Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) (In Spanish and French, with English and French subtitles) This film is based on the journals of Che Guevara, leader of the Cuban Revolution. In his memoirs, Guevara recounts adventures he, and best friend Alberto Granado, had while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s. Contains graphic content. |
Guantanamera (In Spanish , with English subtitles) This film is a satire about life in Cuba. Members of a funeral procession, along with a few truckdrivers who have to take the same route begin to talk about God and the world. They end up discovering that life for both groups has many similarities as well as a lot of differences depending on the point of view. |
Nueba Yol (In Spanish , with English subtitles) This film is the tale of a Dominican widower named Balbuena, who moves to New York searching for a better life. However, once there he encounters a troubled family reunion, difficulty finding a job without a green card, a wild relationship with another ex-Dominican, and a run-in with the law. Based on a popular Dominican Republic television character. ( http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nueba_yol/) |
María llena eres de gracia (Maria Full of Grace) (In Spanish , with English, Spanish, and French subtitles) In a small village in Colombia, the pregnant seventeen year old Maria supports her family with her salary working in a floriculture shop. She is fired and with no possibility of finding a new job, she decides to accept the offer to work as a drug mule, flying to the US with sixty-two pellets of cocaine in her stomach. Once in New York, things do not happen as planned. Contains graphic content. |
La historia oficial (The Official Story) (In Spanish , with English subtitles) Alicia Marnet de Ibáñez is a high school history professor and a well-to-do housewife in Buenos Aires, circa 1983, after the fall of the "junta militar" that had taken over the government since 1976. She has a husband, Roberto, who is a succesful lawyer and a five-year-old adopted daughter. |
Hombres armados (Men with Guns) (In Spanish , with English,French, and Portuguese subtitles) Humberto Fuentes is a wealthy doctor whose wife has recently died. In spite of the advice of his children, he takes a trip to visit his former students who now work in impoverished villages. His trip soon becomes a quest, politically awakening him when he finds out that one of his students was killed by the army. |
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Dark Habits (Entre tinieblas) (In Spanish , with English subtitles) Yolanda sings in a seedy nightclub. When her boyfriend dies of an overdose, she fears the police and seeks refuge in a convent that saves women from the streets. These off-beat nuns include a heroin using abbess who loves Yolanda, one who writes romance novels under a pseudonym, another raising a tiger in the convent yard, and one who designs fabulous fashions and is in love with the local priest. They plan an evening extravaganza starring Yolanda to celebrate the abbess's birthday and to convince their wealthy patron not toabandon them. (Comedy, drama) Contains graphic content.
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Director Pedro Almodóvar
What Have I Done to Deserve This? (In Spanish , with English subtitles) A dysfunctional family in Madrid: Gloria is a cleaning lady, hooked on No-Doze, living in a crowded flat with Antonio, her surly husband, a cabby who adores an aging German singer he used to chauffeur; he's also a forger. One teen son sells heroin, the other sleeps with men. Her mother-in-law keeps bottled water and cupcakes under lock and key, selling them to the family. Two alcoholic writers cook up a plot to sell a manuscript as Hitler's memoirs, if Antonio will transcribe it in Hitler's hand. He won't, so they ask the German singer to intercede. Meanwhile, Gloria has given away one son to a sex-crazed dentist, and grandma picks up a pet lizard. Can this chaos be tamed? (Comedy, drama) Contains graphic content. |
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) (In Spanish , with English subtitles) A woman's lover leaves her, and she tries to contact him to find out why he's left. She confronts his wife and son, who are as clueless as she. Meanwhile her girlfriend is afraid the police are looking for her because of her boyfriend's criminal activities. They talk to a female lawyer, who turns out to be the lover's new lover, as paths continue to twist and cross. This is one of Almodóvar's least "graphic" works, and should not offend delicate viewers. |
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Pepi, Luci, Bom (In Spanish , with English subtitles) Almodóvar's first film of life in Madrid during the punk era and not one for the squeamish. He covers everything from drugs and sexual violence, to female masochism. Contains very graphic content. |
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Live Flesh (Carne Trémula) (In Spanish , with English, French, and Spanish subtitles) Pizza delivery man Victor is having an argument with Elena, whom he met a few days ago, but she was high then and doesn't want to hear about him. Reacting to the noise, two cops, young David and older Sancho, arrive at the scene, the gun accidentally goes off. Four years later David is a wheelchair basketball star, he's married to Elena, Victor is released out of prison and their destinies begin to cross again. (Drama, Thriller) Contains graphic content. |
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Bad Education (La Mala educación) (In Spanish , with English subtitles) In the early 60s, two boys - Ignacio and Enrique - discover love, movies and fear in a Christian school. Father Manolo, the school principal and Literature teacher, both witnesses and takes part in these discoveries. The three characters come against one another twice again, in the late 70s and in 1980. These meetings are set to change the life and death of some of them. (Drama, Thriller) Contains graphic content. |
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Talk to Her (Habla Con Ella) (In Spanish and French, with English and French subtitles) After a chance encounter at a theater, two men, Benigno and Marco, meet at a private clinic where Benigno works. Lydia, Marco's girlfriend and a bullfighter by profession, has been gored and is in a coma. It so happens that Benigno is looking after another woman in a coma, Alicia, a young ballet student. The lives of the four characters will flow in all directions, past, present and future, dragging all of them towards an unsuspected destiny. Contains graphic content. |
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Flower of my Secret (In Spanish , with English and French subtitles) Leo Macias writes sentimental novels with great success but hidden under a pseudonym, Amanda Gris. She is unhappy with her professional life and with her husband, a soldier working in Brussels and Bosnia that is never at home. She will try anything to change her life. Contains graphic content. |
City of God (In Portuguese , with English, Spanish, and French subtitles) Cidade de Deus (City of God) is a housing project built in the 1960's that--in the early 80's--became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro. The intersecting lives of many characters are seen through the eyes of Busca-Pé, a poor black youth too frail and scared to become an outlaw but also too smart to be content with underpaid, menial jobs. His redemption is that he's been given an artist's point of view as a keen-eyed photographer. But Busca-Pé is not the real protagonist of the film--only the narrator --he is not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the sequence of events. Nevertheless, it is through Busca-Pé's perspective we gain access to the complicated layers of a world apparently condemned to endless violence. Contains graphic violence. |
Antes Que Anochezca (Before Night Falls) (In Spanish and English, with English, Spanish, and French subtitles) Julian Schnabel directs this incredible journey through the life and work of the late Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas (Johnny Depp). Victimized by a government that banned his books and jailed him for a crime he didn’t commit, Reinaldo endured unspeakable persecution in a courageous stand against censorship and oppression. Without a country but not without integrity, he fled to America where he continued to fight for personal expression and produced a stirring body of work. Before Night Falls is a tribute to the liberating power of art... and one mans undying passion for life. |
Evita (In English , with Spanish subtitles) Lavish musical drama, based on the hit stage production by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, telling the life story of Eva Duarte (Madonna) who leaves her rural home for Buenos Aires in the company of Latin singer Agustin Magaldi, eventually becoming the wife of President Juan Peron and a heroine to the people of Argentina. |
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (In English , no subtitles) This documentary was inspired when Faith Morgan and Pat Murphy took a trip to Cuba through Global Exchange in August, 2003. In May Pat and Faith attended the second meeting of The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, a European group of oil geologists and scientists, which predicted that mankind was perilously close to having used up half of the world's oil resources. When they learned that Cuba underwent the loss of over half of its oil imports and survived, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, the couple wanted to see for themselves how Cuba had done this. http://www.communitysolution.org/cuba.html |
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Frida (In English and French, with Spanish subtitles) "Frida" chronicles the life Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) shared unflinchingly and openly with Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), as the young couple took the art world by storm. From her complex and enduring relationship with her mentor and husband to her illicit and controversial affair with Leon Trotsky, to her provocative and romantic entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a bold and uncompromising life as a political, artistic, and sexual revolutionary. (www.amazon.com) Contains graphic content. |
(Picture from: http://miguelde.cervantes.com/) Miguel de Cervantes (In Spanish with English subtitles) Using drawings, paintings, letters, maps, and footage of notable landmarks, this program presents the adventures and tribulations of Miguel de Cervantes, arguably the best-known figure in Spanish literary history. In addition to Don Quixote, one of the most influential and widely read classics in Western literature, the program also introduces Cervantes’ Novelas Ejemplares, a group of short stories that he claimed were the first to be written in Castilian. (43 min.) (http://www.films.com/id/4447/Miguel_de_Cervantes.htm) |
El Cantar de Mio Cid (Films for the Humanities) (In Spanish with English Subtitles) El Cid is unique among the world’s great epics because it was composed so close to the actual historical events (a mere 40 years after the death of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, el Cid himself) that we can distinguish between man and legend. Meticulous attention to historical detail, spectacular cinematic production values, and the swashbuckling plot itself make this medieval epic superbly entertaining as well as educational. An RTVE production. (60 minutes) http://www.films.com/id/10351/El_Cantar_de_Mio_Cid.htm |
Common Ground (Lugares Comunes) (In Spanish with English Subtitles) Fernando, a respected university professor, and Lili, his devoted wife, have lived in Buenos Aires for many years. Without warning, they find their comfortable world threatened when Fernando is forced into early retirement. Facing an uncertain future, the couple relocates to the countryside where they bravely set out on a new chapter of their lives. (from DVD jacket) |
El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Padre Amaro) (In Spanish and English, with English, Spanish, and French Subtitles) A recently ordained priest is sent to help an aging priest run a small parish church in rural Mexico. Upon arriving at his new post, he meets a beautiful young woman with a religious passion that borders on obsession. Quickly, her passion for her faith becomes helplessly entangled in a growing attraction to the new priest. But when the priest crosses the line that separates temptation from sin, he finds himself torn between the divine and the carnal, the righteous and the unjust. (from DVD jacket) Contains graphic content. |
The Dark Side of the Heart (In Spanish , with English subtitles) In this parable about a narcissistic poet in search of the perfect woman, young Oliverio rejects potential lovers, claiming he "will not tolerate a woman who cannot fly". When he meets Ana, who actually can fly, she prefers to keep their relationship a business arrangement. Tormen- ted and lovelorn, Oliverio must face the consequences of pursuing his dream. (from DVD jacket) Contains graphic content. |
The Devil's Backbone (In Spanish , with English subtitles) This stylish and unpredictable chiller deftly mixes horror, suspense, and dark humor. Twelve-year- old Carlos is the latest addition to Santa Lucia School, an imposing stone building that shelters the orphans of the Spanish Civil War. Charles gradually uncovers the dark ties that bind the inhabitants of the school: hidden riches, sexual intrigue, and the restless ghost of a murdered student. (from DVD jacket) . Contains graphic content. |
Por la Libre (Dust to Dust) (In Spanish , with English subtitles) Rodrigo would rather die than attend his son's latest wedding - so that's exactly what he does, leaving his family to grapple with a will that's every bit as difficult as he was in life! His grandsons, Rocco and Rodrigo then take a hilarious road trip to Acapulco in order to scatter the old man's ashes at sea. Along the way, they learn a few shocking family secrets that will change their lives forever. (from DVD jacket) Contains graphic content. |
For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (In English and Spanish, with English, French and Spanish subtitles.) The U.S. embassy is about to play host to a defector ... and the defector is about to play for his life. Based on an incredible true story, this movie tells the powerful tale of a Cuban musician with a trumpet, a few scratched American LPs, and a dream that would change his life forever. (from DVD jacket) |
The Soul of Mexico / El Alma de México (In English and Spanish) The immense, rich cultural variety of Mexico is presented in this series of five one-hour chapters by the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. From Prehispanic times up to the present day, this magnificent heritage is displayed through the ancient vitality of tradition and the most profound, authentic and valuable aspects that define the Soul of Mexico. (from the back cover). The chapters are: 1) The Dawn of Mesoamerica, 2) Landscape of Pyramids, 3) The Lords of the Sun, 4) From Conquest to Revolution, and 5) Living Heritage.
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Kilometer Zero (In Spanish with English subtitles) This movie takes a comedic look at the love lives of 14 different people and how they interconnect during one hot August afternoon around Madrid's central square, the Plaza del Sol (from which all distances within Spain are measured). Mistaken identities and second chances are among the results of this comedy of errors featuring, among other characters, a gay university student, an internet-love seeker flamenco dancer, a macho but lovelorn gigolo, an actress, and a businessman starved for new sexual experiences. (www.amazon.com) Contains graphic sexuality. |
Bulgarian Lovers (In Spanish with English subtitles) After a 16 year absence, Spanish filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia returns with an entertaining drama/thriller about the tangled love affair between Daniel, a 40 year-old wealthy Madrid lawyer, and Kyril, a younger "straight" Bulgarian man. (www.amazon.com) Contains scenes of graphic homosexuality. |
Pan's Labyrinth (In Spanish with English subtitles) Set in rural Spain, circa 1944: Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a violent world when she and her widowed mother, Carmen, move into an abandoned mill with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal, a tyrannical military officer. Other than her sickly mother (pregnant with the Captain’s son) and kindly housekeeper, Mercedes, the dreamy Ofelia is on her own and soon finds that an entire universe exists below the mill. Armed with only her imagination Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur and before Ofelia can turn back, she finds herself at the center of a ferocious battle between good and evil, both above ground and below. |
Eva Peron (In Spanish with English subtitles) Argentina offers its own image of Evita - 1997 Academy Awards/Argentine Selection - She was neither a saint nor a devil. - No woman, before or since, has possessed as much magnetism and influence as Eva "Evita" Peron. During the 1950s, she was the most powerful woman in the Americas - capturing the heart and soul of the poor, whose causes she championed until her tragic death at age 33. EVA PERON beautifully chronicles Evita's stormy, passionate life, which brought so much hope to Argentina in an age of political power struggles, bloody coups, military oppression, and economic depression. |
I, The Worst of All (Yo, La Peor de Todos) (In Spanish with English Subtitles)
Don't be fooled by the cheap publicity on the cover: this is not a movie about lesbian nuns, but the true story of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, one of Spanish literature's greatest poets of all time, and perhaps the first feminist of the Western Hemisphere, circa 1685. Assumpta Serna shines as the fierce, beautiful and brilliant Sor Juana, the Mexican wondergirl who took the vows hoping to get an education, astonished her friends, foes and times, and was later ordered to silence by the Church for the sole sin of being an intelligent woman. --Francisco J. Calderon "Paco
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Machuca (In Spanish , with English subtitles) Chile: 1973. Father McEnroe, one of the headmasters of an exclusive private school, decides to confront the issues of the vast gulf between Chile's rich and poor by giving a handful of poor children a full scholar- ship. Pedro Machuca is one of the new students, who is soon befriended by Gonzalo Infante, whose rich parents live in Santiago's wealthy suburbs. But the political and economic differences that are dividing the country find their way into the school, leading to a rift between the two friends. |
El Norte (In Spanish , with English subtitles) After the Guatemalan army destroys their village of San Pedro, two teenage Quiche Mayan Indian siblings journey north through Mexico to the United States to start a new life. As they journey through Mexico, the siblings encounter a number of helpful individuals who direct them towards the U.S./Mexican border. There they find a "coyote" (a professional human smuggler) and make the frightening run across the border. Once across, Enrique and Rosa are introduced to the impossible realities of life as illegal immigrants in Los Angeles. |
Real Women Have Curves (In English and Spanish) Set in the vibrant environs of East Los Angeles, this comedic drama takes a familiar subject--a bright teenager struggling to define her identity--and turns it into an authentic celebration of feminine empower- ment. Eighteen-year-old Ana has scholarship potential, her first boyfriend, and a chubby figure that her similarly overweight mother won't stop harping about. Mom insists that Ana work in her sister's dressmaking sweatshop, continuing a family tradition that can only break her spirit. How Ana defies this fate--and how director Patricia Cardoso captures the proud tenacity of several full-figured seamstresses--is what makes this film so uniquely refreshing. --Jeff Shannon |
Solo con tu pareja (Only with your partner) (In Spanish , with English subtitles)
Alfonso Cuarón made his mark on Mexican cinema with this ribald and lightning-quick contemporary social satire. Don Juan-ish yuppie Tomás Tomás spends his nights juggling so many beautiful women that he can’t keep their names straight—until one of his many conquests, a spurned nurse, gives him a taste of his own medicine. Beautifully filmed in widescreen, Cuarón’s wildly successful feature debut gave voice to a Mexican middle-class that had remained largely unseen onscreen, and surveys contemporary urban sexual mores with style to spare. |
Waiting List (In Spanish , with English subtitles) At a rundown bus station in rural Cuba, the line of passengers waiting just keeps getting longer. The problem is that every bus that passes by is already full. Their only hope is to wait for the station's bus to be fixed. As the disparate group settles in, relationships start forming between the passengers: Emilio, a young engineer, becomes smitten with a beautiful young woman who is en route to meet her Spanish fiancé, a blind man gets support from the others to go to the head of the line. Frustration and disorder reign when the one bus brakes down and no one can leave. Resigned to working together, the group magically transforms the station into a beautiful place where no one wants to leave. |






























