Latino Selection

Aqui Sigo (Still Here) – Mexico (2017)

Directed by:  Lorenzo Hagerman

On an intimate journey around the world, we discover what existence looks like from the perspective of those who have had more than ninety years of life. These stories of ordinary people, who for almost a century, have loved, laughed, sung and suffered, together make a symphony to life. With determination and humility, they declare to themselves and to the world,

“ I am still here.”

Latino

El Vigilante (The Night Guard) – Mexico (2016)

Directed by:  Diego Ros

Salvador works the night shift as a security guard in a construction site located on the outskirts of Mexico City. During one particular evening, while the rest of the country basks in annual festivities, Salvador tries desperately to sneak out of the site, insistent on attending an important engagement elsewhere. A series of bizarre and improbable situations, however, turn his night into a strange and unfortunate experience.

Los Angeles Film Festival – Winner – World Fiction Award – Best Film

Morelia International Film Festival – Winner – Best Film and Best Actor

Print courtesy of Imcine

Latino Selection

Elian – USA – Cuba (2017)

Directed by:  Tim Golden and Ross McDonnell

As the new millennium began, one news story captured the attention and hearts of nearly every American. On Thanksgiving, 1999, a young Cuban boy named Elian Gonzalez was found floating in the Florida Straits by himself after his mother drowned trying to seek refuge in the United States. Before long, the 5-year old Gonzalez became the centerpiece of an intense custody battle between his father back in Cuba and his relatives in Miami, which, in turn, brought attention to the long-brewing tensions between Fidel Castro’s Cuba and the United States. Throughout the news coverage though, one voice was too young to join the heated international conversation – that of Elian himself. Eighteen years later, in the wake of Fidel Castro’s monumental death last November, the now 23-year-old Elian tells his story, along with the other key players, of one of the biggest news events in modern times.

Elian premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, 2017

Print courtesy of The Film Collaborative