Ariel Escalante

Cuba, summer of 1994. In the midst of período especial, one of the greatest crises in the country’s history, thousands of Cuban rafters try to reach the United States illegally, never sure if they’ll make it out alive. With holidays starting, Carlos plunges into a carefree August, wandering around with his friends and falling in love for the first time. Little does he know about the country’s uncertain future, and in this hot summer, the world of Carlos will turn upside down.

Joel is a 28 year old slacker who gets up every morning to drink beer and play his guitar. His older sister interrupts his daily routine by asking him to take care of her 6 year old kid. Joel thinks he can handle it, but things get complicated when the kid disappears from the house.

Selva, thirteen years old, discovers that when we die we just shed our skin. We can turn into wolves, goats, shadows, or anything as long as your imagination allows it.

A young and dedicated nurse is trying to avoid the pain left by her dear cousin's suicide.

In one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Mexico City, Jair Cabrera, a young photographer observes and portrays the consequences of a corrupt system and a war not yet assimilated.

Yoli always lived with her mother in a humble neighborhood in Havana. Until one day, a boy invites him to leave and Yoli decides to wait for him, trying to change his routine, even if it is for a day.

Condemned to live in scarcity behind a colossal wall that divides Gabhán City in two, Alba is part of a network that distributes medicines and water to the most needy in a clandestine hospital. Her godmother, Lucre, seeks to save her by risking her life in a covert traffic of illegal people to the other side of the wall. Alba refuses to leave her people and the hospital, so Lucre is forced to lie to her in order to convince her and thus embark her on a journey across the border that changes her life forever.

Hernandez had already made films in Guatemala and Mexico and this time found inspiring locations, unusual atmosphere and enthusiastic young people in Costa Rica. In this consciously unpolished film, the rebellious girls Sole and Ana open the trunk of a car in grandma’s garden and find something they’d rather immediately forget.

Recently divorced, 72-year-old Violeta lives alone in her childhood house, tending to her lush tropical garden and making plans to turn her property into a boarding house. When she discovers the bank is about to take away her house, she breaks all the rules to hold onto her home and her freedom.

Domingo’s house in the Costa Rican mountains is about to be expropriated for the construction of a highway. But his land hides a secret: the ghost of his deceased wife visits him within the mist. Domingo is sure he will never give up his land, even if that means resorting to violence.

The Nicaraguan border in the eighties. Eleven-year-old Claudia and her younger sister experience the street fighting at first hand outside their car window. Their parents are Sandinista activists and, although the family is now escaping to neighbouring Costa Rica, the struggle continues. Their parents fire off terse commands and the girls are packed off to their relatives. The film focuses on the point of view of the two sisters, who are very close, as they learn more than they are able to cope with, but too little really to understand. A revolutionary struggle, seen through the eyes of children.