26th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival

Program

Chiara is the matriarch of an Italian-descendant family torn apart. After her youngest son moves out, she decides to go along with her husband Alfredo on his trips as a salesman to the bars of Serra Gaöcha. Their trust in each other breaks down when Chiara finds out about Alfredo's life on the road and he realizes she hides something. A turtle and a deck of cards will put their 50-year relationship to the test.

Suellen, a Brazilian toll booth attendant and mother, falls in with a gang of thieves in an attempt to keep her family afloat. In doing so, she realizes she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally for a so-called noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.

The five most ruthless right-hand men in Pinochet’s dictatorship are serving out sentences amounting to several hundred years in a luxury prison at the foot of the Andes, for their crimes against humanity. The place has a pool, gardens and aviaries where they are watched over by guards who feel more like their employees. When one of the inmates gives a TV interview, his declarations fuel an unexpected backlash. The fear of a possible move will make the men do everything in their power to stay put, unraveling delirium and violence.

The films are personal and each telling rich stories that will resonate with viewers. The works screened in this category are eligible for a Jury Award for Best Narrative Short.