When I Grow Up

From the shadows of a Guatemalan neighbourhood scared into silence, two sisters lead a luminous rebellion—unleashing joy, art, and radical truth in a fight for survival.

The Argentine crisis of 2001 is about to explode. Felipe, 13, sees how his family environment is cracking due to the economic and political pressures. Misunderstood, he falls in love with Lucía, the neighbor next door and for a moment he stops feeling alone. But when external violence becomes a real danger, Felipe escapes with her, fed up with the lies of his parents, leaving behind his innocence.

María, a 17-year-old Kaqchikel Maya, lives with her parents on a coffee plantation at the foot of an active volcano. She is set to be married to the farm's foreman. But María longs to discover the world on the other side of the mountain, a place she cannot even imagine. And so she seduces a coffee-harvester who wants to escape to the USA. When this man leaves her behind, María discovers her own world and culture anew.

A family man torn between the love for his family, the boundaries of religion and the freedom to choose whom to love.

Accused of the genocide of Mayan people, retired general Enrique is trapped in his mansion by massive protests. Abandoned by his staff, the indignant old man and his family must face the devastating truth of his actions and the growing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes.

Rita, a 13 year old girl, runs away from her abusive father to the big city. She finds solace until she's placed in a safe house run by the State. Rita and her cellmates plot an escape that ends in a shocking act of violence.

From the music of South Korean composer Jung Jae-il, Guatemalan filmmaker Jayro Bustamante crafts a story of a native woman invoking the spirits of fertility in a Guatemalan forest with ritual fire. This short film is part of the 2x25 Project of Film Fest Gent and the World Soundtrack Awards. The project commissioned 25 composers to compose a short piece of music, after which 25 filmmakers made short films that are the ultimate symbioses of music and cinematography, fitting completely within the DNA of the festival. The result: 25 exceptional films where the music inspired the form, narrative and texture.

At the Fringues Fashion Shop the only thing that matters is the arrival of the new fashion collection and the satisfaction of the clients. During the sales period, a lifeless window mannequin observes the coming and going of the clients. She strives to become human like the women she sees around her. Quickly, she realizes that the difference between her and the others comes down to one thing. 'It's what you wear'.

In 1991, during Guatemala's Civil War, Daniel and his friends just want to have fun. They travel with baseball bats but their goal is not a game, it is a hunt. They tour through the city looking for low-class indigenous people known as breaks. They don't know why they do it, they just know that they are anti-breaks.

Two volcanologists visit indigenous communities to warn and evacuate them from the fire mountain range where a new volcano is forming. It’s at this time that they begin to uncover the corruption behind the country and its government, and how these ethnic communities are not a priority for the powers that be.

November 1985: The armed group, M-19, storms the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, unleashing a wave of violence that would change Colombia forever. Amid crossfire, desperate hostages, an unrelenting army, and a guerrilla movement ready to risk everything, the nation watches as war tears through the heart of its capital for the first time. The 27 hours of horror would be followed by 40 years of unanswered questions.