Here’s Your Guide to Latino Movies, Series, and Shorts at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
Xabiani Ponce de León appears in 'This is not Berlin' by Hari Sama. Photo by Alfredo Altamirano. Courtesy of Sundance Institute
There is no better place for a cinephile to find herself at the end of January than at Park City. The Sundance Film Festival, now in its fourth decade, has become a staple. A launchpad for indie directors all around, Sundance remains the largest independent film festival in the United States. It’s where Latino films like Mosquita y Mari, Quinceañera, Beatriz at Dinner and, more recently The Sentence and Monsters and Men first made a splash. With its commitment to championing world-class as well as homegrown talent, there’s never any shortage of movies to keep an eye out for in this sprawling two week fest.
That’s why, we’re offering you yet again your Latino Guide to Sundance. Below you’ll find all the projects making their way to Utah that come from Latin America and/or feature US Latino talent (in front and behind the camera). From documentaries about one of the most-talked about (and condescended to) political upstarts in recent memory to Colombian projects cementing that country as an industry leader in the region, the list below is unsurprisingly diverse. Commit the list to memory, for you’re sure to be hearing about a lot of these in the year to come. We’ve included features, shorts, and series.
Sundance Film Festival runs January 24 – February 3, 2019.
All images are courtesy of Sundance Institute.
SHORT FILMS
<em>Green</em> (USA)
Director: Suzanne Andrews Correa
Screenwriters: Suzanne Andrews Correa, Mustafa Kaymak
Green, an undocumented Turkish pedicab driver, unwittingly draws police attention, endangering his brother, his community, and himself in this film co-written and directed by Mexican-American filmmaker Suzanne Andrews Correa.
<em>Bajo la sombra del Guacarí</em> (Colombia)
Director and screenwriter: Greg Méndez
Dead bodies have washed upon the banks of the river. When Abraham finds out the one of them was his friend, he embarks on a journey to fulfill a promise that will take him to the Guacarí tree.
<em>Desires of the flesh</em> (Brazil)
Director and screenwriter: Rafaela Camelo
Blessed be the Sunday, that it is the day to see Giovana.
<em>FIN (END)</em> (Cuba)
Director: Yimit Ramírez
Screenwriters: Yimit Ramírez, Tatiana Monge
Juan is dead. Surprisingly, he is given an opportunity: to relive a moment of his past life, but it will not be an ordinary moment.
<em>Dulce</em> (U.S.A., Colombia)
Directors: Guille Isa, Angello Faccini
In coastal Colombia, facing rising tides made worse by climate change, a mother teaches her daughter how to swim so that she may go to the mangroves and harvest ‘piangua’ shellfish with the other women in the village.
<em>It's Going To Be Beautiful</em> (U.S.A., Mexico)
Director: Luis Gutiérrez Arias
The U.S. Border Patrol has been given the task of choosing a winning design for building a wall on the U.S.- Mexico border. That’s the focus of this short documentary, directed by Mexican Cuban filmmaker Luis Gutiérrez Arias.
<em>Libre</em> (USA)
Director: Anna Barsan
Undocumented immigrants forced to spend months in detention are turning to private companies to secure their release on bond. In exchange, immigrants pay exorbitant monthly fees for a GPS ankle monitor they can’t remove.
<em>El Verano del León Eléctrico</em> (Chile)
Director and Screenwriter: Diego Céspedes
Hidden in a house far from the city, a boy accompanies his sister as she becomes the seventh wife of a prophet who electrocutes anyone who touches him.
SERIES
<em>Quarter Life Poetry</em> (U.S.A.)
Adapted from Samantha Jayne’s book, Quarter Life Poetry: Poems for the Young, Broke & Hangry, her bestselling look at millennial angst, this series bills itself quite simply borrowing the book’s subtitle: Poems for the young, broke and hangry. Jayne writes and stars in the show, which is co-directed by LA-based Mexican filmmaker Arturo Perez Jr., best known for his music videos for the likes of Justin Timberlake, The Killers, Natalia Lafourcade and Carla Morrison.
<em>The Dress Up Gang</em> (U.S.A.)
The insanely funny and surrealistic comedy trio (Robb Boardman, Cory Loykasek, Donny Divanian) expands their cult-hit web series, The Dress Up Gang. Donny, a responsible adult with the innocence and outlook of a child, relies on guidance and life advice from his friend Cory, the dad-like thirtysomething who has been crashing on Donny’s couch for quite some time. Joining them is an eclectic ensemble cast which includes Andie MacDowell and CholoFit star Frankie Quinones.
<em>Lorena</em> (U.S.A.)
Lorena Gallo, an Ecuadorian-born Venezuelan, emigrated to the U.S. in 1987. Little did she know that in 1993 her marriage and private life would become a nationwide tabloid fixture. 25 years after the notorious case of John and Lorena Bobbitt, this groundbreaking series re-investigates the story that made international headlines and helped birth a 24-hour news cycle, exploring vital moral issues and the missed opportunity for a national discussion about domestic violence and sexual assault within this American scandal.