Documentary Films Synopses

ALGO SE ENCIENDE

Dir. Luciana Gentinetta (Argentina, 62 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/12 / 3:50 / S3 3/14 / 4:15 / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/18 Upon the disappearance of Anahí Benítez (16), her classmates start a protest and demand that she turns up alive. This is a story about the resilience of youth, how school sometimes feels like a second home, and the trials a generation must face to become adults. ¡Documania! Showcase.

APENAS EL SOL

Dir. Arami Ullón (Paraguay / Argentina / Switzerland, 2020, 75 min., Ayoreo, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/12 / 11:30AM / S8 3/16 / 9:20 / S7

Facing the consequences of a violent uprooting, and in an attempt to preserve fragments of a disappearing culture, Mateo walks across communities in the arid and desolate Paraguayan Chaco region, and registers on cassettes the experiences of other Ayoreo who, like him, were born in the vast forest, free and nomadic, without any contact with civilization, until religious missionaries forced them to abandon their ancestral territory, their means of subsistence, their beliefs and their home. Nuestras Raíces Showcase.

BOROM TAXI

Dir. Andrés Guerberoff (Argentina, 2021, 61 min., Wolof, Spanish, w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/14 / 6:55 / S6 3/16 / 9:30 / S8 VIRTUALLY 3/18

Mountakha is a Senegalese migrant and a newcomer in Buenos Aires. In Dakar he used to work as a truck driver and he tries to get that job in this new city as well. While working as a street vendor in the meantime, he wonders if his destiny might be related to acting. Some of his new friends have a special bond with cinema.

¡Documania! Showcase.

CANTOS QUE INUNDAN EL RÍO

Dir. Germán Arango Rendón (Colombia, 72 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/13 / 3:20 / S7 3/18 / 4:45 / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/10

Oneida was still a child when she learned the Afro-Colombian tradition of singing “alabados” to accompany the dead on their journey to purgatory. With one leg devoured by a snake, and a war without truce, she became the composer of new songs and made her wounds a source of inspiration. Today, Oneida’s compositions unite the voice of millions in the reconciliation process of a country with one of the longest wars in history. Nuestras Raíces Showcase.

DESDE LA ESQUINA

Dirs. Mario Genel, Omar Millán (Mexico, 94 min., 2022, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Sports Documentary) 3/19 / 5:30 / S5 3/20 / 11:15 AM/ S6 VIRTUALLY 3/17 Though his childhood was filled with abandonment and misery, the boxing trainer Romulo Quirarte produced entire generations of world champions and elite fighters towards the end of the twentieth century, making Tijuana the epicenter of Boxing in Mexico. Featuring appearances by Julio Cesar Chavez, Erik Morales, Frontera Filmmakers Showcase.

FLY SO FAR

Dir. Celina Escher (El Salvador / Sweden, 89 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/20 / 6:10 / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/13

Set in El Salvador, a country with some of the most restrictive laws in the world, including the criminalization of those who experience miscarriages, this documentary tells the story of Teodora Vásquez, who was accused of murder when she suffered a stillbirth and was sentenced to thirty years in prison for aggravated homicide. At Ilopango Women’s Prison, she becomes the spokesperson for The Seventeen, a group of working-class women who were all incarcerated after having miscarriages., many of whom became pregnant after being sexually assaulted. Vozes Showcase.

LOS GUARDIANES DEL MAÍZ

Dir. Gustavo Vazquez (Mexico / USA, 60 min., 2020, Zapotec, Chinantec, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/19 / 3:30 / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/15

Los Guardianes del Maíz presents the story of native corn told by the indigenous farmers, artisans and cooks in Mexico whose ancestors shepherded the ever-evolving seeds from the dawn of agriculture into the 21st Century – a story of collective labor spanning more than 350 generations. Their voices are joined by community leaders, scientists, chefs, and others whose knowledge and activism stand not only in defense of food sovereignty and the genetic integrity, diversity, and community ownership of native seeds, but in defense of a durable cultural legacy and a way of life.

Nuestras Raíces Showcase.

LOS HERMANOS / THE BROTHERS

Dir. Marcia Jarmel,Ken Schneider(Cuba / USA, 84 min., 2021, English, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Music Documentary) 3/11 / 5:00 / S8 3/13 / 11:30 AM / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/20

A joyful celebration of family, love, creativity and music, played out against the backdrop of more than half a century of strife amongst the world's superpowers, weaving the many complex layers of the story of two musical brothers, their families, their divergent trajectories, and the tides of geo-politics. Featuring an genre-bending score composed by Cuban Aldo Lopez-Gavilan performed with his American brother, Ilmar, and with guest appearances by maestro Joshua Bell and the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet.

IDENTIDAD

Dir. José Carlos García & Carlos Granda (Peru, 83 min., 2019, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Sports Documentary) 3/12 / 1:50 / S6 3/17 / 4:15 / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/19

After 36 years, Peru returns to the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018. Can this huge national achievement start to heal decades of armed conflict, social and economic upheaval, and a traumatized national identity? “Identidad” is a reflective journey through growing up in Peru during the 1980s and disappointment —and ultimate pride— of their National Football Team.

¡Documania! Showcase.

THE INFILTRATORS

Dir. Cristina Ibarra, Alex Rivera (USA, 95 min., 2019, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Hybrid) 3/13 / 5:00 / S7

The docu-thriller that tells the true story of young immigrants who are detained by Border Patrol and thrown into a shadowy for-profit detention center—on purpose. Marco and Viri are members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, a group of radical DREAMers who are on a mission to stop unjust deportations. And the best place to stop deportations, they believe, is in detention. However, when Marco and Viri attempt a daring reverse ‘prison break,’ things don’t go according to plan. By weaving together documentary footage of the real infiltrators with re-enactments of the events inside the detention center, THE INFILTRATORS tells an incredible and thrilling true story in a genre-defying new cinematic language.

Special Presentation. INVASORES

Dir. Luis Moreno (Mexico, 122 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/13 / 1:30 / S5 3/15 / 9:10 / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/17

In May 2021, more than one hundred families in Tijuana were compelled to invade the “Cerro de las abejas” due to rent prices, food and unemployment. The families demanded decent housing, asking for the expropriation of lands that have been unused for more than 30 years. ¡Documania! Showcase.

THE KITCHENISTAS

Dir. David Romero (USA, Mexico, 56 min., 2021, English, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Food Documentary) 3/17 / 7:00 / S8 3/19 / 11:45 AM / S8 VIRTUALLY 3/12

What started as a 7-week nutrition program 8 years ago in National City (CA) has become a 300+ Latina-led movement to raise the health, well-being, and resilience of a community. National City has one of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in San Diego County and in California, and the program graduates, called “Kitchenistas” are mentoring, advocating, and developing a sisterhood to bring high-quality food and cooking into their homes, schools, city, and beyond. Special Presentation.

LA MADRINA: THE SAVAGE LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA

Dir. Raquel Cepeda (USA, 80 min., 2021, English, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/14 / 5:00 / S8 3/19 / 11:15 AM / S6 VIRTUALLY 3/16

A beloved South Bronx matriarch rooted in the outlaw, spiritual and activism world takes us on a complicated journey through five decades of Bronx history. ¡Viva Mujeres! Showcase

LA MANPLESA: AN UPRISING REMEMBERED

Dir. Ellie Walton (USA, 52 min., 2021, English, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/12 / 3:20 / S10 3/19 / 5:50 / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/18

A chorus of artists and activists retell the story of the 1991 uprisings in Washington DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, sparked by the police shooting of a Salvadoran man, Daniel Gomez. Through testimony, song, poetry, and street theatre, La Manplesa brings to

life a painful yet seminal chapter in the history of Washington DC’s Latinx community and justice movements.

¡Documania! Showcase.

MARIPOSAS DEL CAMPO

Dir. Bill Yahraus (USA, 86 min., 2021, English, Spanish, Mixteco, Zapoteco w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/13 / 2:00 / S8 3/19 / 3:40 / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/11

Mariposas del Campo shares the stories of indigenous Mixtec, Zapotec, and Purépecha teenagers from Mexico striving to change their families’ destinies in the strawberry fields of Oxnard, California. Through a stormy year of sanctioned racism and antiimmigrant policies, the documentary captures their journeys—with help from the characters’ own intimate videos—as they navigate cultural identity, parental expectations, economic challenges, and the justice needs of their migrant farmworker community.

THE MOTHER OF ALL STRUGGLES

Dir. Susanna Lira (Brazil, 84 min., 2021, Portuguese w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/17 / 6:00 / S6 VIRTUALLY 3/19

A documentary that connects attacks on land rights with the ongoing struggles of Indigenous and Black women in Brazil. The film follows the paths of Shirley Krenak and Maria Zelzuita, women who are in the front line of the Brazilian land struggle. Shirley has the mission of honoring the women and the wisdom of the Krenak Warriors, from the region of Minas Gerais. Maria Zelzuita is one of the survivors of the Eldorado dos Carajás Massacre, in Pará. ¡Viva

Mujeres! Showcase.

MUD FRONTIER: ARCHITECTURE AT THE BORDERLANDS

Dir. Chris J. Gauthier (USA, 64 min., 2021, English, Documentary) 3/17 / 4:30 / S6 3/19 / 11:00 AM / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/12 Set in the remote San Luis Valley of Colorado, Mud Frontier: Architecture at the Borderlands follows designers Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello's experimentation with robotic manufacturing processes and traditional adobe architecture. Motivated by the neglect and abandonment of customary earthen building techniques that were once widely used throughout the region, in an area where Indigenous and European colonists have historically lived both in harmony and in conflict with one another, Rael and San Fratello reflect on this legacy to forge new methods of creative production.

OBJETOS REBELDES

Dir. Carolina Arias Ortiz (Costa Rica / Colombia, 70 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English subtitles, Documentary) 3/18 / 5:00 / S8 3/20 / 3:50 / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/14

Carolina returns to her home country Costa Rica to try to rebuild the relationship with her father, who is sick. During this time, she meets Ifigenia, an archaeologist expert in the stone spheres found in the south of Costa Rica; the country's great enigma. She decides to follow Ifigenia's journey through an erased indigenous history. Through objects and their stories, Carolina learns a different way to relate to death. ¡Viva Mujeres! Showcase, Vozes Showcase.

PALABRAS VERDADERAS

Dir. Denisse Quintero (Mexico, 73 min., 2020, Spanish, Zoque Ayapaneco w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/11 / 4:15 / S5 3/20 / 1:50 / S6 VIRTUALLY 3/15

Through the testimonies of various elderly locals, Palabras Verdaderas builds a collective memory of Ayapa, creating an oral history of what has marked them as a community, from its origin, to its processes of abandonment and subsequent efforts to recover their native language, the true word: Numdi oode. Mexico Today

Showcase.

PEPE SERNA: LIFE IS ART

Dir. Luis Reyes (USA, 60 min., 2022, English, Documentary) 3/10 / 7:00 / S8

Pepe Serna: Life Is Art is a one hour documentary about the life and career, told in his own words, of veteran supporting actor Pepe Serna, best known for his roles in such films as Scarface, Car Wash, and Downsizing.

Special Presentation: Pepe Serna Tribute.

RICOCHET

Dirs. Jeff Adachi, Chihiro Wimbush (USA, 76 min., 2021, English, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/11 / 6:00 / S5 3/15 / 4:30 / S6 VIRTUALLY 3/17 When a young woman is shot by an undocumented immigrant on Pier 14 in San Francisco, the incident ignites a political and media furor that culminates in Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. In the eye of this storm, two public defenders fight to reveal the truth. ¡Documania! Showcase

ROLÊ - STORIES OF BRAZILIAN PROTESTS IN MALLS

Dir. Vladimir Seixas (Brazil, 82 min., 2021, Portuguese w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/11 / 4:30 / S6 3/13 / 11:15 AM / S6 VIRTUALLY 3/20

Protests against the violence occurring in Brazilian malls have mobilized thousands of people in recent years. This documentary follows the lives and memories of three Black individuals that experienced racism and took part in these protests. Discover the dreams, beauty, poetry, art and politics of a generation that has found new ways of dealing with violence by taking part in the Black Lives Matter movement in Brazil. ¡Documania! Showcase.

LA RECUA - THE MULE PACK TRAIN

Dirs. Darío Higuera Meza, Trudi Angell (Mexico, 86 min., 2020, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/18 / 6:35 / S6 3/20 / 11:00 AM / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/13

SKA´YAA (STRENGTH)

Dir. Jorge Díaz Sánchez (Mexico, 88 min., 2021, Spanish, Triqui w/ English Subtitles, Sports Documentary) 3/17 / 6:10 / S5 3/20 / 1:10 / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/11

Sergio Zúñiga is an idealist who has created a project for indigenous children so they can realize their dreams are through basketball. For years, the Indigenous Academy of Mexico has allowed children to recognize that studying and sports are tools that can be used to break cycles of poverty. Bernabé, Tobías and Aniceto are a central part of this effort. They continue to fight on the court to show that what they lack in size, they make up for in mental stamina. Mexico Today Showcase.

TEJIENDO SOMBRAS

Dir. Erica Nguyen (Peru / USA / Spain, 97 min., 2020, Spanish, Quechua w/ English Subtitles) 3/12 / 11:00 AM / S10 3/16 / 4:45 / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/10

Darío Higuera Meza, a traditional saddle maker in Baja California Sur, turned 70 in 2018. In March that year, he and his family traveled 200 miles in 20 days by mule-back, herding a pack train of donkeys from an oasis in the heart of the Sierra de la Giganta all the way to the capital city of La Paz. Fearing that the old traditions might be lost forever, he overcame hardships of health, rattlesnakes, and hot days on rocky, forgotten trails in order to honor the memory of Lower California’s “long-haul” equine merchants “los arrieros”– the muleteers of Baja’s donkey pack-trains. Two trailsavvy children, Ramoncito, age 8, Dario’s grandson, and Azucena, age 10, add sparkle to the tale as they ride through the desert outback, sharing their own stories and songs along historic El Camino Real. Frontera Filmmakers Showcase.

EL SILENCIO DEL TOPO

Dir. Anaïs Taracena (Guatemala, 91 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/13 / 1:25 / S7 3/16 / 4:30 / S6 VIRTUALLY 3/11

In the decade of the 70s, a journalist self-proclaimed as “The Mole” infiltrated one of the most repressive governments in Guatemala. Through the quest of a hidden and unusual character, the film explores how the revelations of the truth can force cracks into the walls of silence in a country forced to forget. Vozes Showcase. Languages are irretrievably lost at a rapid rate. The silence that follows can be filled by the testimonies in this documentary, which decipher the vernacular of Peru's living hat cultures before they too are forgotten. Although Peruvian hats might seem an unlikely place to find vindication, the diversity of dialects and communities they represent is boisterous. Each village flashes their coat of arms through subtle cues found on their hat- flowers, pompoms, sequins, and designs become legible forms of communication that must be put on every day. Witness the rituals, legends, rites of passage, conflicts and connection to land that only a hat has the privilege of seeing.

THRESHOLD

Dir. Coraci Ruiz (Brazil, 77 min., 2021, Portuguese w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/12 / 1:15 / S8 3/15 / 4:45 / S7 VIRTUALLY 3/17

An autobiographical documentary made by a mother who follows the gender transition of her adolescent son: between 2016 and 2019 she interviews him addressing the conflicts, certainties and uncertainties that pervade him in a deep search for his identity. At the same time, the mother also goes through a process of transformation required by the situation that life presents her with by breaking old paradigms, facing fears and dismantling prejudices.

¡Somos! Cine LGBT+.

6PM

EL UNIVERSO DE CLARITA

Dir. Tomás Lipgot (Argentina, 74 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/12 / 11:45 AM / S9 3/17 / 5:00 / S8 VIRTUALLY 3/14

Clarita is 13 years old and lives in Rosario with her parents and sisters. She has an unusual curiosity and a passion that defines her: astronomy - a passion she discovered thanks to Proyecto Miradas, an experimental and playful workshop for children. What are meteorites made of? How were stars created? Where did the first bird come from? Clarita’s drive to learn and to explore makes us wonder at the infinite Universe of which we are all part of. Para

la familia Showcase.

WHAT I'VE NEVER LOST

Dir. Marina Thomé (Brazil, 86 min., 2021, Portuguese w/ English Subtitles, Music Documentary) 3/14 / 4:45 / S7 3/17 / 8:45 / S8 VIRTUALLY 3/19

WE STILL HERE / NOS TENEMOS

Dir. Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi (Puerto Rico, USA, 60 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English Subtitles, Documentary) 3/13 / 3:40 / S6 3/18 / 9:30 / S5 VIRTUALLY 3/15

“We Still Here / Nos Tenemos” introduces the incredible youth of Comerío, Puerto Rico navigating the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, a disaster that brought an unprecedented level of devastation to an island already in economic and political crisis. In the lush mountains in the center of Puerto Rico, 24-year-old Mariangelie Ortiz leads a group of young residents who never thought they would become the leaders of their community, nonetheless find themselves traveling to Washington D.C. to protest in the halls of Congress. Follow them in this coming of age story to find their power and begin creating a sustainable future for themselves and their community. ¡Documania! Showcase.

The film tells the story of Alzira E, a pioneer artist from a small town close to the Brazilian Pantanal and the Paraguayan border, one of the country’s most conservative and patriarchal places. She has broken barriers all her life and becomes an icon in the urban and underground scene of São Paulo, where she migrated by herself as a young mother of 5 children. She has crafted an impressive career as an instrumentalist and songwriter. Alzira E, a 63 years old rock band leader, is a woman ahead of her time.

Nuestras Raices Showcase.