Who Is Dayani Cristal? (¿Quién es Dayani Cristal?), dir. Marc Silver, 2014, 85 min. — Mexico, United States. Deep in the sub-blistered Sonora desert beneath a cicada tree, Arizona border police discover a decomposing male body. Lifting a tattered T-shirt, they expose a tattoo that reads “Dayani Cristal.” Who is this person? What brought him here? […]

Bad Influence (Mala junta), dir. Claudia Huaiquimilla, 2016, 89 min. — Chile. Rebellious Tano is sent from Santiago to Southern Chile under the custody of his father whom he has not seen in years. In his new school, he meets Cheo, a shy boy who gets bullied for his indigenous origins.

Ixcanul, Volcano (Ixcanul, Volcán), dir. Jayro Bustamante, 2015, 91 min. — France, Guatemala. Maria, a 17 year old Maya girl, lives and works with her parents on a coffee plantation in the foothills of an active volcano in Guatemala. An arranged marriage awaits her: her parents have promised her to Ignacio, the plantation overseer. But Maria […]