Marcel Rasquin, 2010, 2011, Feature, Venezuela, 96min, Spanish with English subtitles
Raised as brothers, Julio and Daniel have remained virtually inseparable ever since the newborn Daniel was found abandoned in a trash heap in their La Ceniza slum. Hope of a brighter future presents itself when a scout from the Caracas Football Club offers both boys a tryout with the pro team, just as a tragic act of violence results in creating a seemingly irreparable rift between them..
Gabriel Rojas Vera, 2011, 2011, Feature, Colombia, 98min, Spanish with English subtitles
A fresh look drama set on the bustling streets of Bogotá. After ten years Karen discovers that having left her dreams behind to become a housewife was a mistake. In search of her lost youth,
Karen rents a room in the centre of Bogotá and discovers her new-found freedom is sweet, but sometimes cruel.
Gastón Biraben, 2005, 2011, Feature, Argentina, 120min, Spanish with English subtitles
Shortly after celebrating her quinceañera with her loving parents, Cristina is suddenly taken out of class and summoned to court. Cristina’s world crumbles when she learns that the couple who raised her are not her real parents.
Cautiva follows a lost daughter’s emotional journey to uncover truth while touching upon the many political issues of the dictatorship era with passion and realism.
Liliana Paolinelli, 2007, 2011, Feature, Argentina, 82min, Spanish with English subtitles
For her college thesis, film student Alicia is making a documentary about women related to prisoners in the local jail. The only problem is that no one is willing to be interviewed on camera.
In comes Elsa, a desperate woman whose son has recently been arrested. Elsa will grant Alicia an interview, only if she visits her son in jail. But when Alicia makes the visit, her world collapses.
Bernardo Arellano, 2011, 2011, Feature, Mexico, 75min, Spanish with English subtitles
Francisco, an autistic man, alone and ignored finds amistad with a pet rodent. His new found friend causes him to be thrown out of home. He begins to inhabit the forest where the beauty of nature is mesmerising, but soon realises the changing seasons will make life difficult for him. The films captures an elegant jouney of healing and shares with us a new way of life in a silent forest.
Sergio Ramírez, 2011, 2011, Feature, Guatemala, 70min, Spanish with English subtitles
Tomás Choc is two days and 150 kilometres away from being reunited with Lucía, his only daughter, kidnapped by the Army 20 years ago during the Guatemalan War. Despite the pain of her absence, to keep her history alive, Tomás has kept a log of his struggle, resistance and survival in the hope of one day being able to give it to her.
SOLD OUT
A beautifully shot film about an artist trying to deal with the demands of society.
Daniel Ró, 2008, 2010, Feature, Peru, 88min, Spanish with English subtitles
Quitting his job as a clerk and moving out of the family home, ‘T’ attempts to fulfil a lifelong dream to become a watercolour artist. An old apartment block in the city centre provides the perfect backdrop to bring to life his vision.
What if this happened in your backyard?
Carlos Carrera, 2009, 2010, Feature, Mexico, 122min, Spanish,Tzotzil, English with English subtitles
Since the mid 1990’s hundreds of young women have gone missing or have been murdered around the border town of Juarez, Mexico. Most of the victims are low-paid laborers who have been drawn to the town by the possibility of work at American-owned factories. Backyard is the gripping story of Mexican police captain Blanca Bravo who is sent to Juarez to investigate the murders. As the investigation unfolds, Bravo is exposed to the lives of the victims and discovers a police force and local power structure that has ceased to care. Can the new police captain, Blanca Bravo, stop the savagery? Directed by cult arthouse filmmaker, Carlos Carrera and starring the legendary Jimmy Smits this film is one of the Festival highlights.
A young girl’s odyssey into the heart of Buenos
Marcos Carnevale, 2009, 2010, 2011, Feature, Argentina, 106min, Spanish with English subtitles
The $1500 prize for best feature goes to Anita (Argentina, 2009, Marcos Carnevale). This film stole the audience’s hearts in Sydney as it has done in many other festivals around the world.