Shorts Programs

Congratulations to all of the short films that were selected to this year’s 20th Anniversary San Diego Latino Film festival. A list of all of the accepted short films, plus screening dates/times are below.

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Screening Dates & Time Announced Below!

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SHORT FILM PROGRAMS (Download PDF or visit our on-line film guide):

Cine Gay
94 min., Friday, March 15, 6pm
Fallen Comrade
Dir: James Valdez
(2012, 12 min., USA, English)
Julian, a Soldier in the Army, reminisces at the burial of Alexander, revealing times in combat, in training and intimate moments shared with the soldier; his battle buddy, his lover…

I Feel Lost
Dir: Juan Manuel Aragón
( 2012, 13 min., Spain, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Javier feels an existential emptiness after watching the last episode of LOST. Little by little, a strange force pushes him further and further into a voyage of self-discovery. What starts as a game could end up … as a game!

Las Vegas
Dir. Marinete Da Costa
(2012, 20 min., Cuba, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
In a Cabaret named Las Vegas, in Havana, a documentarian researches a musical genre locally known as filin. Olga Navarro, a songwriter, poet and entertainer who works in Las Vegas, interacts with the filinero world inside the cabaret.

Loxoro
Dir: Claudia Llosa
(2012, 19 min., Peru, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Makuti, a middle aged single mother, desperately looks for her daughter Mia on the streets of Lima, finding herself engulfed in a world she never expected to see.

Sin Ruta
Dir: Luis F Midence
(2012, 20 min., Guatemala, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Sin Ruta tells the story of a gay musician from Guatemala, who is brutally attacked as he tries to flee his country. He meets an American doctor, who is in hiding from US authorities in Guatemala after accidentally killing one of his patients.

The Rookie and The Runner
Dir: Augie Robles
(2012, USA, 10 min, English)
A jogger in the park gets more than he bargained for when he encounters two handsome strangers.

CINE DE MUJER
112 min., Saturday, March 9, 1pm

La Boda
Dir: Marina Seresesky
(2012, 12 min., Spanish w/English subtitles)
Mirta is a Cuban immigrant who lives in Madrid and like many other immigrants, works in the cleaning industry. Today at 6pm, her daughter gets married, but nothing goes as she planned. Arriving at that wedding will be more difficult than expected.

Burka
Dir: Julia Juániz
(2012, 6 min, Spain, No Dialogue)
A silent film and short reflection through the eyes of women who are free, and of those who are oppressed under veils.

Canto de familia
Dir: Lindsey Villarreal
(2012, 19 min., USA, English)
A lyrical journey into the lives of a young Mariachi Family in East Los Angeles who runs the Mariachi Conservatory, and whose dream of keeping Mariachi music alive goes beyond their family and into their community. Their unique perspectives on what role Mariachi plays in their lives creates some tension; but it is the heart of the family’s dynamics.

Captive Radio
Dir: Lauren Rosenfeld
(2012, 23 min., Colombia, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Captive Radio is a poignant documentary about the families of kidnapped victims in Colombia; who use a weekly radio program to communicate with their loved ones held hostage in the jungle. Their stories represent the thousands of people marred by kidnapping, who desperately seek a way to cope with separation.

Cheli
Dir: Juliet Touin
(2012, 16 min., Cuba, Spanish w/English subtitles)
In the countryside in Cuba, this short film takes a look into the life a female farmer, Cheli. Surrounded by male farmers and despite being self-sufficient, her loneliness for companionship still lingers in her daily life.

Clara’s Los Angeles
Dir: Marissa Chibas
(2011, 15 min., USA, English)
Clara’s Los Angeles is a silent film about a Latina wardrobe mistress from the 20′s era who wakes up on a park bench in Los Angeles’ historic El Pueblo in 2010. The last thing Clara remembers is dancing at a Charleston competition at the Ambassador Hotel. She searches for her old haunts around Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake and grapples with this new world that she has been catapulted into.

La Luna en Jardín
Dir: Yemelí Cruz and Adanoe Lima
(2012, 11 min., Cuba, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
This animated film is the first audiovisual work that references cuban poet Dulce Maria Loynaz’s novel, “El Jardin.” Her poetic words are depicted throughout this short film using 3D techniques, traditional 2D and stop motion animation.

Lucy Contra los Límites de la Voz
Dir: Monica Herrera
(2012, 10min., México, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Lucy, a seven-year-old girl, is curious to know if the voice of a person can run out and if so, could that be the reason why her grandfather no longer speaks. To find the answer, she decides to undertake a risky experiment, defying the rules of her strict Aunt Rosa.

CORTOS ESPANOLES
106 min., Sunday March 10, 1pm
Una Historia Para los Modlin
Dir: Sergio Oksman
( 2012, 26 min., Spain, English)
After appearing in the film Rosemary’s Baby, by Roman Polanski, Elmer Modlin ran away with his family to a distant land, where they shut themselves inside a dark apartment for thirty years. Along with his wife Margaret, a gifted painter, they dedicated their lives to becoming famous and noteworthy.

Desayuno Con Diadema
Dir: Óscar Bernácer
(2012, 18 min., Spain, Spanish)
Enrique and Aurora are two strangers, who in their late forties, have seen many trains pass by. After an unusual night, they wake up in the same bed without really knowing what to do. Enrique, a lonely man, makes breakfast for the two and both are faced with the decision to take a step and catch the train they have been waiting for. This breakfast may be their last train- whether they will catch it remains to be seen.

Despierta
Dir: Fran Moreno
(2012, 18 min., Spain, Spanish w/English subtitles)
The perfect life of a child begins to crumble as he suffers a repetitive nightmare where he doesn’t recognize his surroundings, his life, nor his parents. Will he ever wake up?

Muertos y Vivientes
Dir: Iñaki San Román y Josu Díaz
(2011, 18 min., Spain, Spanish w/English subtitles)
The dead wake from their tombs, infesting the city with zombies. Everyone runs for cover.
Well, not everyone. An elderly woman in her home smiles and gets in her car en route to the cemetery…

Pequeños electrodomésticos
Dir. Manuel Arija de la Cuerda
(2012, 8 min., Spain, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Two strangers sharing a first date find themselves turned on, quite literally.

Shoot for the Moon
Dir: Casandra Macías Gago
(2011, 10 min., Spain, English)
On July 21st 1969 the whole world watched in astonishment via their TV sets as Man first walked on the Moon; but the reality is somewhat different. Ever since that moment, endless conspiracy theories have been tossed around on the matter. One week before, the shoot for the landing took place in a hangar in Area 51, a film shot by Stanley Kubrick, according to some.

Uh la la
Dirs: Isaí Escalada, Carlos G Velasco
(2012, Spain, 8 min, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Two raggedy Spanish vagabonds contemplate a trip abroad to spice up their love life.

CORTOS INTERNACIONALES
107 min., Saturday March 16, 3:30
Ate ao Mar
Dir: João Nuno Brochado
(2012, 15 min, Portugal, Portuguese w/ English subtitles)
Two young siblings traverse the countryside alone on a quest to visit the ocean, a place of great mystery and potential tragedy.

De objectos, sonidos, y espacios
Dir: Fran Martínez
(2012, 14 min., Dominican Republic, No dialogue)
These portraits of Santo Domingo are a visual reflection, which aims to explore a number of persons through different elements and spaces, in the same way, each person is an illustration of a particular way of life of this city.

De Outros Carnavais
Dir: Paulo Miranda
(2012, 14 min. Brazil, Portuguese w/ English subtitles)
As children, Janice and Píndaro meet at the carnivals, where they play and fall in love throughout the years. As they grow older, their costumes change, but they still keep their dreams alive.

Detras de Espejo
Dir: Julio O. Ramos
(2012, 12 min., Peru, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Motel worker Ernesto secretly videotapes the sexual intimacy of his guests; but the sudden death of one of them will challenge his illicit business before the oblivious eyes of his wife and co-worker Rosario.

El Ultimo Asado
Dir: Julen Laburu
(2012, 13 min., Argentina, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Nine friends from high-school gather since 1985, every month to eat an Asado, a traditional Argentine gastronomic ritual. When they find out that Javier, the irreplaceable grill man, is moving to the United States, jealousy, mixed feelings and betrayals start to appear.

Entrevista
Dir: Gabriel Horn
(2012, 10 min., Brazil, Portugues w/ English subtitles)
Four different men with lives marked by the presence of the same woman tell their stories to an interviewer. But what are their motivations?

La Mujer Rota
Dir: Jeremias Segovia
(2012, 8 min., Uruguay, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
A seriously injured woman enters an apartment building lobby bleeding and covered in glass. She ascends to the top floor in a rickety elevator. What happened to her? What is her purpose?

Luminaris
Dir: Juan Pablo Zaramella
(2011, 6 min., Argentina, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
A beautiful pixilation short imagining a world controlled by light, and a young man determined to find his own agency with it. The film was inspired by an instrumental tango piece called “Lluvia de Estrellas and is set in Buenos Aires.

Medio Minuto
Dir: David Norris
(2012, 16 min., Puerto Rico, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
On the night of her fifty-fourth wedding anniversary, Rafaela finds out that Angel, her husband, has recently visited his ex-lover. This incident awakens old emotions, but at the same time brings a big surprise.

CORTOS LATINOS
118 min., Sunday March 17, 1pm
0300 – 0430
Dir: Jesus Sierra,
(2012, 10 min., USA, No Dialogue)
A poetic documentary filmed between the time period of 3:00am and 4:30am over the course of several nights.. Exploring what it means to be awake and out during the ‘true’ night, the film moves from serenity to scenes of workers and emergency personnel.

Algo huele raro en la maleta
Dir: Guille Isa
(2012, 20 min., Peru, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Berenice decides to spend New Years Eve alone at her father’s house in the country, but her sister arrives with the idea of having a big party. Berenice will try to ruin her party in a very particular way, bringing their sibling rivalry to another level.

Cans at Dawn
Dir: Nikki Roberts
(2012, 19 min., USA, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Life is hard for 8 yr. old Ernesto, and the pressures of poverty push him to grow up too soon. Under the loving care of his mother and despite the odds, they maintain hope and uphold their dignity while on their quest for a better life. Starring Jose Yenque, this film takes a short look into an immigrant family’s daily ritual of dumpster diving for recyclables in order to survive in urban America.

Chiva
Dir: Julian Jimenez-Madiedo
(2012, 16 min., USA, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Chiva portrays the current struggle and life story of Carmen, a Colombian immigrant living in Queens, New York. Over the last 2 decades in New York City she has pursued the American Dream by running an original party bus business.

Deus et Machina
Dir: Koldo Almandoz
(2012, 9 min., Basque Country, Basque w/English subtitles)
The employee comes to the factory every day and is the only person who is qualified to do his particular job. It is precise, mundane, and repetitive work. Every morning he goes through the same drill, starting up each machine. Today, though, he has made a decision…

Jus
Dir: Marcelo Dídimo Vieira
(2012, 18 min., Brazil, Portuguese w/English subtitles)
JUS (ASINUS) is a film about one of the most symbolic animals of the Brazilian northeast, the donkey.

Son Dos Días
Dir: Andrés Lopetegui
(2011, 11 min., Spain, Spanish w/English subtitles)
A bleak night at the cemetery. A woman cries in front of the grave of her recently deceased husband. Her future and her hopes seem to be dead, though not as dead as the odd characters that will rise from the tombs to remind her that life is “only two days”.

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Dir: Jossie Malis Álvarez
(2012, 15 min., Spain, Spanish w/English subtitles)
An African immigrant is confronted with the bureaucratic difficulties of a society that will not accept foreigners without subtitles. Her desperation to find work and a legal status that does not allow her to be understood, leads her to seek out a somewhat unconventional solution.

DINAMICA MEXICO
109 min., Thursday, March 7, 6pm

A Mexican Sound
Dir: Roy Germano
(2012, 13 min., Mexico, English/Spanish with English subtitles)
A documentary that goes into the mountains of northeastern Mexico to the Huasteca region to unlock the secrets of a little-known style of son Huasteco. The love and passion for Huapango dance allows for this traditional form of dance to thrive, despite the influence of changing music trends.

Arrastre
Dir: Ana Teresa Fernandez
(2012, 6 min., Mexico, No Dialogue)
A battle, a dance, a chase between a white horse and a woman in black stilettos and a dress takes place underwater. This film breaks and recreates the myth of Alexander the Great and Bucephalus or Alex and the Black Stallion. In this chess game, is the horse chasing the woman or is the woman attempting to dominate the horse?

Bajo el sol
Dir: Arcadi Palerm-Artis
(2011, 8 min, Mexico, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
An extract of myth in a tropical context. Exuberance and beauty are the surroundings. Two twin brothers, only six years old, portray a biblical story of fraternal envy that is still current today.

Cuando despierte
Dir: Yoame Escamilla del Arenal
(2012, 10 min., Mexico, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Irene is undergoing a chemotherapy treatment. María, her daughter, tries to accompany her during the process, but her mother is resistant. One morning, Irene awakes and her hair has begun to fall out in strands; it is then that Irene asks María for help. Mother and daughter will have to let go of any attempt to deny the disease.

Dentro de uno
Dir: Salvador Aguirre
(2012, 8 min., Mexico, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Fear can be very deceiving. An indigenous boy named Juan faces what, to him, is a terrible monster. His fear grows constantly. Seeing this, his grandmother Mariana believes she has a cure.

El Jazz
Dir: Andrés Peralta
(2012,11 min., Mexico, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Juan and Mateo have a mission, like so many other angels collecting the souls of the unfortunate mortals who pass away. Tonight, they will both have to fight the monotony of their job, waiting for El Jazz to take his last breath.

Face to Face
Dir: Alberto Belli
(2012, 7 min., Mexico, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
A casual, intimate, flirty Skype conversation between two long distance lovers takes a sharp and frightening turn.

La Noria
Dir: Karla Castañeda
(2012, 8 min., Mexico, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Time stops for a father who has lost his son.

Ojala
Dir: Ryan Velasquez
(2012, 21 min., USA/Mexico, English and Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Spanning twenty years and two countries, this is the story of a mother and daughter struggling to come to terms with each other; both women fighting for their dreams to come true.

Quince Anos
Dir: Liliana Torres
(2012, 6 min., Mexico, Spanish w/English subtitles)
The day of her quinceañera, life reminds Vianney that being different isn’t easy.

Un domingo cualquiera
Dir: Claudia de la Cabada
(2012, 11 min., Mexico, Spanish w/English subtitles)
If there is a knock at your door, open it and expect the unexpected…it might be the cure for all your troubles.

FAMILY SHORTS
91 min., Sunday, March 10, 11am
Avientate (The Big Jump)
Dir: Hugo Torres Navarro
(2012, 3 min,, Mexico, No Dialogue)
A trio of newborn birds face the same life or death question: jump or not to jump?

Bajo La Almohanda
Dir: Isabel Herguera
(2012, 8 min., Basque Country, English and Spanish w/ English subtitles)
Animated documentary which uses the voices and drawings of a group of children who live in a clinic in India. The guitar, the dances, a trip out to sea, the cats Sweety and Kitty, and the sisters who look after them, are just some of the treasures and dreams which the children keep hidden under the pillow.

Cardboard Camera
Dir: Carlo Olivares Paganoni
(2012, 19 min., USA, English)
Cameron, an innovative 10-year-old boy who can’t afford a video camcorder, creates a cardboard camera instead. Hoping to enter a kids’ film competition, he will need to use his imagination in order to create a movie with the help of his two friends.

Condenados
Dir: Guillermo García Carsi
(2011, 11 min., Spain, English)
A biological 3D animated film about a set of strange creatures whose instincts, instead of focusing on survival, seem to doom them to an absurd and comic extinction, in the presence of the astonished gaze of the narra

Defective
Dir: Jon Ferlop and Gabriela Martinez Garza
(2012, 8 min., México, Spanish w/English subtitles)
An aging master puppeteer collects defective dolls from amongst the rubbish. With great passion and dedication he transforms the dolls into wonderful puppets. They become the stars of his street-show, once again appreciated by delighted children.

Facundo the Great
Dir: The Rauch Brothers
(2012, 2 min., USA, English)
Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez recounts how a new kid at school became a hero when his teachers could not find a way to anglicize his name.

How Jimmy Got Leverage
Dir: Pablo Gómez-Castro
(2012, 12 min., English, USA)
After discovering that his mom has a secret, seven year-old Jimmy struggles to harness the power of leverage in order to achieve his dream: joining his beloved Mia at Detective Camp this summer.

Me llamo Haiti
Dir: Mar Domínguez Ortega & Amparo Mendo Soria
(2012, 28 min., Haiti, French w/English subtitles)
Two years after the earthquake in Haiti, children between the ages of 9 and 13, give us a personal view into their lives in an optimistic and natural way. Camera in hand, they show us their school, friends and families and how they spend their leisure time.

FRONTERA FILMMAKERS
107 min., Wednesday March 13, 6pm
El Boleto Ganador
Dir: Jorge Marcial
(2007, 6 min., México, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Nine year old Carlitos, while sitting on a street sidewalk on the Tijuana-Mexico border, observes a rich man, Eduardo, scratching lottery tickets. The man throws them on the ground and walks away, leaving one unscratched. Carlitos makes his way to pick it up and, not understanding what he has in his hands, puts the winning ticket in his pocket….Will this be the ticket to fulfilling his dreams?

Borrando la Frontera
Dir: Ana Teresa Fernandez
(2012, 6 min., Mexico, No Dialogue)
Artist Ana Teresa Fernandez erases the Tijuana/San Diego border by documenting the surreal act of erasing a border. A peace offering is created with the illusion of a “hole” in the wall, bringing the sky back between Mexico and the US.

Pablo on Wheels
Dir: Brett Sorem
(2011, 18 min., USA, English)
Six months after their parent’s deportation, Rey and Pablo learn to survive in New York City. The bond of skateboarding keeps them together, but the culture surrounding it begins to split them apart. A single mistake by Rey threatens to take away the last family he has left.

Rise
Dir: Jo Kami
(2012 6 min., USA, No Dialogue)
After a series of let downs from her current love interest, a young lady makes a hard decision regarding her values to live a fulfilled life.

Sane-Art…is Made this Way
Dir: Julio Charris Gallardo
(2008, 29 min., Colombia/USA, Spanish w/ English subtitles)
12 Artists for the Caribbean Region of Colombia share with us their input on what it means for them to create, teach, experiment and live Art in its various forms of expression. Each story is very unique and emotionally charged with fantastic anecdotes and content. Asi se hace Arte Sano is a fabulous compilation of stories that breaks through the barrier of language and speaks directly into your senses.

Six Feet Deep
Dir. Konstantinos Sampanis
(2012, 15 min., USA, English)
After his best friend (Danny) is brutally murdered and the case is closed as a drug crime, Vince decides to begin his own investigation discovering that finding the truth won’t be easy, and justice comes with a big price.

The Unique Ladies
Dir: Gloría Móran
(2012, 27 min., USA, English)
Cruising low and slow down the streets of Chicano San Diego is the city’s only all-women’s lowrider car club, The Unique Ladies. Using a hybrid style of verite footage with interwoven interviews, this short documentary aims to expose an audience to Lowrider culture localized around women’s work and participation, despite lowriding’s male hegemony.

HENCHO EN U.S.A.
100 min., Tuesday, March 12, 6pm
Bombing Arizona
Dir: Ricardo Bracamonte
(2012, 9 min, USA, English)
Underground artists in Arizona seek to rebel, create, and inspire; regardless if their work is considered legal or not.

Fortunate Son
dir. Alex Swaekauski
(2012, 15 min, USA, English)
An ambitious young man returns to the predominantly Latino community where he grew up and tries to run for office, encountering a host of political and social conflicts.

L.A. Pulp
Dirs: Nicole Clark, Pedro Ramirez
(2012, 15 min., USA, English and Spanish w/ English subtitles)
A family of street vendors make a living squeezing oranges in downtown Los Angeles every Saturday morning. Mother, father, son, and daughter working in unison.Their simple story of love and sacrifice serves as a window into the broader immigration debate, while suggesting that our perceived differences with the ‘other’ are not as great as we imagine them to be.

Motive
Dir: Rick Carmona
(2012, 13 min., USA, English)
One New York City night, one very dangerous decision.

Q
Dir: Felipe Vara de Rey
(2012, 8 min., USA< English)
A hilarious and poignant knight-errand set in modern-day Brooklyn.

Seed.
Dir: David Godlin
(2012, 20 min., USA, English)
When a 12 year-old Puerto Rican boy, Samuel, discovers nature creeping into the city by way of a farming father and son duo, he must decide between protecting his mother from her abusive boyfriend or following his dream to explore the local Pennsylvania countryside.

The Shooting Star Salesman
Dir. Kico Velarde
(2012, 20 min., USA, English)
An embittered, magical salesman attempts to revive his shooting star business in a modern, fast paced society.

Be first in line! Purchase your FILM PASS or 5 Movie Ticket Pack today.
INFO: 619-230-1938, gheath@mediaartscenter.org