Spanish Films and Music: Feature Films

Three cultures, three countries, three realities introduce us to the lives of three children that all share the same sentiment, dealing with the absence of a loved one and the need to bring them back home.

In a rundown circus on the outskirts of Mexico City, 13 year old Alma earns a living as a trapeze artist. When her fellow performers find out that she is pregnant, Alma is expelled from the circus. She lives on the streets until she meets a troupe of traveling puppeteers that preach the word of God. Alma sees a promise in them, a glimpse of hope. this is a story of a young girl's search for redemption and forgiveness.

Fernando, a handsome, young Spanish Civil War deserter who befriends a free-thinking artist, finds himself in a romantic dilemma when the artist's four beautiful daughters return to their country home. Which woman should he love?

A shy young boy is brought out of his cocoon by a wise teacher who shows him the wonder of the natural world around him, amidst the growing tensions and chaos of the Spanish Civil War in Galicia.

Caballos Salvajes is a lively yet poignant Argentine crime adventure about three fugitive rookie anarchists who transform themselves into media darlings after their botched robbery.

Six women -- dreamy Eileen, abrasive Nan, athletic Skipper, brusque Leslie, vivacious Jennifer and patient Gayle -- are staying at a hotel in South America. The film focuses on the turbulent emotions these American women face surrounding the adoption of foreign babies. The six women are fed up with the long delays of the adoption system in the United States and have the common desire to adopt a child. The film also follows a Latina mother who is certain that her baby will enjoy a better life with adoptive American parents, but is still struggling with the anguish of her sacrifice.

A female documentary director's latest project is to capture her sister's marital difficulties on film in hopes of shedding light on the travails of modern romance.

This is a romantic fantasy set in the early 20th century about a young couple blocked from marrying by the demands of her cold and selfish mother. To be near his love the young man marries her sister, and she expresses her passion for him through her cooking.

An alchemist perfects an invention (the Cronos device) which gives him the key to eternal life. Centuries later, an elderly antique dealer finds the hellish machine and becomes obsessed with its incredible powers. The more he uses the device the younger he becomes. When a ruthless millionaire comes looking for the Cronos device, there's hell to pay.

Five restored classic films from Cuba
• Dolce Sillas (The Twelve Chairs): A rich woman decides, before dying, to hide the family jewels under a chair lining. A former proprietor and his former driver try to locate the treasure. The film is full of comic situations and adventures.
• Aventuras de Juan Quin: A peasant farmer becomes a soldier in the Cuban revolution in an offbeat adventure.
• Un Hombre de Éxito (A Successful Man: Cuba’s history before the Revolution is chronicled through the story of two brothers, one a revolutionary man of action, the other an unscrupulous politician trying to steer a treacherous middle path between opposing political ideas.
• Cecilia: In 1830 Cuba, the son of a rich colonial family falls in love with a proud, beautiful but poor mulatto girl. His father, however, wants him to marry a woman from his own social class.
• Amada: Set in Havana in 1914, as World War I begins. Amada, a young conservative bourgeois woman unhappily married to an ambitious politician, and tied to obsolete values, falls passionately in love with her cousin Marcial, a young nonconformist who tries unsuccessfully to shake her out of her traditionalism with tragic results.

"After retiring to the beautiful Mexican town of Guanajuato, a 70 year old decides to follow his dreams and enroll at the university where he stumbles upon a new generation and they are bound together by the novel Don Quijote de la Mancha"-- Internet movie database.

Born with a deformed hand, and living a very meager life, Dionosio's luck turns around when he is given a losing gamecock which he nurses back to health. He trains the bird for fighting, begins to make money, and begins a relationship with a gold-digging singer. As he makes money, though, he begins to become more and more corrupt--and it becomes apparent that his winning streak will not last.

Beginning in the remote mountain jungles of Guatemala, this highly acclaimed drama about a brother and sister seeking a better life centers on two young Indians. When their father is killed by government soldiers and their mother taken away, they set out for the "promised land" to the north -- El Norte.

During the Spanish Civil War, young Carlos is abandoned at a completely isolated orphanage. The tensions therein have been building for years, exacerbated by the unexploded bomb resting menacingly in the courtyard. Bullies scheme, tempers flare, and a ghost that visits Carlos's bed seems to be the key to it all.

A group of wealthy dinner party guests are psychologically unable to leave the home of their hosts and panic sets in as they are trapped there for many days.

Four mathematicians who do not know each other meet for an evening of puzzle-solving at the home of a man named Fermat; shortly upon their arrival their mysterious host is called away. They receive a phone call which gives them a riddle they are instructed to solve in one minute ; incorrect answers cause the walls of the room to shrink. Their dilemma is to answer the riddle or find an escape route before they are squeezed to death.

A young college kid meets a writer and a passionate woman who teach him the things that aren't taught in school.

In Civil War torn Spain, Germany invites a group of filmmakers to shoot two versions of the Andalusian musical drama "The girl of your dreams" in Berlin. Happy to leave the war behind them, the troupe of Spaniards starts filming in Hitler's Berlin. The hospitality upon their arrival has more to do with the youthful charms of Macarena Granada. What's more, the only Andalusian-looking extras in Germany are the gypsies and Jewish prisoners in a nearby concentration camp. When Macarena befriends one of the prisoners, the troupe must decide if the movie is more important than their lives.

In this romantic comedy, Yoyita, a world-famous diva, returns to her home town of Guantanamo for an elegant reception and a surprise reunion with her once beloved, Candido. Overjoyed with the rekindled memories of her first love, Yoyita's elated heart fizzles while in Candido's embrace. Joining Yoyita's funeral procession back to Havana are her sexy niece Gina, a former professor blacklisted for political nonconformity, and her husband Adolfo, a tasteless government official in charge of the funeral proceedings. As the cortege wends westward across Cuba, its path keeps crossing that of Mariano, a gallant truck driver who once had a crush on Gina and whose recurring presence crystallizes her doubts about her marriage.

The wife of a businessman in Argentina finds herself face to face with terror as she begins to discover that her own daughter, adopted at birth, may have been stolen.

This is an extraordinary story of love, compassion, and danger. This political thriller is about one family who had the courage to fight for justice in a country ruled by fear.

A Mexican peasant finds himself drawn uncontrollably to thoughts of crossing the border to find work and a more dignified life for his wife. The struggles get harder and he decides to set out on this dangerous journey, guided by faith and determination

A rundown bus station in rural Cuba becomes the backdrop for romance and miracles in Juan Carlos Tabio's blend of magical realism and social commentary.

Maria, a poor Columbian teenager, is desperate to leave a soul-crushing job. She accepts an offer to transport packets of heroin - which she swallows - to the United States. The ruthless world of drug trafficking proves to be more than she bargained for.

Nobody likes Cabos, but his future son-in-law, the last guy intending to harm him, ends up with Cabos in his trunk and Cabos-haters on his tail. Thankfully, a retired pro wrestler and a midget cannibal come to the rescue!

An inspirational adventure, based on the true story of Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado, whose thrilling and dangerous road trip across Latin America becomes a life-changing journey of self-discovery.

This film is a delightful depiction of the adventures, suffering, love affairs and difficulties of two Mexican Jewish girls in the early 1960s.

When young Ofelia and her mother go to live with her new stepfather on a rural military outpost, she finds herself in a world of unimaginable cruelty. Soon Ofelia finds the creatures of her imagination in which she used to escape have become a reality and she must battle them to save both her mother and herself. In the terrifying battle that ensues, Ofelia soon learns that innocence has a power that evil cannot imagine.

Caye, a Madrid prostitute, comes to the aid of Zulema, a Dominican streetwalker beaten by a government official blackmailing her for free sex. They form a strong bond and imagine themselves as royalty, to offer them a glimpse of hope.

On the evening before Magdalena's 15th birthday Quinceañera celebration, she discovers that she's pregnant. Forced by her family to leave her home, she moves in with her uncle and gay cousin.

Javi believes he can hear the voices of the dead and that they whisper to him their secrets, which were left unspoken in life. At his mother's house in the mountains, he is fascinated by the room in which his father died and which his mother carefully keeps locked. But, Javi also learns that the living have their secrets as well.

In this love story set in Buenos Aires, a Jewish woman is forced to create a contrived relationship with a man of her own faith because of the impending visit from her American brother. Complications result.

Rafael is a 42-year-old divorced father and restaurant owner who is overwhelmed with life. He feels guilty that he doesn't visit his mother, who is stricken with Alzheimer's disease; he lives in his father's shadow; he doesn't spend enough time with his daughter and he can't commit to his girlfriend. When a series of unexpected events happen, Rafael re-evaluates his life.

In a private clinic Barco and Benigno strike up a friendship while caring for comatose women.

A terrified Pilar hastily flees from her husband Antonio's rage in the middle of the night with her young son as if her life depends on it. Reaching her sister Ana's house, Pilar breaks down in turmoil. Banging on Ana's front door is Pilar's husband, Antonio, who in a fit of rage screams for Pilar to return home. With Ana's support, Pilar is determined to save herself from Antonio's rage. Yet the very passionate Antonio is far from a one-dimensional brute, and the bond between Pilar and Antonio is deep.

After the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan, scribe Topilzin rebels against the new state-imposed religion.

Ram�n Sampedro wants to end his life because a diving accident 28 years before that turned him into a quadriplegic. For most of those years he made the most of it: writing, developing close relationships with his family, who all help to care for him. While grateful to his family and friends for their help, Ram�n was always an active person. He has come to see his life as frustrating and pointless and wishes to die with what remains of his dignity. Gen� is a friend who works with a "Right to Die" organization who introduces Ram�n to Julia, a lawyer he hopes will help him persuade the courts to let him end his own life. As Ram�n and Julia work together on his case, Ram�n finds himself falling in love with his attorney, but Ram�n remains convinced that the greatest gift to him would be an end to his life.

Manuela is the perfect mother. A hard-working nurse, she's built a comfortable life for herself and her teenage son. But when tragedy strikes and her son is killed in a car accident, her world crumbles.

This is a heartwarming comedy that's all about food, family and a certain kind of magic that only happens at the dinner table. Martin is the culinary genius behind a successful restaurant and the widowed father of three daughters whom he has a compulsion to try and steer in the right direction. Hungry for their independence, the girls find themselves at odds with their traditionalist father.

Three old men and a little boy are to protect an old patrimony, La '33', the last train, in this film adventure.

Valentin is a nine-year-old boy whose feuding parents have left him to be raised by his eccentric grandmother. With his father visiting only occasionally, Valentin is left to look to the other men in the neighborhood for father figures, and to replace his absent mother he warms to Leticia, one of his father's many short-term girlfriends. When he tells her personal secrets about his father, however, Valentin jeopardizes their relationship. He sets out to discover the harsh realities about his parents, while bringing joy to those around him.

Viridiana, who is about to take her religious vows, is seduced by her uncle, in this surrealistic-style film. The uncle hangs himself in guilt and leaves his estate to Viridiana who opens up a home for the local beggars.

Raimunda lives in Madrid with her daughter Paula and her drunk husband Paco. Her sister, Sole, is separated and works clandestinely as a hairstylist for women. Years ago, in the sisters' birth village, they lost their parents in a fire in La Mancha. Their aunt, Paula, still lives in the village and continues to speak about her sister Irene, mother of the two sisters, as if she were still alive. When the old aunt dies, the situation changes and the past returns (Volver).

The story of two women on the run: one a Spanish dealer in ersatz Mayan relics the other a young mother who has run away from her drug dealer boyfriend and who hopes to build a better life for her two children. The two women ultimately form a bond of solidarity and camaraderie that is put to the test when both a border officer and the boyfriend catch up with them.

A group of Mexican Americans are sent to San Quentin unjustly for the death of a man at Sleepy Lagoon. Based on the actual zoot suit case and riots of 1940's Los Angeles.