A vital platform for Mexican cinema in the U.S.
TCM Online Catalog
Introduction
Due to our ongoing concerns for the health and safety of our audience members, we will not present Tucson Cine Mexico 2020 in movie theatres as we had hoped to do.
We have selected a number of films which we screened over the years in the festival, and some we were going to screen in March 2020, which are now available through streaming platforms. So you can watch films you missed or films you loved again!
*Some of the links may be expired. Please email bogaert@email.arizona.edu if you find any expired links and we will get that taken down.
We are grateful to our sponsors who supported the catalog
TCM 2020
ESTO NO ES BERLÍN / THIS IS NOT BERLIN
Drama
Mexico, 2019, 115 min.
Director: Hari Sama
Producers: Ale García, Hari Sama, Antonio Urdapilleta, Verónica Valadez P.
Starring: Xabiani Ponce de León, José Antonio Toledano, Mauro Sanchez Navarro
In Spanish with English subtitles
A compelling semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale set in Mexico in 1986, as the country gets ready for the World Cup. This Is Not Berlin follows 17-year-old Carlos, an introverted kid who doesn't fit in: not in his family nor at school. Everything changes when he’s invited to the Aztec, a legendary Mexico City nightclub where he discovers the underground nightlife scene - post-punk, sexually fluid, and fueled by drugs. Carlos’s awakening will challenge his relationship with his best friend, Gera, the brother of his crush, Rita, while helping him discover his passion for experimental art and leading him into adulthood. With impeccable art direction, a pulsing soundtrack, and a knock-out ensemble cast headed by Xabiani Ponce de León and José Antonio Toledano, along with Academy Award nominee and Roma star Marina de Tavira, the film offers a revealing portrait of Mexico City in the eighties - an era of deep political, social, and cultural change that shaped today’s Mexico.
LOS LOBOS / THE WOLVES
Family / Family Drama
Mexico, 2019, 95 min.
Director: Samuel Kishi
Producers: Inna Payán, Leticia Carrillo
Starring: Martha Reyes Arias, Maximillano Nájar Márquez, Leonardo Nájar Márquez
In Spanish with English subtitles
“Eight year old Max and his younger brother Leo don't have much, but they have each other and their mother Lucía. And they share a dream as well: To visit Disneyland one day. The family has recently emigrated to the USA from Mexico, and while Lucía tries to finance their new life by doing odd jobs, the two brothers spend their days in their sparsely furnished one-room flat. The walls of the room, which they are forbidden to leave, become a projection screen for imaginative adventures and open a window on their new life. Director Samuel Kishi Leopo recalls aspects of his own childhood in Los Lobos and resituates them in a currently highly charged context – brutally honest and yet poetic, melancholic and full of hope.” -Berlin International Film Festival
TIO YIM / UNCLE YIM
Documentary
Mexico, 2019, 82 min.
Director: Luna Marán
Producer: Sofía Gómez-Córdova, Luna Marán
In Spanish with English subtitles
In her heartfelt and powerful debut feature, Zapotec director Luna Marán encourages her father Jaime Luna (Uncle Yim), an indigenous philosopher, social leader, and singer-songwriter, to compose a new song about his life after 15 years of silence. This time, though, he does so alongside his family; their memories and interpretations are contradictory and painful. Uncle Yim is a powerful documentary that immerses us in the identity of a family shaped by tradition, music, and communality.
TCM 2019
XQUIPI' GUIE'DANI / GUIE'DANI'S NAVEL
Drama
Mexico, 2018, 119 min.
Director: Xavi Sala
Producers: Julian Baños, Reyna Escalante
Starring: Sótera Cruz, Érika López, Majo Alfaroh, Yuriria del Valle, Juan Ríos, Valentina Buzzurro, Jerónimo Kesselman, Mónica del Carmen
In Spanish with English subtitles
Directed by the Mexican filmmaker of Catalan origins Xavi Sala, this incisive portrait of racism and classism follows young Zapotec Guie’dani, who moves from her Oaxacan village to Mexico City when her mother takes a job as a live-in maid for an upper middle-class family. Defiant and morose, Guie’dani abhors their new roles in service. Everything changes when she meets Claudia, a rebellious girl with whom she becomes close friends. Newcomer Sótera Cruz brings razor-sharp intensity to her portrayal of a girl determined to fight for her dignity.
LAS NIÑAS BIEN / THE GOOD GIRLS
Drama
Mexico, 2018, 94 min.
Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella
Producers: Maria Jose Cordova, Rodrigo S. Gonzalez, Rafael Ley, Gabriela Maire
Starring: Ilse Salas, Flavio Medina, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Paulina Gairan, Johanna Murillo, Jimena Guerra
In Spanish with English subtitles
Based on Guadalupe Loaeza’s satiric and iconic 1985 bestseller of the same name, Alejandra Márquez Abella’s second film is a portrait of the always charming, perfect and spoiled Sofia, the queen bee of her group of friends, who faces the unimaginable - her social decay. It’s 1982 and a big economic crisis is hitting Mexico. Sofia will have to maintain appearances but her fall is not only inevitable, it will acknowledge what is lost when the money is gone. Starring an impressive ensemble cast including Ilse Salas (Güeros, Museo), Cassandra Ciangherotti (Time Share, Cantinflas), and Paulina Gaitán (Sin Nombre), The Good Girls is a poignant snapshot of the decadent Mexican bourgeoisie of the early eighties.
LA CAMARISTA / THE CHAMBERMAID
Drama
Mexico, 2018, 98 min.
Director: Lila Avilés
Producers: Lila Avilés, Tatiana Graullera
Starring: Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez, Agustina Quinci
In Spanish with English subtitles
A poignant and delicate class portrait, The Chambermaid follows Eve—played by the wonderful Gabriela Cartol (I Dream in Another Language)—a young chambermaid working in one of the most luxurious hotels in Mexico City, who confronts the monotony of long workdays with quiet examinations of forgotten belongings and budding friendships that nourish her newfound and determined dream for a better life. Inspired by the filmmaker's own theater play of the same name—in turn inspired by Sophie Calle’s 1980 artistic project “The Hotel,” in which the French artist worked as a chambermaid in a Venice hotel—The Chambermaid is a standout among a thriving new generation of Mexican and Latin American women filmmakers. With impeccable cinematography, a near-documentary eye, and a humanistic gaze, the film signals director Lila Avilés as a talent to watch.
CINDERELO
Romantic Comedy
Mexico / Dominican Republic, 2017, 91 min.
Director: Beto Gómez
Producers: Rafael Munoz, Alfonso Rodríguez
Starring: Joaquín Cosio, William Levy, Miguel Rodarte, Stephany Liriano, Eva Arias
In Spanish with English subtitles
Beto Gómez’ screwball comedy Cinderelo follows Marlon Flores (Miguel Rodarte), a talented photographer with an amazing ability to highlight anyone's inner beauty, but not his own. His ugliness attracts the rejection and ridicule of all women, except his assistant Maria, who can see him for who he really is. Tired of constant contempt, he unexpectedly encounters his fairy godfather (Joaquín Cosío, Narcos: Mexico, Me gusta pero me asusta, The Thin Yellow Line), a mysterious man who casts a spell on him, transforming him into an irresistible hunk named Brando (played by popular actor William Levy). The catch? It’s only in effect at night. With the help of his best friend Felix, Marlon turns the handsome Brando into the most coveted man in the city. But can you find true love with a double identity?
TESOROS / TREASURES
Family
Mexico, 2017, 95 min.
Director: María Novaro
Producers: María Novaro, Pamela Guinea
Starring: Jazmin Bárcenas, Julieta Bárcenas, Jacinta Chavez, Mara Chavez, Santiago Chavez, Aranza Bañuelos García, Fabiana Hernandez, Matilde Hernandez, Andrea Sutton, Dylan Sutton
In Spanish with English subtitles
Written and directed by veteran filmmaker María Novaro (Danzón, Leaving No Trace) and set in a palm-fringed fishing village on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, this tale follows young siblings Dylan and Andrea as they embark on a search for lost pirate treasure left centuries ago by Francis Drake. Guided by their own intelligence and curiosity, the children chart the limestone islands off the coast, and find something much more valuable than a treasure chest. A sweet and optimistic film for all ages from Mexico’s best-known woman director.
MAMACITA
Documentary
Mexico / Germany, 2018, 75 min.
Director: José Pablo Estrada Torrescano
Producers: Arne Birkenstock, José Pablo Estrada Torrescano
In Spanish with English subtitles
Director José Pablo Estrada Torrescano unearths family secrets in his debut feature Mamacita. When the aspiring director went to study film abroad, his grandmother made him promise to return to Mexico one day to make a film about her life. Little did he know that his film would unearth secrets, lies and deceptions affecting five generations of a high society Mexican family. Mamacita, José Pablo’s grandmother, is an extravagant Mexican beauty queen living in her own kingdom with her loyal servants: gardener, chauffeur, chef, housekeeper and nurses. The 95-year-old lady has turned her house into a castle, hiding the open wounds of a prominent Mexican upper class family behind its stone walls. José Pablo conquers his granny’s empire like a Trojan horse, discovering the haunted spirits of his own past and the reason for the lack of love that his entire clan has suffered from for generations.
TCM 2018
ETIQUETA NO RIGUROSA / NO DRESS CODE REQUIRED
Documentary
Mexico, 2017, 92 min.
Director: Cristina Herrera Bórquez
Producers: Sabrina Almandoz, Cristina Herrera Bórquez
Featuring: Felipe Nájera
In Spanish with English subtitles
Director Cristina Herrera Bórquez’s memorable documentary follows an unassuming same-sex couple, Víctor and Fernando, as they fight for the right to be married in their hometown of Mexicali, Baja California. As their struggle gets complicated and their case becomes public—winning them both allies and enemies—they become improbable media cause célèbres. With the filmmaker’s remarkable access to the epic story, No Dress Code Required is a rallying cry for equality, and a testament to the power of ordinary people to become agents of change.
SANTO CONTRA CEREBRO DEL MAL / SANTO VS. THE EVIL BRAIN
Adventure / Horror
Mexico / Cuba, 1961, 70 min.
Director: Joselito Rodriguez
Producers: Jorge Garcia Besne, Jesus Alvarino, Carlos Garduno, Enrique J. Zambrano
Starring: Rodolfo Guzman Huerta
In Spanish with English subtitles
Filmed in Cuba in 1961, Santo contre cerebro del mal is the first lucha libre film starring El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta), the most iconic of all Mexican luchadores. In this film, the silver-masked hero foils the plot of a mad scientist to create a zombie army by zapping his innocent victims with electric shocks. Cerebro del mal sparked a long series of films – 52 in all – in which El Santo fights supernatural creatures, evil scientists, and various criminals and secret agents. Cut to 2017: the rapidly deteriorating original camera negatives are saved by archivist and filmmaker (and the producer’s granddaughter) Viviana Garcia Besné. Her mission: to rescue, preserve and reinterpret this and other Mexican films that have been despised by critics but loved by audiences.
LOS ADIOSES / THE ETERNAL FEMININE
Drama
Mexico, 2017, 85 min.
Director: Natalia Beristain
Producers: Maria Jose Cordova, Rodrigo S. Gonzalez, Rafael Ley, Gerardo Moran
Starring: Karina Gidi, Daniel Fimenez Cacho, Tessa la, Ari Albarran, Hayde Boeto, Raul Briones, Pedro De Tavira, David Gaitan, Danae Reynaud, Luis Eduardo Yee
In Spanish with English subtitles
Boasting outstanding performances by Karina Gidi and Daniel Giménez Cacho, Natalia Beristáin’s second feature film is an unconventional biopic about the late Rosario Castellanos, one of Mexico’s top literary voices of the twentieth century. The film picks up her life in the 1950s when, as an introverted university student in Mexico City, she fights to have her voice heard in a society run by men.
EL VIGILANTE / THE NIGHT GUARD
Drama / Thriller
Mexico, 2016, 75 min.
Director: Diego Ros
Producers: Diego Ros, Jack Zagha, Yossy Zagha, Laura Pino
Starring: Leonardo Alonso, Ari Gallegos, Hector Holten, Lilia Mendoza, Noe Hernandez, Bryan Mateo, Rodrigo Franco
In Spanish with English subtitles
Salvador (Leonardo Alonso) works the night shift as a security guard in a construction site located on the outskirts of Mexico City. One evening, while the rest of the country celebrates a national holiday, Salvador repeatedly tries to leave the site in order to attend an important event, but a series of improbable situations turns the night into a bizarre and exhausting experience. The auspicious debut feature by Diego Ros is “a wonderfully atmospheric, slightly off-kilter piece through which evil gently and troublingly pulsates” -The Hollywood Reporter
ME GUSTA PERO ME ASUSTA / I LIKE IT BUT IT SCARES ME
Comedy
Mexico, 2017, 97 min.
Director: Beto Gómez
Producers: Aurora Jauregui, Mónica Lozano, Alejandro Speitzer, Minnie West
Starring: Joaquín Cosio, Marlene Favela, Alejandro Speitzer
In Spanish with English subtitles
In this box office hit from Mexico, Brayan Rodriguez, the innocent heir to a nouveau rich Sinaloa family, is sent to Mexico City to expand the mysterious family business. In the capital he meets Claudia, a spoiled millennial being pressured by her father to find a job, and their worlds collide. Appearances can be deceiving when hipster culture meets narco aesthetics in this deliciously subversive romantic screwball comedy starring Minnie West and Alejandro Speitzer in their charming feature film debuts, from director Beto Gomez (Saving Private Perez).
TCM 2017
BELLAS DE NOCHE / BEAUTIES OF THE NIGHT
Documentary
Mexico, 2016, 92 min.
Director: María José Cuevas
Producers: María José Cuevas, Christian Valdelièvre, Moisès Cosío
Featuring: Olga Breeskin, Lyn May, Princesa Yamal, Rossy Mendoza, Wanda Seux
In Spanish with English subtitles
María José Cuevas’ engrossing debut documentary feature offers a moving portrait of five of Mexico’s most popular showgirls of the late 70s and 80s, almost forty years after they ruled Mexico’s entertainment world. With a keen eye and devoid of any sensationalism, Cuevas enters the fascinating world of these women who have struggled to reinvent themselves after the decline of the burlesque heyday era in Mexico.
UN MONSTRUO DE MIL CABEZAS / A MONSTER WITH A THOUSAND HEADS
Drama
Mexico, 2015, 74 min.
Director: Rodrigo Plá
Producers: Sandino Saravia Vinay, Rodrigo Plá
Starring: Jana Raluy, Sebastián Aguirre Boëda, Hugo Albores, Nora Huerta, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Emilio Echeverría
In Spanish with English Subtitles
When Sonia receives the news that her husband’s cancer has progressed to a terminal stage, she races to secure the insurance company approval for the care that can help him. Met with indifference and negligence at every turn, Sonia’s desperation triggers a primal survival instinct as a series of increasingly violent confrontations unfolds. A sharp, urgent tale of a distraught woman intent on protecting her family at all costs, Rodrigo Plá’s latest film is an engrossing combination of thriller, drama and timely socio-political commentary.
CARMIN TROPICAL
Drama
Mexico, 2014, 80 min.
Director: Rigoberto Perezcano
Producers: Rigoberto Perezcano, Jaime B. Ramos, Christian Valdelièvre, Cristina L. Velasco
Starring: Luis Alberti, Juan Carlos Medellín, José Pescina, Everardo Trejo, Marco Pétriz
In Spanish with English Subtitles
This captivating thriller set on the coast of Oaxaca, tells the story of Mabel, a muxe (a physical male who dresses and acts like a woman) who returns to her hometown to find the murderer of her friend Daniela. She finds herself on a journey that takes her through nostalgia, love, and betrayal in a town where transvestism takes on an unusual dimension. Perezcano’s second feature film has a “killer ending in store that’s a real nail-biter” -The Hollywood Reporter
LA CALLE DE LA AMARGURA / BLEAK STREET
Drama
Mexico / Spain, 2015, 99 min.
Director: Arturo Ripstein
Producers: Xanat Briceño, Luis Alberto Estrada
Starring: Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Nora Velázquez, Silvia Pasquel, Arcelia Ramírez, Alejandro Suárez
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Based on a true—yet bizarre—crime story, the latest film by veteran auteur Arturo Ripstein is a black-and-white lusciously shot noir melodrama that tells the story of two prostitutes (Patricia Reyes Spíndola and Nora Velásquez) who mistakenly kill two twin mini-luchadores in downtown Mexico City in a robbery attempt to make ends meet.
EL CHARRO DE TOLUQUILLA
Documentary
Mexico, 2016, 90 min.
Director: José Villalobos Romero
Producers: Claudia Méndez Castañeda, Sergio Morkin
In Spanish with English Subtitles
El Charro de Toluquilla tells the story of Jaime García—a mariachi singer and braggart who lives his life like a chauvinistic vintage Mexican movie character, but with one difference: he is HIV-positive. José Villalobos’ remarkable debut film offers a playful and incisive look at masculinity through the Mexican popular figure of the charro cantor (singing cowboy), as Jaime chooses between maintaining his reckless lifestyle or becoming a family man.
TCM 2015
GLORIA
Drama
Mexico, 2014, 120 min.
Director: Christian Keller
Producers: Mattias Ehrenberg, Alan B. Curtiss, Ricardo Kleinbaum, Barrie M. Osborne, Christian Keller
Starring: Sofia Espinosa, Marco Perez, Tatiana del Real, Ximena Romo
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Gloria Trevi, the “Mexican Madonna,” rose from poverty to international stardom, only to be brought crashing down by a sex scandal that mesmerized the Spanish-speaking world. The new movie Gloria tells the true story of her astonishing life, from her meteoric rise to the top of the pop charts to the humiliating fall that followed, all set to a soundtrack of the diva’s infectious hits. Driven to find fame and fortune, the teenaged Trevi impresses producer Sergio Andrade, whose golden touch with pop divas earned him the nickname “King Midas.” Groomed by Andrade, Gloria’s politically charged lyrics and unashamed sexuality propel her to unparalleled stardom, but behind the scenes, her emotionally and sexually abusive manager controls her every move. When Andrade is accused of sexual relationships with underage girls, Gloria is swept up in the worldwide manhunt that follows and is accused of running a so-called “sex cult.”
LA TIRISIA / PERPETUAL SADNESS
Drama
Mexico, 2014, 110 min.
Director: Jorge Perez Solono
Producers: Cesar Gutiérrez Mirnada, Jorge Perez Solono
Starring: Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Adriana Paz, Noe Hernández, Alfredo Herrera, Gabriela Cartol, Mercedes Hernández
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Set in the ancient indigenous Mixteca region in Oaxaca, the film centers around women who must take drastic measures to ensure their future, distancing themselves from their own children in order to avoid losing their men. Cheba and Angéles got pregnant by the same man, Silvestre. Now Cheba’s husband is back. Angéles’s mother doesn’t want her daughter to keep the baby. The two women need to decide what to do with their newborn children. Their situations cause them to be sick with Tirisia- an illness of the soul. This well-acted, female-centered drama is beautifully filmed with surreal and painterly cinematography and haunting landscapes often being used to convey emotions.
VOLANDO BAJO / FLYING LOW
Musical Comedy
Mexico, 2014, 96 min.
Director: Beto Gómez
Producers: Carlos Valle Novelo, Gustavo Angél Olaya, Walter Von Borstel
Starring: Sandra Echeverría, Gerardo Taracena, Ana Brenda Contreras, Rodrigo Oviedo, Randy Vasquez, Rafael Inclán
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Volando Bajo pays tribute to the popular Mexican cinema of the 70’s and 80’s, an era in which actor Rafael Inclán, who plays an important character in Volando Bajo, was one of the biggest stars. Chuyín Venegas and Cornelio Barraza were the biggest stars of popular music and cinema of the 80’s. After a decade of musical stardom “The Goldfinches of Rosarito,” parted ways. Now living in a mansion in Paris, Chuyín is launching a new album and international tour. But loneliness and ghosts from the past will make him change plans. He returns to the seaside village where he and Cornelius met as children for a last musical adventure. This film has been hailed as The Mexican This Is Spinal Tap, and also praised for its nostalgic and intimate tone that goes beyond the mere jokes to serve as a tribute to the Mexican B-movies and popular music of the 70’s and 80’s.
PARAÍSO / PARADISE
Romantic Comedy
Mexico, 2013, 105 min.
Director: Mariana Chenillo
Producer: Pablo Cruz
Starring: Andres Almeida, Daniela Rincon
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Director Mariana Chenillo made history in 2010 when she became the first female director to win an Ariel Award (Mexico’s equivalent of the Oscar) for best picture with her Jewish-themed dramedy Nora’s Will (screened in Tucson Cine Mexico 2010). It was Chenillo’s first feature. In Chenillo’s second feature, a romantic comedy, overweight husband and wife Carmen (Daniela Rincon making an impressive film acting debut) and Alfredo (Mexican TV star and singer Andres Almeida) live in the outskirts of Mexico City. They seem happy enough with both their bodies and their lives, but Alfredo’s banking job means they have to move to the noisy and stressful center of the City. At an event held by his new company, Carmen overhears a conversation between two women who make disparaging remarks about her body. Hurt by what she hears, Carmen decides to start a weight-loss program. Alfred, who insists he loves his wife just the way she is supports her plan by joining her in her weight-loss efforts. Soon Alfred is losing weight easily while Carmen can barely lose an ounce and the happy marriage is threatened.
GÜEROS
Comedy / Drama
Mexico, 2014, 111 min.
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Producer: Ramiro Ruiz
Starring: Tenoch Huerta, Sebastián Aguirre, Ilse Salas
In Spanish with English subtitles
Ever since the National University strike broke out, Sombra and Santos have been living in angst-ridden limbo. Education-less, motionless, purposeless, and unsure of what the strike will bring, they begin to look for strange ways to kill time. But their idiosyncratic routine is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Tomas, Sombra's kid brother. Unable to fit in amongst these older slackers, Tomas discovers that unsung Mexican folk-rock hero Epigmenio Cruz has been hospitalized somewhere in the city. Tomas convinces Sombra and Santos they must track him down in order to pay their final respects on his deathbed. But what they thought would be a simple trip to find their childhood idol soon becomes a voyage of self-discovery across Mexico City's invisible frontiers.
TCM 2014
SOMOS MARI PEPA / WE ARE MARI PEPA
Drama
México, 2013, 95 min.
Director: Samuel Kishi
Producer: Toiz Rodríguez
Starring: Alejandro Gallardo, Arnold Ramírez, Moisés Galindo
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Alex has big plans for his summer in Guadalajara. He hopes to get a girlfriend, make money with a new job, learn a new song with his band, Mari Pepa, and win the upcoming “battle of the bands” concert. His summer expectations quickly become impossible to fulfill as he realizes everything in his life is shifting. Increasingly worried about his deteriorating grandmother, Alex realizes he must learn to deal with loneliness and begin to say goodbye to his innocence. Armed with a full cast of local untrained actors and based on the director/writer’s personal memories, Somos Mari Pepa is a love letter to, and a voyage through, the alleys and garages of Atemajac, Jalisco. Establishing director Samuel Kishi Leopo as a new, exciting voice in independent Mexican cinema, the film skillfully and comically captures the breakdown of adolescent rebellion in a period in which boys are forced to become men. -AFI Fest
CLUB SANDWICH
Comedy
México, 2013, 82 min.
Director: Fernando Eimbcke
Producers: Jaime Bernardo Ramos, Christian Valdélvre
Starring: Lucio Giménez Cacho, María Renée Prudencio, Danae Reynaud
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Low-key, poignant, and funny, Club Sandwich provides a humorous twist on the adolescent coming- of-age story from a mother's point of view. Thirty-five-year-old single mom Paloma and her fifteen-year-old son Hector are vacationing at a deserted, off-season hotel. Oddly close, they spend endless amounts of time together and are more like best friends than mother and son. For Paloma this listless idyll is upset when Hector meets Jazmin, a girl his age. There’s sexual chemistry between the two teenagers, and Hector is ready to take his first tentative steps into the world of teenage sex. Paloma finds herself, slowly but surely, becoming the third wheel. Then there’s the very awkward game of truth or dare.
CESAR CHAVEZ
Biopic
México / USA, 2014, 101 min.
Director: Diego Luna
Producer: Pablo Cruz, Gael García Bernal, John Malkovich
Starring: Michael Peña, Rosario Dawson, John Malkovich, America Ferrera
Chronicling the birth of a modern American movement, Cesar Chavez tells the story of the famed civil rights leader and labor organizer torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. Passionate but soft-spoken, Chavez embraced non- violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle to bring dignity to people. Chavez inspired millions of Americans from all walks of life who never worked on a farm to fight for social justice. His triumphant journey is a remarkable testament to the power of one individual’s ability to change the world.
QUEBRANTO / DISRUPTED
Documentary
México, 2013, 95 min.
Director: Roberto Fiesco
Producers: Hugo Espinosa, Ernesto Martínez Arévalo
Featuring: Fernando García Ortega, Lilia Ortega, Jorge Fons
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Coral Bonelli was first known as “Pinolito,” a child actor in the 1970s Mexican film industry. The son of a mariachi and an actress, he grew up poor but a natural performer and was steered by his passionate stage mother, Lilia. After working in movies, “Pinolito” performed on the demanding cabaret circuit and then announced that he would become a woman. With her devoted, aging mother by her side, Coral deals with social prejudice and struggles to piece a living together.
LA JAULA DE ORO / THE GOLDEN DREAM
Drama
México, 2013, 102 min.
Director: Diego Quemada-Díez
Producers: Edher Campos, Inna Payán, Luis Salinas
Starring: Brandon López, Rodolfo Domínguez, Karen Martínez, Carlos Chajon
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Three teenagers from the slums of Guatemala - tough guy Juan; Sara, who disguises herself as a boy; and Samuel, the smallest and most easily swayed of the trio - undertake the treacherous 1,200-mile trek through Mexico for the United States to find a better life. On their journey they meet Chauk, a Tzotzil Indian from Chiapas who doesn’t speak Spanish and has no official documents. They ride atop dilapidated trains, undergoing an unrelenting, arduous journey in which no one they meet can be trusted and catastrophe waits around every corner. Along the way, the foursome must contend with corrupt cops, ruthless bandits, and a gang of kidnappers. From their journey, director Diego Quemada-Diez fashions a powerful yet unsentimental film filled with action, humor, and intrigue. Constantly upending audience expectations, this unrelentingly tense immigration thriller leaves viewers on the edge of their seats until its shocking ending.
HELI
Drama
México, 2013, 105 min.
Director: Amat Escalante
Producer: Jaime Romandia
Starring: Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara, Linda González
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Warning: this film contains extreme violence.
Mexico’s selection for the Academy Awards® for Best Foreign Film, Heli is not for the faint of heart. Factory worker Heli lives a modest life with his father and his sister Estela in rural Mexico. In a misguided attempt to finance his elopement with the 12-year-old Estela, police cadet Beto steals two large packages of cocaine, setting off a string of increasingly bloody, painful, and even fatal consequences. While Heli shocked some Cannes critics for its unflinching portrayal of drug violence, it was awarded the prize for Best Director.
NOSOTROS LOS NOBLES / WE ARE THE NOBLES
Comedy
México, 2013, 108 min.
Director: Gary Alazraki
Producers: Mark Alazraki, Simón Bross, Moises Chiver, Raymundo González
Starring: Gonzalo Vega, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Karla Souza, Juan Pablo Gil
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Successful construction mogul Herman Noble realizes that his children are utterly spoiled. His oldest son, Javier, neglects the family business and engages in ridiculous business ideas. His daughter, Barbara, gets engaged to an older gigolo just to spite her father. His youngest son, Charlie, was expelled from college for having sex with a teacher. Herman decides to teach them a lesson. He stages a company bankruptcy and seizure of all their assets and tricks them into believing they are fugitives from the law. He moves them into their grandfather’s dilapidated home in a poor neighborhood and makes them do something none of them have ever done before... work.
LOS INSOLITOS PECES GATO / THE AMAZING CATFISH
Drama
México, 2013, 89 min.
Director: Claudia Sainte-Luce
Producer: Gemi- niano Pineda
Starring: Lisa Owen, Ximena Ayala, Sonia Franco
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Claudia, a lonely young woman, works in a supermarket. One night, she ends up in the hospital
with a severe case of appendicitis. There, she meets Martha, the woman resting in the bed next to hers. Martha, who lives alone with her four children, gains Claudia’s trust. When she gets out of the hospital, she spontaneously offers Claudia to go home with them. Getting to know this family makes Claudia feel at ease. And for the first time she experiences a sense of belonging in this peculiar little tribe. As Martha’s health weakens every day the bond Claudia has with each member of the family grows stronger. -Toronto Film Festival
TCM 2013
AQUÍ ENTRE NOS / BETWEEN US
Romantic Comedy
Mexico, 2011, 95 min.
Director: Patricia Martínez de Velasco
Producers: Roberto Sneider, Patricia Martínez de Velasco, Laura Imperiale
Starring: Jesús Ochoa, Carmen Beato, Diana García
In Spanish with English Subtitles
A true comedy about a family (the movie) explores the twists and turns that family relationships experience over time... Rodolfo feels that the family sees him as a necessary evil. He knows that they need him but he mostly gets in the way of their lives. Humorous at every step, Rodolfo breaks from the family routine and finds himself as a stranger in his own home. As he begins to untangle the intrigues and lies which he has been living with, he begins going deeper to discover the truth. Funny from beginning to end, the film is a War of the Roses with a mariachi band, love and the everlasting feeling that life will turn out OK... -Sydney Levine
HALLEY
Horror
Mexico, 2013, 84 min.
Director: Sebastián Hofmann
Producers: Julio Chavezmontes, Jaime Romandía
Starring: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Just like Halley’s Comet, Alberto’s days are numbered. He has been dead for years, but can no longer hide the fact. Perfume and make-up don’t help to mask his physical decline; the end is now final for this silent zombie. He decides to withdraw from life, which for him primarily consists of working as a night watchman in a 24-hour gym and gazing at the TV in a cheerless flat. His manager Luly, however, takes an interest in him and takes him out. The rather stiff friendship that emerges ensures an unexpected upturn in Alberto’s condition in the autumn of his undead existence. Halley is a contemporary Gothic story without spectacle, but with plenty of compassion. -Rotterdam
PARAÍSO (Short)
Documentary Short
U.S.A, 2012, 10 mins.
Director: Nadav Kurtz
Starring: Cruz Guzman, Jaime Polanco, Sergio Polanco
In Spanish with English subtitles
Three immigrant window cleaners risk their lives every day rappelling down some of Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers. Paraíso reveals the danger of their job and what they see on the way down.
SILVESTRE PANTALEÓN
Documentary
Mexico, 2012, 65 min.
Director: Roberto Olivares and Jonathan D. Amith
Producer: Jonathan D. Amith
In Náhuatl with English Subtitles
Silvestre Pantaleón lives in a Náhuatl speaking village in Guerrero, Mexico. He is one of the few who still has the traditional skills to make rope and lattice from plants. Looking for relief from pain and numbness, he visits a card reader and is told to make offerings to the dead, the hearth, the ants and the river in order to be cured. The film delicately follows Silvestre
as he makes ropes to raise the money necessary for the ceremony “Levantamiento de sombra,” lifting the shadow. A study of a fading world and disappearing rituals. -Lincoln Film Society
DESPUÉS DE LUCÍA / AFTER LUCIA
Drama
Mexico / France, 2012,103 min.
Director: Michel Franco
Producers: Michel Franco, Marco Polo Constandse
Starring: Tessa Ia, Gonzalo Vega Sisto, Tamara Yazbek Bernal, Hernán Mendoza
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Parental Advisory - Explicit sexual content. Not recommended for under 15 years of age.
After the death of his wife, Roberto and his teenage daughter, Alejandra, move to Mexico City for a new start. Each coping alone with their grief and unfamiliar surroundings, father and daughter barely communicate and turn inward. When Alejandra becomes the center of repulsive bullying, she remains silent to protect her father from further pain. The cruel abuse and humiliation escalates. When the truth of her mistreatment is revealed, her silence exacts a dreadful toll. With his second feature, director Michel Franco elicits impressive heartfelt lead performances and convincingly natural turns from the non-professionals who play the teen tormentors.
TEATRO PENITENCIARIO-LIBERTAD DESDE LA SOMBRA / PRISON THEATRE-LIBERTY IN THE DARK
Documentary
Mexico, 2012, 87 min.
Director: Carlos Gonzalez
Producers: Carlos González, Pablo Ramirez
Featuring: Jorge Correa
Jorge Correa was named the “Father of Mexican Prison Theatre” by UNESCO. For the past 35 years he has devoted himself to teaching drama inside more than 400 jails. From the vibrant streets of Mexico City to the dark rooms of prisons, the film navigates Correa’s personal journey as a witness to the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, a performer with an anti-drug use message, and a teacher to men and women serving time. After many years of making and defining prison theatre, Jorge Correa reaches his dream of staging a play with ex-inmates allowing them to confront themselves and find an emotional freedom.
EL LENGUAJE DE LOS MACHETES / MACHETE LANGUAGE
Drama
Mexico, 2011, 82 min.
Director: Kyzza Terrazas
Producer: Rafael Ley
Starring: Andrés Almeida, Jessy Bulbo
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Ray and Ramona (real-life punk rocker Jessy Bulbo) are in their 30s, in love and angry at the world. Ramona leads an anarchic all-girl band, but self-destructive Ray struggles to find his calling. Their lives fluctuate between commitment and excess partying. Caught in a downward spiral, the revolutionary couple are increasingly drawn to commit a shocking act of terrorism. The debut feature from Kyzza Terrazas (former head of Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna’s production company) is a gritty portrait of all-consuming love. Jessy Bulbo makes an unforgettable acting debut in this dark but highly original film.
TCM 2012
MISS BALA / MISS BULLET
Action Thriller
Mexico, 2010, 113 min.
Director: Gerardo Naranjo
Producers: Gabriel Garcia Bernal, Pablo Cruz, Diego Luna
Starring: Stephanie Sigman, Noe Hernandez, Irene Azuela
In Spanish with English subtitles
With a dream of being crowned Miss Baja California, Tijuana teenager Laura skips school with her best friend suzu and sign for the local beauty pageant. But their day takes a horrifying turn when Laura becomes the only living witness to a massacre committed by a gang of narcos... This is not a conventional drug war movie. The story reveals a girl’s perplexed and terrified perspective on the deadly chaos caused by the narcos’ lawlessness. -Toronto international Film Festival
LA MALETA MEXICANA / THE MEXICAN SUITCASE
Documentary / Drama
Mexico / Spain, 2011, 86 min.
Director: Trisha Ziff
Producers: Eamon O’Farrill, Trisha Ziff, Paco Poch
Starring: Ernest Alós, Juan Diego Botto, Sebastian del Amo
English, Catalan, and Spanish Dialogue with English subtitle
The story of three lost boxes, found in a closet in Mexico City in 2007, that disappeared in the chaos of Europe at the beginning of World War ii. Contained in the titular suitcase were 4,500 photo negatives, the work of three young European photographers: Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymour and Gerda Taro. Exiles from different places (Hungary, Poland, Germany), they had become friends in Paris, then traveled to Spain together to fight fascism with their cameras. This fascinating documentary from Trisha Ziff explores not only the historical mystery of how this photographic treasure trove came to be stashed - and nearly forgotten - in a modest Mexico City apartment, but also the living history of people affected by the Spanish Civil War: in Spain, the contemporary descendants of the defeated republicans; in Mexico, the refugee children- now senior citizens - who fled war-torn Spain for the safety of a new home. -AFI Latin American Film Festival
ACORAZADO
Comedy
Mexico, 2010, 97 min.
Director: Álvaro Curiel
Producers: Sandra Solares, Juan Uruchurtu
Starring: Marius Biegai, Camille Natta, Silverio Palacios
in Spanish with English subtitles
Silverio Palacios is a fisherman, but lately the only thing he catches is bad luck: his attempt to form a cooperative organization has utterly failed, and with this and other frustrations on his back, he becomes the first Mexican balsero headed to Miami. Following the delirious project of his old friend el Alacrán and also escaping his unbearable family life - he transforms his old VW taxi cab into The Battleship and, wearing only a pair of brief underpants, cleaves through the ocean with the hope of reaching the shores of the great American dream before the coast guard can catch him. But he didn’t consider the obstacles nature - and his own inexperience - will place on his way in order to change his destination to Cuba, where he ́s given a home, a job, and a social security, and where he now must think up a whole new plan. -Mar de plata international Film Festival
EL VELADOR / THE NIGHT WATCHMAN
Documentary
Mexico, 2011, 72 min.
Director: Natalia Almada
Producer: Natalia Almada
In spanish with english subtitles
Natalia Almada follows Martin, the night watchman of one of the most ornate cemeteries in northern Mexico, where drug lords and corrupt cops are laid to rest. A documentary spawned from violence, El Velador shows the end result of a chronic societal crisis. But Almada’s approach is poetic, not sociological, filled with striking surreal images of elaborate mausoleums that disrupt the pastoral landscape. As the cemetery, filled with widows tending to their husband’s shrines, constantly expands, the dreamlike quality of Almada’s filmmaking creates a disembodied atmosphere where the poor and living labor day and night for the rich deceased.
TCM 2011
AMORES PERROS / LOVE’S A BITCH
Thriller / Drama
México, 2000, 154 min.
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Producers: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Francisco González Campeán, Martha Sosa Elizondo
Starring: Emilio Echeverría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo
in Spanish with English subtitles
Rated R for violence, language and sex.
This movie contains graphic violence involving dogs, but no animals were harmed during the making of this film.
The debut film that brought international success to its director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, tells three intertwining stories that take place in the brutal streets of Mexico City. Octavio feels an obsessive attraction towards his sister-in-law; Daniel abandons his family for a disturbed supermodel; and a homeless man cares for an injured dog while planning a murder. A terrible car accident connects these three stories, with each character coping with the harsh realities of their life, all in the name of love.
The movie feels like it could be the first classic of the new decade, with sequences likely to earn their place in history. - The New York Times
CHICOGRANDE
History / Drama
México, 2010, 95 min.
Director: Felipe Cazals
Producers: Gerardo Barrera, Fernando Gou
Starring: Damián Alcázar, Juan Manuel Bernal, Bruno Bichir
in Spanish with English subtitles
Directed by veteran director Felipe Cazals, this story takes place during the Mexican Revolution and Pancho Villa's failed invasion of Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. Pancho Villa retires, wounded from the battle, while being pursued by American soldiers and a cruel officer determined to capture him - dead or alive. His only ally and connection to the outside world is Big Boy, Villa's most loyal friend who would put his life on the line to save the his hero’s life. Big Boy's courage and dedication are put to the test when US troops approach. Influenced by John Ford and the cowboy Western style, Chicogrande is nonetheless a Mexican film, a fitting tribute to the centennial of the Mexican Revolution.
Veteran director Felipe Cazals creates a classic “Western” that draws parallel lines between the US invasion of Mexico ... and recent geopolitical events. - The Hollywood Reporter
NORTEADO / NORTHLESS
Drama
México, 2009, 95 min.
Director: Rigoberto Perezcano
Producer: Edgar San Juan
Starring: Harold Torres, Alicia Laguna, Sonia Couoh
in Spanish with English subtitles
Cinema’s fascination with illegal border crossings between Mexico and the United States is given a totally fresh take in Rigoberto Perezcano’s delicately poised film. Focused on how life is lived precariously between desperate attempts to cross over, the story follows Oaxaca-born Andres (Harold Torres) as he bides his time in Tijuana. He finds a little work at a convenience store and gets friendly with the two women (Alicia Laguna and Sonia Couoh) who run it. As their friendship deepens and their individual stories emerge, the emotional costs of the ties that bind are explored with great sensitivity. The sincerity of the minimal story line is balanced by a liberating humor and breathtakingly beautiful images that give life and dignity to Andres and his fellow travelers. - New Directors, New Films
VUELVE A LA VIDA / BACK TO LIFE
Documentary
México, 2010, 72 min.
Director: Carlos Hagerman
Producers: Carlos Hagerman, Yissel Ibarra, Martha Sosa Elizondo
In Spanish with English subtitles
This is the story of 'Perro Largo', a legend from Acapulco known for his courage, aquatic ability, machismo and charisma, or at least that is what those who know and care for him would argue after they witnessed his great shark hunt in November 1975. A documentary with colorful characters about love, family and even more importantly, living life to the fullest. - The Film Society of Lincoln Center
TCM 2010
VOY A EXPLOTAR / I’M GONNA EXPLODE
Drama
Mexico, 2008, 105 min.
Director: Gerardo Naranjo
Producers: Pablo Cruz, Gerardo Naranjo, Hunter Gray, Alain de la Mata
Starring: Juan Pablo de Santiago, Maria Deschamps, Martha Claudia Moreno
In Spanish with English subtitles
Roman, the son of a sleazy right-wing congressman, contributes to his high school talent show by attempting to hang himself on stage. Maru, from the other side of the tracks, is the only one who claps. They bond in detention, and after staging a mock abduction it’s off in a stolen Volkswagen with daddy’s gun to the end of the night. Two wonderfully fresh performances by Maria Deschamps and Juan Pablo de Santiago grace this engaging and often funny youth film. -The Film Society of Lincoln Center
ALAMAR / TO THE SEA
Documentary / Drama
Mexico, 2009, 75 min.
Director: Pedro González-Rubio
Producers: Jaime Romandía, Pedro González-Rubio
Starring: Jorge Machado, Roberta Palombini, Natan Machado Palombini
In Spanish and Italian with English subtitles
Jorge and Roberta have been separated for several years. They simply come from opposite worlds: he likes an uncomplicated life in the jungle while she prefers a more urban existence. He is Mexican and she is Italian, and she has decided to return to Rome with their five-year-old son, Natan. But before they leave, Jorge wishes to take young Natan on a trip, hoping to teach him about his origins in Mexico.
LOS BASTARDOS / THE BASTARDS
Drama / Crime
Mexico, 2008, 90 min.
Director: Amat Escalante
Producer: Jaime Romandía
Starring: Jesus Moises Rodriguez, Rubén Sosa, Nina Zavarin
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
This film contains a scene of extreme graphic violence.
Like the rest of the day-laboring migrant workers who gather together each morning on a southwestern American strip mall sidewalk, Jesús (Jesús Moises Rodríguez) and Fausto (Rubén Sosa) struggle to get ahead in El Norte. But when a callous gringo boss strands them in the middle of a community that exploits them one minute and insults them the next, the two young men cock their sawed off shotgun and calmly take a troubled housewife hostage in her own home. Co-produced by Carlos Reygadas (Silent Light, Battle in Heaven), Los Bastardos plumbs the depths of human brutality with the same cool cinematic certitude as the work of Michael Haneke and Bruno Dumont.
TCM 2009
LAKE TAHOE
Drama
Mexico, 2008, 90 min.
Director: Fernando Eimbcke
Producer: Christian Valdelievre
Starring: Diego Cataño, Hector Herrera, Daniela Valentine
In Spanish with English subtitles
Teenager Juan crashes his family’s car into a telegraph pole on the outskirts of town, and then scours the streets searching for someone to help him fix it. His quest will bring him to Don Heber, an old paranoid mechanic whose only companion is Sica, his almost human boxer dog; to Lucía, a young mother who is convinced that her real place in life is as a lead singer in a punk band, and to “The One who Knows,” a teenage mechanic obsessed with martial arts and Kung Fu philosophy. The absurd and bewildering worlds of these characters drag Juan into a one day
journey in which he will come to accept what he was escaping from in the first place--an event both as natural and inexplicable as a loved one’s death. Sweet… Carefully crafted. -The Hollywood Reporter
LUZ SILENCIOSA / SILENT LIGHT
Drama / Romance
Mexico / France / Holland, 2007, 145 min.
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Producer: Jaime Romandia
Starring: Cornelio Wall, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz
In Low German, Spanish, French, and English with English subtitles
Set in an isolated Mennonite community in northern Mexico and made with the participation of some actual Mennonites, it relates an outwardly simple story of sin and forgiveness with complexity and breathtakingly beautiful imagery. As he did in his first two features, Japón and Battle in Heaven, Mr. Reygadas inserts us right in the middle of a strange world without preamble, letting us discover its mysteries, including its people, through the slow, steady accretion of gestures, daily rituals, conversational fragments and glimpses of life as it’s experienced inside the private spaces of home and the larger communal spaces beyond. -New York Times
AÑO UÑA / THE YEAR OF THE NAIL
Drama / Romance
Mexico, 2007, 78 min.
Director: Jonás Cuarón
Executive Producer: Alfonso Cuarón
Producers: Frida Torresblanco, Jonás Cuarón, Eireann Harper
Starring: Diego Cataño, Eireann Harper
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
Jonás Cuarón’s début is an exciting, charming and genuinely touching coming-of-age movie that defies conventional generic boundaries…A gentle yet profoundly moving film, Año Uña captures the uncertainty, irrepressible urges and transience of growing up with flair, imagination and telling insight. A work of fiction with no actors, a documentary with a fictional narrative. However you look at this, it’s a remarkable piece of film making that betrays a sensitivity and imagination that promises great things from Cuarón. -TwitchFilm
RUDO Y CURSI / RUDO AND CURSI
Drama / Comedy
Mexico, 2008, 103 min.
Director: Carlos Cuarón
Producers: Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu, Frida Torresblanco, Tita Lombardo
Starring: Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Guillermo Fracella
In Spanish with English subtitles
Y Tu Mamá También costars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna are reunited on the big screen in Rudo y Cursi, a delightful romp of a comedy drama deftly directed by Carlos Cuarón. Beto (Luna) and Tato (Bernal) are a pair of rivaling, dim-witted brothers who work on a dusty banana ranch and play soccer for their local team. Beto, a goalie whose hot temper on the field earns him the nickname of Rudo, dreams of becoming a professional soccer player, while Tato wants to be a famous singer. They both share the dream of building a big house for their mother, Elvira, but all of their desires seem completely out of reach, that is, until a talent scout, Batuta, discovers their skill on the field. -Sundance Film Festival
