
Desi, a 12-year old girl, spends her days dreaming on the beaches of Boca Chica of becoming a famous singer, but her goal is threatened by the insidious future that awaits some of the girls in her town. A future that is perpetruated by some of those closest to her. Only her music can save her. Juxtaposing the realities and expectations of a young girls in the Dominican Republic, Boca Chica shines a light on the insidious child sex trade and the lives it seeks to destroy.
El Otro Hijo (The Other Son)
Director: Juan Sebastián Quebrada
Countries: Colombia/Argentina/France; Running Time: 86 min
Federico and his brother Simón live their adolescence to the fullest until the day Simón dies when he falls from a balcony at a party. While his family environment crumbles before his eyes, Federico tries to live his last weeks of school normally. Unable to mourn, he grows closer to Laura, his brother’s ex-girlfriend, with whom he seems to find relief and, above all, love. Together, not only will they live a story far from everything they imagined, but they will finally be able to begin their mourning.
El Viento Que Arrasa (A Ravaging Wind)
Director: Paula Hernández
Countries: Argentina/Uruguay; Running Time: 94 min
Trapped in a destiny she did not choose, Leni joins her father, Reverend Pearson, in his Evangelical mission. The car is having trouble working, so they need to stop in Gringo´s car repair shop, a man dramatically opposed to faith, who lives with Tapioca, a teenager under his guard. Time drags, a storm is coming and Reverend Pearson is getting obsessed with saving Tapioca´s soul. Leni sees in the power Pearson is exerting on the young man, echoes of her own story. She confronts him for the first time, believing her life will start at that very moment, accepting her destiny.
La Extorsión (The Extortion)
Director: Martino Zaidelis
Countries: Argentina/United States; Running Time: 106 min
Alejandro is an experienced airline pilot. He loves his profession but is hiding a secret: a medical condition that would mean immediate retirement. Intelligence Service agents discover it and they start blackmailing him, demanding he take some mysterious bags on the Buenos Aires-Madrid route, no questions asked. Vigilant because of the enigmatic cargo he’s carrying, Alejandro is soon submerged in a universe of intrigue and corruption, placing him and his loved ones in danger, while he attempts to escape alive, no matter the price.
Pedágio (Toll)
Director: Carolina Markowicz
Countries: Brazil/Portugal; Running Time: 102 min
Suellen, a Brazilian toll booth attendant and mother, falls in with a gang of thieves in an attempt to keep her family afloat. In doing so, she realizes she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally for a so-called noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.
Penal Cordillera (Prison in the Andes)
Director: Felipe Carmona
Countries: Chile/Brazil; Running Time: 105 min
The five most ruthless right-hand men in Pinochet’s dictatorship are serving out sentences amounting to several hundred years in a luxury prison at the foot of the Andes, for their crimes against humanity. The place has a pool, gardens and aviaries where they are watched over by guards who feel more like their employees. When one of the inmates gives a TV interview, his declarations fuel an unexpected backlash. The fear of a possible move will make the men do everything in their power to stay put, unraveling delirium and violence.
Sujo
Directors: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez
Countries: Mexico/United States/France; Running Time: 125 min
After a cartel gunman from a small Mexican town is murdered, Sujo, his beloved four-year-old son, is left an orphan and in danger. Sujo narrowly escapes death with the help of his aunt who raises him in the isolated countryside amidst hardship, poverty, and the constant peril associated with his identity. When he enters his teens a rebelliousness awakens in him, and like a rite of passage, he joins the local cartel. As a young man, Sujo attempts to make his life anew, away from the violence of his hometown. however, when his father’s legacy catches up with him, he will come face-to-face with what seems to be his destiny.
Voy a Desaparecer (I’m Gonna Disappear) North American Premiere
Director: Coré Ruiz
Country: Spain; Running Time: 103 min
Rocío and David are two siblings who meet again after ten years without seeing each other. David has been incarcerated all this time. When he takes advantage of a prison furlough to escape with his sister to Puerto Plata, the tourist town where they used to spend the summer as a family, they reconnect, recovering memories and making up for lost time. The adventure ends abruptly when their father locates them, and David decides to settle accounts with him, telling him what happened that fateful night for which he is serving time for murder.
SHOWCASE – DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Carlos
Director: Rudy Valdez
Country: United States, Running Time: 87
The lively and intimately crafted documentary Carlos immerses us in rock icon Carlos Santana’s life and musical trajectory. Filmmaker Rudy Valdez bolsters this personal narrative with pulsating, never-before-seen footage — guided by Santana himself, in his own words.
Hail to the Breadsticks! World Premiere
Director: Donick Cary
Country: United States; Running Time: 86 min
Writer producer Donick Cary (The Simpsons, Parks and Recreation, Have a Good Trip) has been a huge fan of the Washington D.C. pro football team since before he could walk. Passed down from his dad, he was excited to pass the tradition onto his kids. Donick never questioned the team name and or Native American logo until one day, while watching a game, his 9-year-old son, Otis, asked him if it was racist. When Otis suggests they ask Native Americans how they feel, it sends the two on a cross-country journey full of unexpected surprises.
Sugarcane
Directors: Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
Countries: Canada/United States; Running Time: 107 min
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life – Sugarcane, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie – is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. Set amidst a ground-breaking investigation into abuse and death at an Indian residential school, the film empowers participants to break cycles of intergenerational trauma by bearing witness to painful, long-ignored truths – and the love that endures within their families despite the revelation of genocide.
HECHO EN TEJAS SHOWCASE FEATURE
God Save Texas: La Frontera
Director: Iliana Sosa
Country: United States, Mexico; Running Time: 56 min
God Save Texas is a documentary trilogy that takes viewers on a journey through one of the most controversial states in the union, guided by three directors, each with a unique and personal perspective. In episode 3, La Frontera, Mexican-American filmmaker Iliana Sosa explores how Nepantla, a Nahuatl word for the concept of “in-between-ness”, characterizes her relationship to both her Mexican heritage and her hometown of El Paso, Texas, and how that unique hybridity allowed the city to come together and heal in the wake of a devastating 2019 mass shooting.
Preceded by:
What Washes Ashore
Director: Harold Nieves Fisch
Country: United States; Running Time: 14 min
When a lonely young immigrant discovers a dead body on the shores of her employer’s vacation home, she calls on unexpected friends and untapped bravery to face her deepest fear.
HECHO EN TEJAS SHORTS – NON-COMPETITION
Taco Mafia: Legado
Directors: Alex Wolff, Joe Rocha
Country: United States; Running Time: 27 min
Taco Mafia is a food & culture documentary series following a group of Austin based taqueros who have joined forces to help grow and support not only each other’s businesses but their community.
HECHO EN TEJAS SHORTS COMPETITION
Floodplain
Director: Samuel Diaz Fernandez
Country: United States; Running Time: 16 min
Austin residents relive their memories of a 2013 catastrophic flood in Onion Creek, which was a once-thriving community, but now scarred by disaster. Ten years later, they are determined to prevent history from repeating itself.
La Bendición (The Blessing) World Premiere
Director: Brandy Frausto
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min
When Eva shares some life-altering news with Aaron, the two end up finding comfort in exploring each other’s beliefs and testing the boundaries of their faith and friendship.
Maria
Director: Sebastian Valdivieso
Country: United States, Ecuador; Running Time: 15 min
When Marianita brings her own son, Ale, to her nanny job for a weekend, she discovers the boundaries of her love for Oli, the boy she’s been taking care of as her own during the weekdays.
Masu y Masa World Premiere
Director: Macey Moser
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min
Two Latinx chefs navigate their identities at a James Beard award-winning restaurant.
Soft Breath World Premiere
Director: Fumiya Hayakawa
Countries: United States/Japan; Running Time: 15 min
Eva, a Puerto Rican woman, assimilates loss by inadvertently summoning the ghost of her deceased Japanese husband, Takuya, in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Over the course of a morning with Takuya, she will come to terms with their different views on their relationship, and ultimately what the meaning of home is as an immigrant.
NARRATIVE SHORTS – COMPETITION
En Cualquier Lugar (Any Place)
Director: Minerva Elisa Bolaños
Country: Mexico; Running Time: 14 min
In a society where children are not heard and traditions are not to be questioned, the peaceful life of a 5-year-old is disturbed by a terrible event that forces her to find a way to recover peace and save her loved ones.
LOOP (It’s a matter of time) (LOOP (Es cuestión de tiempo))
Director: Alejandro Pedemonte
Countries: Peru/United States; Running Time: 16 min
Fausto wakes up in the middle of the night with the news of his father dying. However, he refuses to go to him. Overtaken by his own rage, his decision causes a time loop that will eventually give him the opportunity to face his own forgiveness, loss, and life itself.
Malegro Verte (Good t’see ya)
Director: Nüll García
Country: Spain; Running Time: 10 min
Two friends bump into each other at a shopping mall’s restroom after losing touch in their teens. One is a successful white businesswoman while the other is a Romani woman who hardly makes ends meet. Long gone are the endless summer days in the village. Nothing will ever be the same again.
Mi Abuelita, La Campeona (My Grandma Is My Champion)
Director: Isa Moreno
Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min
Where a wheelchair-bound Mexican grandmother longs to return to her championship boxing career, her spunky granddaughter shows her that her champion dreams can continue digitally.
NEA
Directors: Alex Ulises, Nelson G. Navarrete
Country: Colombia; Running Time: 22 min
A hot-headed taxi driver and henchman in Medellín is enlisted to repair his boss’ AC at five in the morning. After an endless night, his determination is put to the test through a series of trials and tribulations the city throws in his way, leading him to question his work, himself, and his role in society.
Vão das Almas (Valley of Souls)
Directors: Edileuza Penha de Souza, Santiago Dellape
Country: Brazil; Running Time: 15 min
A black family tries to defend their land against invaders but gets caught between a mischievous witch and a tortured spirit eager for revenge. Inspired by one of the most popular characters from Brazilian Folklore: the Saci, a one-legged trickster with the power to lure people with its bird song.
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS – COMPETITION
DelMar
Director: Lucy Morales Carlisle
Countries: El Salvador/United States; Running Time: 20 min
A young surfer on the cusp of adulthood navigates life between two worlds. Brenda is one of several women in her family known locally in El Zonte for her surfing prowess. She began competing at the age of 15 and quickly rose through the ranks, making her dreams of traveling and surfing around the world more attainable. At the age of 17 however, she makes the decision to move to Maryland, a state far from beaches to reunite with her mother whom she has never met.
Healing of the Dragon Fly
Director: Nina Barbier
Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min
Joe Pulliam is an Oglala Lakota Sioux artist living in Rapid City in the state of South Dakota. Father of 4, Pulliam opened an art gallery exclusively with his work, painting on ledgers inspired by his culture and traditional life. This documentary tells his story and his artistic journey from Pine Ridge reservation to his last exhibition.
María Presente, La Memoria en Nuestras Voces (Maria Presente)
Director: Julia Cohen Ribeiro
Country: Argentina; Running Time: 26 min
An Afro-Argentine filmmaker travels around Buenos Aires to reconstruct the story of María Remedios del Valle, a black woman who fought in the Wars of Argentine Independence and was recognized as Mother of the Nation.
Nyanga
Director: Medhin Tewolde Serrano
Country: Mexico; Running Time: 20 min
During the colonial era, Nyanga was kidnapped off the coast of Africa, brought to Mexico and enslaved. Though forced to work on the master’s plantation, he never stopped dreaming of freedom. Based on historical facts, and using shadow theater and handmade cinema, ‘Nyanga’ is an homage to resistance against colonial chains.
Sangre Violenta / Sangre Violeta
Directors: Edna Diaz, Arturo R. Jiménez
Country: Mexico; Running Time: 15 min
Why does the Mexican government consider the feminist movement a greater threat than most drug cartels? A grieving father, an inspiring musician and survivor, and a radical feminist collective illustrate the horrifying realities of gender violence in Mexico.
Strawberry Picker
Director: Eugenia Renteria
Country: United States; Running Time: 22 min
From a little boy growing up in labor camps to a world-class artist, Strawberry Picker provides a look at generations of struggle and resilience in the Chicano art community through the experiences of Juan R. Fuentes.
8TH ANNUAL FEMME FRONTERA SHOWCASE LINE-UP
**Comunidad (Community) – screens prior to Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase
Director: Tamara Espinoza
Country: Nicaragua; Running Time: 8 min
The Bilampi community, located a three-hour walk from the nearest road, embarked on an extraordinary journey. Its members took on the challenge of building the most extensive, fully-distributed water system in nonprofit Project Schoolhouse’s history, involving the excavation of 22km of trench by hand.
As Leaves In The Wind
Director: Sofia Luz
Country: Spain
A story of two transgender women who migrate from their home countries seeking asylum and opportunities in a new continent. Their lives go through structural changes when they meet and take part in a new support network. Made by them for them.
Aurora And The House Of Lights
Director: Ángela Matiz, María Matiz
Country: Colombia
Aurora is 25 years old. She plays frantically in an arcade in order to win a giant teddy bear. She can’t stop because that would bring her back to reality, to what happened the day before. If she wins the teddy bear, everything will be okay, she will heal and be safe. But denial is only the first stage.
Bailarina
Director: Verónica Palofox
Country: Mexico
Alicia only recognizes herself through her reflection in the mirror and the notes playing from her music box. Meanwhile, Alzheimer’s consumes the rest of her existence.
Con Vista Al Rio
Director: Persia Campbell
Country: Mexico
The frustration of a rebellious border teenager will lead him and his younger sister to put themselves in grave danger, right along the wall that divides Mexico with the United States.
The Little Death
Director: Autumn Palen
Country: United States
A woman finds her sexual awakening and her near demise in one fell swoop.
The Words In-Between
Director: Katia Kalei Barricklow
Country: United States
The film explores the intersection of language, identity, and belonging among mixed race, indigenous and immigrant members of Gen Z, who talk about the pain of diaspora and assimilation, but also the power of language to connect them to home.
Us In Octaves
Director: Alex Mastoon
Country: United States
In a hyper color summer nightmare, two lovers are haunted by their last act of love: saying goodbye. Us In Octaves is an official two part narrative music video for veteran producer Caural and told through an all Womxn & Non-Binary cast.
EMERGENCIA – ALL AGES
Drama Queen Salon
Director: Alina Luna
Country: USA; Running Time: 5 min
Dunkin’
Director: Soly Gutierrez
Country: USA; Running Time: 8.5 min
El Enredo (The Entanglement)
Director: Dylan Muniz, Hayes Goolsby
Country: USA; Running Time: 1.5 min
Kuinerraq
Director: Magnus Shipe
Country: USA; Running Time: 3.5 min
Love Don’t Bully
Director: Yoselin Anchondo
Country: USA; Running Time: 5 min
PSAs
Director: Lisa Spencer
Country: USA; Running Time: 2 min
SML
Director: Eleni Morchadze
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min
Uma Kiwe: El despertar de las semillas (Uma Kiwe: The Awakening of the Seeds)
Director: Wiston Fernández Madriñan
Country: Colombia; Running Time: 24 min
Water, Star Medicine
Director: MESA Foundation/ Turquoise Trail Middle School Students
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min
You’ll See
Director: Jose Ramos, David Martinez
Country: USA; Running Time: 2 min
EMERGENCIA – 14+
Disturbance of a Phone
Director: Alyssa Ruiz
Country: USA; Running Time: 6.5 min
Onions
Director: Gael Paolo Garza
Country: USA; Running Time: 12 min
Polo the Smoker
Director: Soly Gutierrez, Jessie Villanueva
Country: USA; Running Time: 3 min
Quem Sabe? (May be)
Director: Milena Mendonça Decourt
Country: Brazil; Running Time: 5 min
The First Ballot
Director: Tomas Liebel
Country: USA; Running Time: 5 min
EMERGENCIA – 18+
The Sweet Order
Director: Jorge Sebastián Flores Huauya
Country: Peru; Running Time: 6 min
MUSIC VIDEOS – COMPETITION
Cumbia Revolucionaria
Director: Jh. Plata
Artist: Alwa
Country: Bolivia
De la Tierra del Maíz
Director: Trino Films
Artist: Crazzye
Country: México
Dónde Están mis Amigos
Director: Serjio Soso
Artist: Depresión Sonora
Country: Spain
Home Runs
Director: Anthony Ryan Johnson
Artist: Stella Standingbear
Country: USA
La Danza
Director: Pain Lopez & Cesar Safra
Artist: Novalima
Country: Peru
Land Back
Director: Quincy Davis of 7VISION Studios
Artist: REBELWISE
Country: USA
Las Manos Son
Director: Raissa Laban
Artist: Rodrigo Gallardo Y Gonzalo Cabrera
Country: Chile/Brasil
Masa
Director: Flaminguettes
Artist: Jarina De Marco ft. Calacote & mediopicky
Country: Mexico
Una Vez Más
Director: Sacbé Kelly
Artist: Juanpalitoschinos
Country: Mexico