2013

Pachuca, 1956. Brothers Arturo and Gustavo Martínez leave their hometown in central Mexico with the desire to cross the continent on bicycles. Eighty-two days and 5,600 km later, they arrive in Toronto, not knowing that this journey will change the entire route of their lives. Ever since director Andrea Martínez Crowther can remember, stories of her father and uncle’s trip have formed part of her family’s folklore. Over half a century later, Arturo and Gustavo - now in their 70s - retrace that epic path, in an exploration of memory, the cycles of life and the unavoidable passage of time.

In a tale akin to Romeo and Juliet, the friendship between two children on the verge of adolescence is threatened by their parents’ differences, one from an upper-class family and the other from a proud, but poor, socialist one. When the children learn that Malú's mother is planning to leave Cuba, they decide to run away together to find Malú's father and persuade him against signing the permission forms.

Carla, a young postal worker in Havana, spends her days postmarking thousands of letters and dreaming of the day when she can be reunited with her parents, who moved to the US when she was fifteen. To fulfill her longing for intimacy, she opens random letters and rewrites them into soulful prose, believing she is helping her fellow Cubans understand one another better. Beautifully filmed in black and white accented by brilliant colours, Nada+ has a stunning visual composition.

Carla, a young postal worker in Havana, spends her days postmarking thousands of letters and dreaming of the day when she can be reunited with her parents, who moved to the US when she was fifteen. To fulfill her longing for intimacy, she opens random letters and rewrites them into soulful prose, believing she is helping her fellow Cubans understand one another better. Beautifully filmed in black and white accented by brilliant colours, Nada+ has a stunning visual composition.

Chamaco is a tense, urban drama adapted from a play by Abel González Melo, which reveals the troubled underbelly of Cuban society. “It’s not a movie that pleases viewers the way US films do,” says Cremata. “It’s bitter, hard, without any sugar-coating, a tough movie to swallow. It speaks of the dark side of human nature.” The plot revolves around the death of a young man in Havana’s Central Park. Using dimly lit shots that accentuate the atmosphere, Cremata investigates a disturbing world of male prostitution and police corruption.

Colombian Gala Reception - SOLD OUT!
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | Film & Reception: $20

Please join us after the screening for a reception hosted by the Consulate General of Colombia.

Ignacio and Alejandra are a young couple who are shooting a documentary about the people who disappeared from an indigenous village during the Guatemalan Civil War. From among the families who are still searching for their loved ones, they meet Delfina and her son Juan. Delfina still hopes to find her husband, but Juan is fed up with the search. He knows who was responsible for the disappearance of his father: someone who still lives in the same village.

In the remote village of Greytown, Nicaragua, surrounded by the jungle and the ocean, Maicol and Bryan are nearing adolescence. Soon, instead of swimming in the river and making slingshots to kill birds, they will be shark hunting in the sea with the older men of the village. The Shark’s Eye captures their daily lives and quietly leads the viewer into the local reality, partly masked by the humour and innocence of late childhood.