VLAFF 2015
13th Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, 2015
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31 titles
- DirectorAlonso RuizpalaciosStarsTenoch HuertaSebastián AguirreIlse SalasTomas is too much for his lone mother so she sends him to live with his older brother Federico, aka Sombra, in Mexico City.
- DirectorGermán TejeiraStarsMarcel KeoroglianDaniel MelingoRoberto SuárezDuring New Year's Eve, three lonely characters travel to a small town lost in the Uruguayan countryside. Cesar, a divorced man, arrives to the town where he will have dinner with his ex-wife's new family to win back his little daughter's love. Antonio, a small-time magician, is trying to get to town to perform his routine at the community center, but his car breaks down. Stranded in the middle of the deserted road he meets Laura, a woman working at the toll station. Miguel, a performer, prepares his musical return to sing at the community center's New Year party. Following these paths, the characters will have a chance to turn around their destiny.
- DirectorPaz FábregaStarsFernando BolañosKattia G. ZúñigaHernán JiménezAfter meeting at a party, Luciana and Pedro spark up a spontaneous rendezvous. Eschewing the fraudulent nature of traditional relationships, the pair embarks on a spur of the moment journey together that takes them to the forest. As they explore the beauty in the nature that surrounds them, they camp out under the stars, go on hikes, indulge in the passions of their encounter, and discuss their personal beliefs surrounding love, obligations, and attraction. Lensed in lush black-and-white cinematography amidst the gorgeous backdrop of the Costa Rican forest, an honest and genuine relationship story unfolds, lending a feeling of realism to their storybook romance in a refreshing and youthful way. This is a story about attraction and commitment for a generation whose understandings of personal freedoms and traditional limitations are more open to interpretation.
- DirectorFilipe MatzembacherMarcio ReolonStarsMateus AlmadaMaurício BarcellosElisa BritesTwo boys on the edge of adulthood find themselves exploring their relationship.
- DirectorJuan Martín HsuStarsChang Sung KimYun Seon KimYunseon KimThe experience of new immigrants in Argentina is told through three stories that take place in La Salad - the largest informal market in Argentina.
- DirectorSebastián SchindelStarsGuillermo PfeningAndrea GarroteJoaquín FurrielWith dreams of a better life, a humble but illiterate labourer and his wife leave their poor village in Santiago to move to Buenos Aires. However, a sinister boss' promise of a bright future will come at a high price.
- DirectorFranco LolliStarsBrayan SantamariàCarlos Fernando PérezAlejandra BorreroEric, 10, finds himself almost overnight living with Gabriel, his father, who he barely knows. The man has trouble keeping their heads above water and building a relationship with his son. Maria Isabel, the woman Gabriel works for as a carpenter, decides to take the child under her wing.
- DirectorPablo FendrikStarsGael García BernalAlice BragaClaudio TolcachirA mysterious man emerges from the Argentinean rainforest to help a poor farmer and his daughter, who are threatened by a band of mercenaries hired to force them to sell their land.
- DirectorErnesto CabellosStarsNélida Ayay ChilónMaxima Acuna Atalaya ChaupeAndrea Martínez MartínezAt the height of the Peruvian gold rush, an Andean woman able to communicate with water spirits uses her powers to prevent a mining corporation from destroying the lake she considers to be her mother.
- DirectorSebastián HiriartStarsSae BluffManuel Castro RosasEmilio EchevarríaA cinematic essay that takes us through different couples who allow us to penetrate their intimacy. Irene and Federico meet by chance after ten years of not seeing each other. Manuel is thirty-six; he begins a relationship with Alma, a girl of fifteen. Porfirio has hidden sexual desires. Jacca and Sae get lost in a mangrove swamp. Reflecting on relationships, sex, fidelity, love and death, it juxtaposes insect sexual behavior with human sexual behavior, our most primitive desire. Love is deeply animal, and therein lays its beauty.
- DirectorArtemio NarroStarsAnajosé Aldrete EchevarriaIván AranaBeatriz ArjonaNatalia and her friends go out partying one night and end up subduing a man to their sexual, carnal and most violent will.
- DirectorGonzalo ArijonStarsEduardo GaleanoGonzalo ArijonGeorge W. BushAfter 500 years of exploitation and repression, Latin America is at a turning point in its history: a series of socialist leaders has come to power.Can they satisfy their peoples' hunger for change.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsLilia PradoCarmelita GonzálezEsteban MayoA newly-wed country boy receives the terrible news that his mother is dying, and takes a long and dangerous bus trip to the city to contact a notary for her last will and testament. Will he resist temptation and do the right thing?
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsDan O'HerlihyJaime FernándezFelipe de AlbaThe classic story of Robinson Crusoe, a man who is dragged to a desert island after a shipwreck.
- DirectorChristian Díaz PardoStarsHarold TorresCarlos BardemOlga SeguraGonzalez, who is desperate to go ahead and pays he debt, lives in the biggest city of the world. Will fine a possible way to solve his problems and also the dilemma to take it or not.
- DirectorFernanda VareilleLeonor and Elizangela do not appear crazy at first sight in the way that society often imagines. They are victims of violent and uncontrollable seizure, which sometimes result even during filming in forcible confinement. The rest of the time they are endowed with sensitivity and clarity about their condition, which offers anyone who will listen to them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with what madness is, through their words, and also through their tragic and touching destinies.
- DirectorLuis UrquizaStarsJuan Manuel BernalSebastián AguirreJuan Ignacio ArandaJulian, a young seminarian, is sent to live with Los Cruzados de Cristo, where he will have to follow a hard spiritual journey to achieve "the perfect obedience".
- DirectorGregorio GraziosiStarsJúlio AndradeSabrina GreveLola PeploeIn the heavily populated city of São Paulo, Brazil, a young architect discovers a clandestine cemetery while walking through the work-site of his first important project. As terrible memories float back, he must struggle with his conscience and question his own heritage.
- DirectorIrene Gutiérrez TorresJavier Labrador DeulofeuStarsJosefina PattersonJorge de Los Ríos VegaVivian PachecoDespite the building's imminent collapse, the last inhabitant of a once luxurious hotel refuses to leave: he remains convinced that treasures, hidden by the hotel's original owners, lie waiting within its walls.
- DirectorFernando CoimbraStarsLeandra LealMilhem CortazFabiula NascimentoA journey to the dark cutting edge of desires, lies and wickedness of a love triangle, from the moment a child is mysteriously kidnapped.
- DirectorÓscar Ruiz NaviaStarsJovan Alexis MarquinezCalvin BuenaventuraAtala EstradaRas is a construction worker and graffiti artist in his neighborhood of east Cali, Colombia. After he loses his job he sets off on a journey across the city to find another graffiti artist.
- DirectorGilberto González PenillaStarsAngel NorzagarayGisela MadrigalHoze MeléndezThe life of an ordinary family hiding secrets from each other, despite living under the same roof.
- DirectorKarina Garcia CasanovaThis autobiographical first film is a heartbreaking chronicle of a family struggling with rootlessness and mental illness. When she learns that her brother Juan has returned to Quebec after spending some time in their birthplace, Mexico, Karina Garcia Casanova decides to film him. Her purpose is clear from the start: she is not interested in home movies, she is going to make a real film. And her project quickly takes a dramatic turn when Juan suffers a relapse into a desperate bout of depression and paranoia. It is not unusual for a first film to come out of a very personal journey; but rare are those that demonstrate such mature introspection. Here, cinema is nothing less than an essential tool for reconstructing the self.
- DirectorArturo MenendezStarsSalvador SolísKarla ValenciaDemetrio AguilarDon Cleo, a humble seller of Piñatas, who lives in a little town in El Salvador; arrives at home after a long day of work to find an extortion letter at his door steps. That letter tells him that if he doesn't pay $500 in 72 hours, a small fortune for him, he will be killed. He quickly decides to raise that money whatever way possible with friends, and acquaintances. However, after various attempts and finding himself further into trouble, he decides to confront his perpetrators. This desperate decision leads him to devastating results.
- DirectorAlejandro Fernández AlmendrasStarsDaniel CandiaAlejandra YañezDaniel AntiviloA working class man who, tired of being the victim of criminals, decides to take justice in his own hands.
- DirectorMichael RoweStarsMónica Del CarmenGustavo Sánchez ParraMarco ZapataLaura's personal life consists of one affair after another. She meets Arturo and the pair enter into an intense, violent sexual relationship. As days go by, Laura crosses out the days on a calendar, revealing her secret past to her lover.
- DirectorLaura BariStarsAldana Bari GonzalezRocío Bari GonzalezAndrés BariThis feature documentary follows 33-year-old Ariel after his legs are shredded by an industrial dough mixer in Mendoza, Argentina. Ariel embodies the ongoing duel between man and machine: he eventually sets out to rebuild his broken identity, to keep his family together and to design his own artificial legs. Ariel's newfound transhumanity is represented in a juxtaposition of his daily life with dreamlike inner worlds, pushing the boundary between the real and the imaginary. This story of healing and transformation is an introspective journey tinged with touches of magical realism.
- DirectorJuan Antonio de la RivaStarsAlonso EchánoveGabriela RoelIgnacio GuadalupeIn San Miguel de Cruces, a timber town in northern Mexico, friends Jose Luis and Juan Jose finish their primary education at the local school. During the last holidays together, we see life in the town: their parents' work, the old cinema and the parties, the teenagers' love...
- DirectorJean-Cosme DelaloyeStarsKarin GramajoAstrid Elías MacarioFrancisco SaquicKarin Gramajo's life drastically changed when her teenage cousin Kelly was brutally kidnapped and murdered. Despite death threats, the single mother then decided to study to become a lawyer to make sure her cousin's death wouldn't remain unpunished, thus also helping other victims fight for justice. Astrid Elias was kidnapped and raped at the age of 14. She fled to the US where she overcame her fear to speak out abut her past, while facing deportation. LA PRENDA is a feature length documentary film about two women fighting to end the climate of impunity in Guatemala, one of the world's most violent countries.