Familia

The Spanish vessel ‘Ilha Brava’ arrives from the deep seas of the south Atlantic. 55 days at sea are interrupted by only five days docked in the port of Montevideo. The city exists as a hologram for the sailors, standing like a shadow behind the vessel that gives shelter. Men of diverse nationalities and religions, yet all share the same broken gaze, in which a dream of home absorbed through a screen is a haunting and entertaining presence during the long dead hours of waiting.

In the heart of the Darien forest, newly elected Embera indigenous governor Morelia must confront both male resistance to her leadership and the haunting echoes of her past.

Machado, a Colombian living in France, is hired to return to his hometown of Medellín and steal an emerald. During the risky execution of his plan, he becomes entangled in a series of events that lead him to reconsider the ultimate goal of his mission.

If there was an award for the most stylish opening scene, it would go to Álvaro Pulpeiro for ‘So Foul a Sky’. A road movie and a immersive report from a Venezuela on the verge of collapse. Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s classic novel ‘Nostromo’, we are led into a twilight world where allegiances change among the travellers under the enormous dome of the sky. Pirates and pilgrims cross tracks, and oil is traded on the black market in the middle of nowhere. Crackling car radios relay an ideological battle of words. Has the oil cast a curse on Venezuela? The country is in the midst of the worst political and humanitarian crisis that South America has experienced in the 21st century. Instead of trying to explain the chaotic situation, Pulpeiro places us in the middle of it. A sensory and cinematic film, where the oil runs like thick, black blood through the arteries of the road network and connects us with some of the people who are trying to make life work beyond law and order.

On 6 March 1906, four men were executed for the attempted murder of Colombian president Rafael Reyes. The event was photographed, and the photos were later used for a fictionalised film on the failed coup. From then on, cinema in this South American country has been inextricably linked to its violent history. Moving images have been used for historiography, propaganda, disinformation and to instil unity in a nation that refuses to come together. Falsos positivos, murdered youths disguised as guerrillas by the army to simulate military success, are a common element.

It's the beginning of spring. Federico travels for 20 days from Bogota, Colombia, to Buenos Aires, Argentine. In Buenos Aires he meets a couple of friends that introduce him to Florencia, a girl that makes him doubt his return.

After studying abroad, Mercedes returns to Colombia to work on the next film by her father, the famous Víctor Gaviria. Fluctuating between admiration and reproach, Mercedes constructs a private diary that goes beyond familial conflicts to question the place of women in the film world, which is still strongly ingrained with a patriarchal mindset.

A fiery young couple may be as hot for each other as they are ill-suited. An astute look at the stormy passions and knotty intensity that make some relationships alluring to the point of being unbearable.

After jumping from a bridge, William steals a motorcycle to take his girlfriend for a ride.

Two young Colombians, Luna y Juan, live in the suburbs of a Buenos Aires without Argentines. Their relationship oscillates between tender gestures and violent explosions. Everything between them gradually gets more intense: their games, fights, recklessness and even their monotony. But something changes when Federica shows up that sets into crisis the fragile nature of their relationship, unveiling the decadence they have gotten themselves into.

Through an extraordinary 17-minute sequence shot, we accompany a young and dysfunctional couple who are about to have their first child. On the way to the hospital, labor pains mix with mutual complaints, and calls from relatives add reckless comments to a more than desperate situation.

Amidst Colombia's La Guajira, Virginia strives to lead her community while reconciling ancestral heritage and Western influence as a law student, embarking on a transformative journey to Jepira's sacred realm guided by her dreams.

Adriana, a woman of Indigenous heritage and an advocate for ancestral medicine, believes that Yagé, the sacred plant, is trying to deliver a message that could transform her life. As she reconnects with her roots, she begins to ask: How can ancestral knowledge survive in a world that’s always changing? What does it mean to belong, to remember, to heal? In seeking these answers, she’s forced to confront her identity and redefine her purpose. What she discovers may reshape not only her own path, but the future of Indigenous legacy in the modern world.

From the very beginning, Simón Velez’s film instils a sense of dramatic tension: moving from a sudden crescendo and the grainy sounds of nervous electro noise to a bucolic archery scene between two men, and the texture of analogue film.