Past Events

Charco is a documentary about the thriving musical scene of the Río de la Plata region and the capital cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The film is more than a showcase of performers and songs: it is an endearing, at times philosophical, exploration of a powerful hub of musical creativity. The film features interviews and performances by iconic figures such as Gustavo Santaolalla, Jorge Drexler and Fito Páez, and songs from a variety of genres, including rock, candombe, murga, cumbia, tango, milonga and capping it all a payada, an improvised folk song. This is a voyage down south to the heart of music.

The Silence of Others reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who continue to seek justice to this day. Filmed over six years, the film follows victims and survivors as they organize the groundbreaking “Argentine Lawsuit” and fight a state imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity, in a country still divided four decades into democracy. The Silence of Others had its world premiere at the 2018 Berlinale in the Panorama section, where it won both the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Berlinale Peace Prize.

Rosario Castellanos was an introverted university student who didn’t seem to belong to her time. In the early 1950s in Mexico City, she fought to have her voice heard in a society run by men. She was about to become one of the biggest female writers in Mexican literature, but her tumultuous love story with Ricardo Guerra was to manifest her fragility and contradictions. At the peak of her career and her marriage, she ignited a discussion that marked a turning point in her life. The film won the Audience Award for Mexican Fiction Feature Film and Special Mention for an Actress in a Mexican Feature Film at the most recent Morelia Film Festival.

It is 1991, the USSR is gone and the Cold War is over, but one man has yet to realize this: on the space station Mir, Sergei, the last Soviet cosmonaut, can see the entire planet, but his own country has disappeared. With no funds to bring him back, he’s now circling the Earth 16 times a day, cut adrift from his land and home. Meanwhile in a crumbling Cuba, the Communist dream is also coming to an end for Sergio, a Marxism philosophy professor and radio enthusiast. One fateful night, an exchange of radio frequencies accidentally connects Sergio and Sergei. The two men quickly form an unusual friendship in a world of political uncertainty. From award winning Cuban director Ernesto Daranas (Behavior) comes this political satire inspired by true events.

Dissatisfied with a complicated relationship, an actor in Buenos Aires moves to New York City for a promised film role and a new start. When the project stalls he chooses menial work rather than give up on his acting dreams, a decision that puts him on the level of any other struggling undocumented immigrant, despite his whiteness and connections to the privileged. When he loses the trust of a generous friend, his life unravels, ultimately leading him to reconcile his imperfect situation back home with the harsh reality of an uncertain future in the U.S. The movie features Guillermo Pfening, awarded the Best Actor prize at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Latin American icon Ruben Blades was at the center of the New York Salsa revolution in the 1970s. His socially charged lyrics and explosive rhythms brought Salsa music to an international audience. Blades won 17 Grammys, acted in Hollywood, earned a law degree from Harvard and even run for President of his native Panama. He lives in New York, where he granted exclusive access to his life at home and on tour. Critically acclaimed director Abner Benaim takes us on a journey through Ruben’s 50 year career, revealing that Ruben might still have both musical and political ambitions. This is a film about a living legend and his struggle to come to terms with his legacy.