2014

When the car accident happens, Bianca is just starting to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The two siblings are left alone, two orphans adrift in the faded splendor of Rome. Life loses its shape as they get lost in the back alleys of adulthood, until Bianca encounters Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. This exquisitely photographed film captures all the rich colours of grief and the uncertainty of youth.

Navidad is the second feature film by Sebastián Lelio, the award-winning director of Gloria.

In the breathtaking mountain region of Constanza, Dominican Republic, albinism is being passed down through multiple generations. This genetic condition manifests as an absence of pigmentation in the skin, eyes and hair, leaving those affected without any natural protection from the sun. Blanco portrays the daily life of six Dominican albinos of different ages, who strive to carry on with their lives as normal, in spite of their physical vulnerability.

During the late 18^th century in Cuba, a Spanish count and owner of a sugar mill decides to hold a dinner during Holy Week with twelve of his slaves as an allegory of Jesus with his twelve apostles at the Last Supper. When racial inferiority is predicated as “God’s will” and exploitation exceeds what the human soul can bare, a slave uprising threatens the fate of the sugar plantation. 

With this fictional story, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, one of Cuba’s most renowned directors, presents how religion and politics naturalized the crimes and abuses inherent in slavery.

During the era of the Spanish colonial rule, a settlement of escaped slaves (called palenques) located in the Sierra Maestra in eastern Cuba is the site of an epic story about the struggle for unconditional freedom for the black population. Surrounded by an atmosphere of treachery and war, the black leaders will have to decide whether to strive for a partial freedom that promises a halfway peace, or total equality for their people—a fight that could result in the extermination of their communities. 

Coral Bonelli began life as “Pinolito,” a child actor in the rough-and-tumble film industry of 1970s Mexico. The son of a mariachi and an actress, he was a natural performer—a passion his adoring stage mother, Lilia, soon steered into a winning film career. After the movies gave way to the demanding cabaret circuit, “Pinolito” announced he would henceforth be a woman—surgery and hormone treatments to follow.

Chile, 1973. Gonzalo Infante and Pedro Machuca are two eleven-year-old boys living in the capital city of Santiago. Gonzalo comes from a well-to-do family, while Pedro lives in a shantytown on the outskirts of Gonzalo's neighbourhood. Father McEnroe, the principal of St. Patrick’s, enrolls a group of boys from low-income families at the elite private school with the conviction that the students will learn to respect one another.

How do people survive the terror and heartbreak of life under a brutal dictatorship? This hard-hitting film is a visual collage chronicling General Augusto Pinochet's reign of terror in Chile. The imagery speaks for itself, as the film presents a scathing tableau of military rule. The exclusive film footage comes from the personal archives of a news camera operator who worked in Chile for 17 years. Poignant and subversive, it recounts the brutal atrocities suffered by Chileans, while championing their efforts to regain their freedom.

Uruguay 2002. Amidst nationwide strikes, Ariel, a student activist in Montevideo is informed of his father’s death. He returns to his hometown of Salto to attend the funeral. His father’s notary soon informs Ariel of his inheritance: an old dog, a house taken over by his father’s lover and a cattle ranch where the workers haven’t been paid in six months. Ariel is thrust into an unwelcome adulthood, and to escape becomes involved with the local student activist group. One of the great strengths of the film is the mesmerizing performance by Felipe Dieste.