25th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival

Program

Cine Las Americas presents five films representing the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and El Salvador. These shorts represent individual and community topics and concerns in their contemporary contexts. The works screened in this category are eligible for a Jury Award for Best Documentary Short.

Agos and Santi are stressed due to the pandemic and decide to rent a country house for a weekend. Upon arrival, the hosts inform them they will remain in the house and will treat them like a five star hotel would do, but they’re hiding second intentions.

“Hecho en Tejas” is a series of films produced in Texas. The films are eligible for a Jury Award and Audience Award presented in partnership with the Texas Film Commission (TFC) and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) and support from HEB.

Steeped in the long oral tradition of Waorani storytelling, Gange Yeti shares her own coming-of-age story as a young Waorani woman living deep within the Amazon rainforest. Following Gange and her community for over 11 years, the film captures her transition from a quiet teenager into a confident young mother at a critical turning point for her culture and rainforest. As the granddaughter of one of the last Waorani elders who lived in complete isolation before outside contact, Gange is determined to capture her grandmother’s unique experience while she still can -- balancing school, motherhood, and tradition along the way.

Bego decided to decline her life plans to attend to household duties. She lives bored and afraid of being inconsequential, but this may change when the meditation group she attends announces a great cataclysm: 3 days of darkness.