Welcome/Bienvenidos!
Join us as we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month! So what is National Hispanic Heritage Month? It's an event created to honor Hispanic and Latinx Americans' history, heritage, and accomplishments. The following is a list of films featured by the Gainesville Latino Film Festival, which started in 2005. For the last 16 years, they have highlighted films about Latinx music, food, drama, and more. If you missed their annual festival this year, don't worry - these movies are available for check out at your local library. Click on the links below to place a hold in our catalog!
Llévate Mis Amores / All Of Me [2014] Director: Arturo Gonzalez Villasenor
Thousands of migrants cross the border from Mexico to the United States every day seeking economic opportunity. As a result, these migrants expose themselves to every danger as they travel north on the Beast train. That's where they meet the Patronas, a group of Mexican women who, every day since 1995, make food and toss it to the helpless as the train rushes by.
Birds of Passage [2018] Director: Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
The origins of the Colombian drug trade as seen through the eyes of an indigenous Wayuu family that becomes involved in the booming business of selling marijuana to American youth in the 1970s. When greed, passion, and honor collide, a fratricidal war breaks out and puts their lives, culture, and ancestral traditions at stake.
Everybody Loves Somebody / Todos Queremos a Alguien [2017] Director: Catalina Aguilar Mastretta
Clara, a young single doctor, has everything she wants, except love. Invited to a family wedding in Mexico, Clara convinces a charming coworker to pose as her current boyfriend, only to run into her old flame at the festivities. Now, with a bit of help from her colorful family, Clara must choose between two men, and two futures, in this heartwarming romantic comedy.
The German Doctor [2013] Director: Luica Puenzo
Patagonia, 1960: A German doctor meets an Argentinean family and follows them along a desert road to a small town where the family will start a new life. Eva, Enzo, and their three children welcome the doctor into their home and entrust their young daughter, Lilith, to his care, not knowing that they are harboring one of the most dangerous criminals in the world. At the same time, Israeli agents are desperately looking to bring "the German doctor" to justice.
The Golden Dream / Jaula de Oro [2013] Director: Diego Quemada-Diez
Three teens from Guatemala's slums travel to the United States in search of a better life. They meet Chauk, an indigenous man from the Chiapas mountains who does not speak Spanish on the way through Mexico. Traveling together on freight trains, walking on the train tracks, they will soon have to face an odyssey that will change their lives forever.
El Jeremías / Jeremy [2015] Director: Anwar Safa
A heartwarming comedic film about family love and the hard choices that come with opportunity. Set in Sonora, Mexico, Jeremy's a bright misfit and pessimistic eight-year-old, who finds out he is a gifted child and initiates a journey of self-discovery to find out what he wants to be when he grows up.
Like Water for Chocolate / Como Agua Para Chocolate [1992] Director: Alfonso Arau
Tita and Pedro are in love but cannot marry because of a family tradition. To be near Tita, Pedro marries her sister, and Tita, as the family cook, expresses her passion through preparing delectable dishes.
La Larga Noche de Francisco Sanctis /The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis [2016] Director: Andrea Testa and Francisco Marquez
Buenos Aires, 1977: Francisco Sanctis receives information about two people sentenced to 'disappear.' A quiet middle-aged family man without any political ties, Francisco is stunned by the urgency of his situation during the military dictatorship. That night he must make a crucial decision: whether or not to risk his own life to save others.
El Botón de Nácar / The Pearl Button [2015] Director: Patricio Guzman
This documentary is a masterful exploration of the significance of water in Chile's vast history and culture by taking a closer look at the indigenous tribes of the western Patagonian waterways. The tragic journey of Jemmy Button, who in 1830 was bought by the English navy for the price of a mother-of-pearl button, is another highlight of this film. The film ends by discussing how Pinochet's forces used waterways to dump the bodies of disappeared persons that they had executed.
Sleep Dealer / Traficante de sueños [2009] Director: Alex Rivera
Set in the future, a young man looks for a better life outside his small rural village in Mexico, but finds himself facing a technological dystopia when he attempts to cross the border.
El Rey del once / The Tenth Man [2016] Director: Maname Rodriguez
After years of being away, Ariel returns to Buenos Aires, seeking to reconnect with his father, Usher. His father founded a charity foundation in Once, the city's bustling Jewish district, where Ariel spent his youth. In trying to meet his father and getting entangled in his charitable commitments, Ariel meets Eva. Eva's independent spirit motivates Ariel to come to grips with the traditions that once divided him and his father.
La Delgada Línea Amarilla / The Thin Yellow Line [2015] Director: Celso Garcia
Five men are hired to paint the lines of a road. Painting at 1 kilometer/hour is slow enough to learn the lines between good and evil, laughter and despair, life and death. The challenges they face will change their lives forever.
Tortilla Soup [2001] Director: Maria Ripoll
A retired cook, who is the father of 3 adult daughters, attempts to run their lives in the same efficient manner he managed the kitchen of his restaurant.
Ixcanul / Volcano [2015] Director: Jayro Bustamante
Travel through a dreamlike depiction of the daily lives of Mayans living on a coffee plantation at the base of an active volcano. A fusion of fact and fable, this film is an immersive journey into its characters' customs and beliefs, chronicling with unblinking realism disappearing traditions and people.
Zama [2017] Director: Lucrecia Martel
Zama, an officer of the Spanish Crown born in South America, waits for a letter from the King granting him a transfer from the town where he is stagnating to a better place. His situation is delicate. He must ensure that nothing overshadows his transfer. He is forced to accept every submissive task entrusted to him by successive governors who come and go as he stays behind. The years go by, and the letter from the King never arrives. When Zama notices everything is lost, he joins a party of soldiers that go after a dangerous bandit.