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The 2 Sides of the Bed
Spain, 2006, 108 min.
A thoroughly enjoyable musical comedy, Emilio Martínez-Lázaro’s sequel to the The Other Side of the Bed sees Javier jilted at the altar by Marta in favor of Raquel. What follows is a fast-paced and highly musical (characters sing versions of Spanish pop hits) entertainment that gently skewers... more
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53 Days in Winter
Spain, 2006, 91 min.
Three people waiting for a bus one winter's night look on as a dog is abandoned. All three set out on journeys that lead each of them to confront their fears and frustrations. 53 Days in Winter delves into the life of each passenger, and interweaves a trio of stories on psychological,... more
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Agua
Argentina, 2006, 89 min.
Goyo, a former open water swimming champion wrongly accused of doping, is attempting to regain his honor while Chino, a stubborn and disciplined young pool swimmer tries hard to be selected for the national team. Chen is a brilliant child of the Argentinean New Wave.... more
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American Visa
Bolivia, 2006, 90 min.
Simple, honest and earthy, American Visa is the story of a Bolivian English teacher trying to get a visa to the US, in post-9/11 Bolivia. Strong dialogue and contemporary visuals, plus refreshing performances by the Mexican actors Demián Bichir and Kate del Castillo make this a riveting Boliv... more
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El Benny
Cuba, 2006, 120 min.
Cuba’s Oscar entry El Benny is based on the life of the famous Cuban musician, Benny Moré. The debut feature by writer/director Jorge Luis Sanchez features new versions of Morés songs performed by contemporary musicians including Chucho Valdes, Juan Formell, Haila and Orishas.... more
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Black Butterfly
Peru, 2006, 116 min.
A schoolteacher of privilege, Gabriela, and a cynical tabloid journalist, Ángela, join forces to avenge the politically motivated murder of the teacher’s jurist fiancé during Peru’s corrupt Fujimori regime in a taut character study-cum-political thriller. ... more
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Chicha Tu Madre
Argentina, 2006, 90 min.
When Julio Cesar, an amateur Tarot reader and cab driver, learns that his daughter is pregnant, he has to revise his sense of fate and chance to find a future for his family. Playing off local literary conventions, the film actually uses the Tarot cards to narrate its tale of fate, free will and cha... more
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Chronicle of an Escape
Argentina, 2006, 104 min.
The real-life events surrounding the escape of group of ‘disappeared’ (abducted) prisoners during the 1977 Argentinean Junta is the subject of this gripping political drama. Though rooted in history, the portrayal of torture feels terribly contemporary.The film’s riveting performances will keep audi... more
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DarkBlueAlmostBlack
Spain, 2006, 105 min.
Sporting visual flair to burn and a plot that unfurls in unexpected ways, Daniel Sánchez Arévalo’s tragicomic debut chronicles twenty-somethings Jorge and Israel’s attempts to form their identities, both personal and sexual, while posing questions about love and morality in these complex times. Arév... more
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Devil’s Point
Argentina, 2006, 90 min.
Marcelo Pavan’s impressive Devil's Point is a moody tale of a brain surgeon's confrontation with his own mortality. The film is an exceptional experience in sight and sound set on a remote, windswept Uruguayan peninsula that serves as a physical representation of the doctor’s well-concealed e... more
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The Education of the Fairies
Spain, 2006, 103 min.
When the fairy tale existence of Nicolas and his new bride and her son, Raul, comes to an end, he makes up stories of fairies to guard his stepson from the harsh reality of life. What’s he to do when a real fairy shows up?... more
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Family Law
Argentina, 2006, 102 min.
From Argentinean director Daniel Burman, the ‘Latin Woody Allen,’ comes this witty comedy in which a successful law professor with a beautiful wife and adorable son suddenly finds himself unsure what it means to be either a husband or a father in this tender-hearted comedy of delusion and self disco... more
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In Bed
Chile, 2006, 85 min.
Matías Bize’s sexually comedic, occasionally dramatic and notably risqué two-hander is set completely within the four walls of a déclassé motel room where newly formed couple Daniela (Blanca Lewin) and Bruno (Gonzalo Valenzuela) have sex and discuss their lives. A fresh take on the gulf between the ... more
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In the Pit
Mexico, 2006, 80 min.
In the chaos of Mexico City, a crew of construction works toil away to rebuild the city’s highway. Like Shakespearean characters, they react to the work with a full range of emotions in this award-winning documentary on the nature of work and workers. ... more
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Las Manos
Argentina, 2006, 119 min.
Alejandro Doria’s latest film, winner of Best Film in Huelva ’06, tells the real-life story of Father Mario Pantaleo, an Italian healing priest, who was able to heal by the touch of his hands. The great Argentine diva Graciela Borges is subdued and mysterious in her supporting role.... more
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The Last Gaze
Mexico, 2006, 123 min.
In her debut film, Patricia Arriaga chronicles two different but parallel lives. A painter on the verge of blindness meets by chance a young girl hired as a maid in a remote brothel in the Mexican desert. They intertwine with surprising twists and turns in this beautiful film chronicling the surviva... more
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Madeinusa
Peru, 2006, 100 min.
For one devout Peruvian village, God dies on Good Friday and is born again on Easter; between those days there is no sin. During these strange Holy Days young Madeinusa falls for a gringo stranger against her father’s wishes, in this stunningly photographed take on the classic American Western.... more
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Maroa
Venezuela, 2006, 102 min.
Great performances from the young cast highlight this hard-hitting melodrama. 11-year-old Maroa struggles with the lure of the Caracas streets and a fractious life at home with her violent granny. When arrested and sent to reform school, the youth orchestra teacher brings her out of her shell.... more
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My Quick Way Out
Spain, 2006, 115 min.
Spanish director Miguel Albaladejo (Bear Cub) entertainingly recounts the strange tale of one of Spain’s most prolific juvenile delinquents, a young rogue who’d managed to be arrested over 150 times by the age of ten.... more
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Never on a Sunday
Mexico, 2006, 125 min.
In trying to bury his uncle who dies on the unluckiest of Sundays, a young man becomes embroiled in a series of gruesome adventures in today’s Mexico City. This biting dark comedy with poignant dialogues and characters is one of the revelations of this year’s program.... more
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Pages From Mauricio’s Diary
Cuba, 2006, 135 min.
Few if any recent Cuban films have tackled with such emotion and courage Cuba after the fall of the Soviet Union and the Special Period. Thus, what Gutierrez Alea’s Memories of Underdevelopment was to the early years of the Cuban revolution, Pérez Paredes’ film may do as a historical balance of the ... more
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Pan's Labyrinth
Mexico, 2006, 112 min.
Iconoclast wunderkind Guillermo Del Toro crafts a profound political allegory set during the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and the horrors of the new fascist regime, in which a little girl escapes into a world of magic—populated by pagan demigods and mythological creatures—... more
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The Railroad All-Stars
Spain, 2006, 90 min.
Valeria, Vilma and Mercy are two-dollar-a-pop prostitutes in a destitute neighborhood of Guatemala City. In order to publicize their plight (and also as a way of having fun), they decide to found a soccer team. Rodriguez's documentary is an exhilarating story about perseverance in the face of prejud... more
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Resisting Life
Mexico, 2006, 105 min.
Three teenage daughters and a mother who is not completely sane make of this fatherless family at the center in this story of lost dreams and lost faith. In a fine, moving portrait of Mexico City, debut filmmaker Ramon Cervantes portrays the city as much as the characters.... more
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Salvador
Spain, 2006, 138 min.
Nominated in eight different categories for the Premios Barcelona de Cine Awards, this is the gripping profile of Catalan anarchist and bank-robber Salvador Puig Antich (Daniel Brühl, Goodbye Lenin), who struggled to avoid his 1974 execution for the assassination of Franco’s designated succes... more
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Thieves and Liars
Puerto Rico, 2006, 114 min.
Corruption has exploded in Puerto Rico over the last 15 years. In compelling parallel stories, Thieves and Liars follows three families as the older generations helplessly watch the deterioration of truth and justice in their society’s youth.... more
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A Ton of Luck
Colombia, 2006, 96 min.
Based on a true story, this black comedy recounts the antics of a battalion of underpaid, overworked Columbian soldiers who come upon a cache of $40 million. But what they take as a gift from God ultimately turns out to be the devil’s work. ... more
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Velocity Begets Oblivion
Argentina, 2006, 110 min.
This unusual political and dream-like road movie features Olmo, a young Argentinian looking for his mother while nagged by the ghost of his father. Olmo, a disturbed soul, learned a lot on how to resist a now defunct dictatorship, but missed out the joys of real life.... more
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Volver
Spain, 2006, 120 min.
Three generations of women collide in Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s latest masterpiece of comic melodrama. Penélope Cruz (Best Actress, Cannes) plays a janitor whose life is turned upside down when, first her daughter suddenly becomes a killer, and then her supposedly dead mother shows up in M... more
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