Program

A secret society of giant hot air balloon makers in Brazil's favelas risk everything to create and fly their illegal masterpieces. Dubbed as delinquents, these 'baloeiros' operate underground like street artists, bringing joy to their communities while evading government threats and bounty hunters. Director Sissel shares her initiation into the balloon brotherhood, where launching silk paper creations becomes an act of social redemption and collective dreaming.

Cosmographies is a hybrid film that draws from speculative fiction, observational and poetic documentary, Indigenous futurism and Indigiqueer perspectives. It interweaves stories of resistance and environmental justice against extractivism in the Atacama Desert, Chile, as an allegory for contemporary plans to colonise the Moon and Mars. Set across 2023 and 2051, it weaves parallel stories of Lickan Antay land and water defenders, engaged scientists and fishing communities in Atacama, with the story of Māori astrobiologist Xuě Noon who finds solace in Mars and slipstreams across spacetime with an urgent message.

Forty years ago, Rafael Larraenza risked everything to cross from Mexico to the US. After building a successful career, a twist of fate drew him back to the border. For 25 years, Rafael has tirelessly searched deserts and mountains to rescue lost immigrants and recover remains, becoming a hero in Latin American communities. Despite needing a double hip replacement, Rafael continues his mission, knowing every moment counts for those lost at the border. When Indira, a mother from El Salvador, asks for help finding her son Rodrigo, Rafael risks his life again, driven on by sheer determination, even as the years and terrain take their toll.

Directed by Jesse Short Bull (Lakota Nation vs. the United States) and David France (How To Survive a Plague, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, and Welcome to Chechnya), and produced by Bird Runningwater. Leonard Peltier, one of the surviving leaders of the American Indian Movement, has been in prison for 50 years following a contentious conviction. A new generation of Native activists is committed to winning his freedom before he dies.

Mariluz Canaquiri says her river is a more than a body of water, it’s a living being. Beneath the surface lies a world of spirits led by the Karuara, the ‘people of the river.’ The film’s stunning hand painted animations take viewers into this magical universe. Behind their playfulness, the Karuara are metaphysical ecologists who maintain the delicate balance of life. But contamination from oil spills threaten the spirits and their river. Mariluz files a lawsuit demanding her river be recognized as a legal person, with rights. In a world that puts a price tag on nature, this film reminds us of our sacred connection to water.

Celeste, a second-grade teacher,has been transferred to anotherschool and has a few days to spend with theprimary school students who started with her.Together they go through the month of Septemberfull of movement, changing direction, and uncoveringrevelations in the endearing intimacy of aclassroom in a small town in Mexico.

Las Muertes Más Bellas del Mundo/The Most Beautiful Deaths in the World tells the story of five artists whose families fled El Salvador’s civil war in the 1980’s, landed in the nation’s capital, and created art out of war.

Today, artists like Peso Pluma and Grupo Frontera dominate the airwaves. The meteoric rise of Tejano and Regional Mexican music can arguably be traced to one man: Johnny Canales, whose syndicated music variety show was appointment viewing in millions of households across North America and launched the careers of legendary musicians like Selena, Ramon Ayala, and Intocable. Through deep archival footage and interviews, TAKE IT AWAY explores the rise and fall not just of Canales, but the evolution of the genre itself.