Latin American Studies

Through parallel story threads set 40 years apart, this absorbing odyssey follows two Western scientists who travel deep into the Amazon jungle looking for a rare plant that possesses healing powers, with enigmatic shaman Karamakate as their guide. Nominated to…

Directed by the award-winning filmmaker Pablo Larrain ("Jackie"), this Golden Globe -nominated film features international star Gael Garcia Bernal as a policeman chasing Pablo Neruda, perhaps the most important poet of the 20th century and a hugely influential political figure.…

In this Sundance award-winning film, Director Matthew Heineman and Executive Producer Kathryn Bigelow ( The Hurt Locker , Zero Dark Thirty ) gain unprecedented, on-the-ground access to the riveting stories of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy-- the…

Banned in it's home country of Cuba, SANTA & ANDRES is the story of an improbable friendship between a revolutionary country girl and a noncompliant gay writer. Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival . Nominated for the Gold…

Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for World Cinema/Dramatic, and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in World Cinema, I DREAM IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE follows a young linguist into the jungles of Mexico as he tries to learn…

Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious and audacious feature debut with this highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of…

The utopian city of Brasilia is in transition more than half a century later. What is it like to live in someone else's idea? A meditation on living in one of the most planned cities on earth. Brasilia is unlike…

A nine-year-old boy's preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother, in this tender but clear-eyed coming-of-age tale. Junior is a beautiful boy, with big brown eyes, a delicate frame, and…

Latinos are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, and among the most diverse -- accounting for one-sixth of all Americans and tracing their origins to more than 20 countries. They are also a rising force in American politics. Yet…

A delightful life-changing journey back to Costa Rica. After living 10 years in New York, 30-year-old Antonio returns to San Jose, where he is forced to deal with the realities he ran away from. A perspective of a middle-class family…

A smart and innovative look at the possible futures of a young Chinese immigrant in Buenos Aires, told in the stilted language of an elementary Spanish language textbook. Official Selection at the Venice Film Festival . Winner of Best First…

For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex (Ines Efron,) who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to…

Banned in Spain and denounced by the Vatican, Luis Bunuel's irreverent vision of life as a beggar's banquet is regarded by many as his masterpiece. In it, novice nun Viridiana does her utmost to maintain her Catholic principles, but her…

Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. It's a story that happens every day, but until…

The body of an unidentified immigrant is found in the Arizona Desert. In an attempt to retrace his path and discover his story, director Marc Silver and Gael Garcia Bernal embed themselves among migrant travelers on their own mission to…

There is a group of people in the world today who are more persecuted than anyone else, but they are not political or religious activists. They are girls. Being born a girl means you are more likely to be subjected…

Perla is obsessed with her two daughters, and she pins them against each other in the hopes of having a beauty queen to honor the family name. She teaches her girls from a young age the rules to becoming beauty…

This playful yet heartfelt take on the rom-com genre follows a world-weary Buenos Aires film critic who eschews romantic cliches until a chance meeting with a gorgeous thrill-seeker leads him to question his old views about life and love. Nominated…

Winner at the Cannes Film Festival and AFI Fest , AQUI Y ALLA is a story about hope, and the memories and loss of what we leave behind. Pedro returns home to a small mountain village in Guerrero, Mexico after…

The Spanish selection for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film, BLACK BREAD is set in the war-ravaged Catalan countryside of the early 1940's where a local man is accused of murder and his son sets out to find the…