Animation:

“JUAN OF THE WITCHES”

Director: Andrew Houchens

Producer: Marina Fernandez Ferri

Runtime: 18 min

“JUAN OF THE WITCHES” honors 82-year-old Juan Medellín’s legacy as a founding company member of Mexico’s prestigious Ballet Folklórico.

Short Subjects:

“CATALINA”

Director: Paola Ossa

Producers: Paola Ossa, Michelle Martinez and Amatullah Muhyi Ali

Runtime: 14 min

An 11-year-old girl must learn to fend for herself while her undocumented mother spirals in fear of being deported.

“MEMORY VIDEO”

Director: Roy Power

Producer: Wendy Raad

Runtime: 9 min

Miguel Gomez and his family fight to keep the video store experience alive in the age of streaming.

Feature-length Films:

“ABE”

Director: Fernando Grostein Andrade

Producers: Carlos Eduardo Ciampolini, Noberto Pinheiro Jr., Caio Gullane and Fabiano Gullane

Runtime: 85 min

Young Abe dreams of becoming a chef, but divisions at home threaten to derail his dreams. When Abe decides to apprentice for a Brazilian chef, however, his plan to unite his family around the dinner table becomes a real possibility.

“THE CHAMBERMAID”

Director: Lila Avilés

Producers: Romy Tatiana Graullera and Lila Avilés

Runtime: 102 min

“THE CHAMBERMAID” tells the story of a young maid at an exclusive Mexico City hotel as she confronts the monotony of long workdays, occupying her time with quiet examinations of forgotten belongings, budding friendships, and a newfound and determined dream for a better life.

“DIVINE LOVE”

Director: Gabriel Mascaro

Producer: Rachel Daisy Ellis

Runtime: 101 min

An atmospheric sci-fi story set in Brazil in the year 2027, “DIVINE LOVE” follows Joana, a deeply religious woman who uses her position in a notary’s office to convince couples on the verge of divorce to attend her cult-like Divine Love therapy sessions.

“THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY”

Director: Petra Costa

Producer: Joanna Natasegara

Runtime: 120 min

“THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY” explores one of the most dramatic periods in the Brazil’s history. With unprecedented access to Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva, the film explores the rise and fall of both leaders and the tragically polarized nation that remains.

“A FAMILY SUBMERGED”

Director: Maria Alche

Producer: Barbara Francisco

Runtime: 91 min

Ever since the recent death of her sister Rina, Marcela stumbles around her Buenos Aires apartment and her family in a perpetual state of mental haze, gradually losing grip on any sense of reality, and lost in elliptical conversations with deceased relatives.

“THE INFILTRATORS”

Directors: Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera

Producers: Cristina Ibarra, Darren Dean and Daniel J. Chalfen

Runtime: 95 min

Claudio Rojas is detained by ICE outside his Florida home, and sent to the Broward Transitional Center. His family contacts a group of activist DREAMers who hope to stop Claudio’s deportation from the inside and discover an oppressive, unjust system that forgoes due process for profit.

“LOS REYES”

Directors: Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff

Producers: Maite Alberdi, Iván Osnovikoff and Bettina Perut

Runtime: 78 min

Shot over the course of two years in the Los Reyes Park (the oldest skatepark in Chile’s capital, Santiago), this film follows Chola and Football, two stray dogs who have made the park their home, and the microcosm of teenagers who interact with them.

“MIDNIGHT FAMILY”

Director: Luke Lorentzen

Producers: Kellen Quinn, Luke Lorentzen, Daniela Alatorre and Elena Fortes

Runtime: 81 min

Mexico City has fewer than 45 government-run ambulances to serve nine million people, so private ambulances and EMTs fill the void. “MIDNIGHT FAMILY” follows one of these private ambulances and what happens when corrupt police officers demand higher bribes from the family who runs it.

“MONOS”

Director: Alejandro Landes

Producers: Fernando Epstein, Alejandro Landes, Cristina Landes and Santiago A. Zapata

Runtime: 102 min

“MONOS” tells the story of a squadron of child soldiers caught up in a South American rebellion and their hostage, a U.S. citizen. Forced to flee to the jungle, the group begins to fracture as the battle draws closer and the pressure mounts.

“OUR TIME”

Director: Carlos Reygadas

Producer: Jaime Romandia

Runtime: 173 min

Juan and his wife Ester live in the Mexican countryside, where they run a ranch and raise fighting bulls. Although in an open marriage, their relationship begins to crumble when Esther falls in love with an American horse trainer, and Juan is unable control his jealousy.

“SEA OF SHADOWS”

Director: Richard Ladkani

Producers: Walter Köhler and Wolfgang Knöpfler

Runtime: 105 min

“SEA OF SHADOWS” follows a band of conservationists’ effort to rescue the Earth’s smallest whale from extinction. A looming disaster sparks the rescue mission, as Mexican drug cartels and Chinese traffickers join forces to poach the rare totoaba fish in the Sea of Cortez.

“THE SILENCE OF OTHERS”

Directors: Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar

Producers: Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar

Runtime: 96 min

At risk of being forgotten, the survivors of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship set out on a quest for justice.  The filmmakers follow the group over the course of six years as they come together and confront the remaining perpetrators of Franco’s regime with an international lawsuit. •

Information and photos courtesy of Montclair Film’s website https://montclairfilm.org/