2012

In this lighthearted and nostalgic tale, Valdemar and Benjamin are the fabulous father/son clown duo of Puro Sangue (Thoroughbred) and Pangaré (Mangy Horse). They make their living travelling the Brazilian countryside with the Circo Esperança (Hope Circus). They have no fixed address. Benjamin begins to grow tired of the road and worries he is no longer funny. With only his birth certificate in hand, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery to claim a life he has for so long only dreamed of knowing.

A complicated relationship develops between Alejandra, an established literary editor, and María, a precocious student in her last year of high school. At first, the sexual chemistry creates an illusion of compatibility, however it is not long before Alejandra’s requests for candlelit dinners and conversations about books conflict with María’s desire to party until dawn. Filmed in black and white with a nod to the New Wave films of the 60s and 70s, this film has a retro visual style that cleverly mirrors the stifling pretension and hedonistic naiveté of its main characters.

For over 20 years, introverted hardware store owner Roberto (Ricardo Darín of the Oscar-winning The Secret in Their Eyes) has lived virtually shut off from the outside world. Roberto’s orderly yet lonely existence is disrupted when Jun, a young man from China stumbles into his path. Jun has just landed in Buenos Aires in search of his uncle, his only living relative, but does not speak a word of Spanish. Roberto suddenly finds himself the custodian of this stranger as he is unwillingly caught up in Jun’s predicament.

Short Films by Mayan Filmmakers:

La canasta (The Basket)

Dir: edgar Chitop/ 5’.30’’

Clara

Dir: Josefina Cuxl Xuc/ 7’.50’’

Waykan

Dir: Ramón elías Quiñonez/ 8’

Kame

Dir: José Fernando Cum Marín/ 4’

Q’ omaneel (The healer)

Dir: Cleida Cholotio/ 9’

Nanimaj Chik (To Grow up Again)

Dir: elvis Caj/ 5’

Ru k’ux Qawa’ (On the Comal)

Dir: Leyzer Chiquin Chó / Berta Lidia Chirix/ 5’

El pendulo (The Pendulum)

Dir: Fabián Bielinsky/ 1980/ 05’

Arden los juegos (Burning Games)

Dir: Gustavo Mosquera/ 1984/ 11’

El fueye (The Bandoneón)

Dir: Tristán Bauer/ 1982/ 6.’44’’

Borges 75

Dir: G. Zorraquin/Beda Docampo Feijóo 1975/ 10’

Guacho Abel

Dir: Victor Alejandro Gonzalez/ 1987/ 7’47’’

El eco (The Echo)

Dir: Ana Poliak/ 1983/ 3’30’’

IV Edén

Dir: esteban Sapir/ 1990/ 9’30’’

How to talk about sex

Made in Maple Ridge, BC at the YouthCO 2012 First Direction Youth Conference, with First Nations youth from BC/ 3.5 min

Come Home

Made in Maple Ridge, BC at the YouthCO 2012 First Direction Youth Conference with First Nations youth and elders from BC/ 6 min

This grassroots documentary follows a year in the life of twelve residents of Vancouver’s Downtown eastside community as they become involved with SOLeFood, a social enterprise that provides agricultural employment and training opportunities in urban farming for inner-city residents. Through interviews with the participants and project organizers, and with a strong composition of images and exploratory sounds, the director creates an emotional and truthful diary of the life and death struggles and triumphs of the first urban farming team in the Downtown eastside.

With its six Miss Universe and six Miss World titles, Venezuela is the hands-down global beauty pageant champion. After oil, pageants are the country’s second most important industry. even though 80% of the population lives below the poverty line, many women spend a fortune on their appearance, and across the country the pursuit of a modelling career and the Miss Venezuela crown is followed with near-religious fervour. exploring the backstage world of the beauty industry, this investigative documentary seeks to find out: Is beauty manufactured at whatever the cost in Venezuela?

Filmed in the remote fishing village of Juan Antonio, Cuba just weeks before a hurricane swept the site off the face of the earth, El árbol de las fresas is a mesmerizing cinematic poem that tests the boundaries between anthropology, documentary, and reverie. The villagers’ ingeniousness and resilience, as well as their playful and irreverent relationship with the filmmaker, transform a sensitive portrait of the unique Taíno-Spanish culture into a reflection on documentary filmmaking itself and on humanity at the edge of time.

On the Day of the Dead, Leni, an old fisherman, uses photographs to bait his best and most beloved memories from the depths of the sea.