Brazil and Angola are two shores of the Atlantic that share the same language, a common colonial past and many shared stories. In this film, people separated by an ocean exchange correspondence - some are longtime friends, others have never met. Their stories intertwine and tell about flows of migration, longing, belonging, war, prejudices, exile, distances. The search for identity and the thread of memory are guided by the line of affection, which unites the seven pairs of interlocutors that the documentary presents: people who traced their life stories between Brazil, Angola and Portugal. [79 minutes - Documentary]

Flowers for Guadalupe/Flores para Guadalupe explores the importance of the Virgin of Guadalupe as a liberating symbol for Mexican women. In the course of this richly textured treatment of an evolving symbol, twenty-three women speak out, in traditional testimonio format. It is intercut with scenes of daily women's work and celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe in various contexts, including festivities organized by the Comite Guadalupano in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N. Y. The documentary also follows an all-women pilgrimage from Queretaro state through several arduous but joyful days as it weaves its way through difficult terrain, harsh weather and congested streets to the Virgin's shrine in Mexico City. [58 minutes - Documentary]

In director Josué Méndez's stylishly composed second feature, Elisa-the soon-to-be-wife of a wealthy industrialist-is eager to shed her working-class background in favor of the opulence of her fiance's elite lifestyle. To her dismay, she soon realizes her hopes to slip into magazine-ready images of domestic splendor must also include her future stepchildren: Diego, who is hounded by his overbearing father and reluctantly preparing to enter the family business, and Andrea, Diego's party-girl sister and the object of both his desire and disgust. As Elisa embraces her new life of lavish parties and beachfront estates, Diego and Andrea rebel against their upper-class upbringing, setting the stage for an ironic contrast of fate and ambition in this biting satire on upper-crust wealth and privilege. [91 minutes - Drama]

The brilliant debut by Guatemalan filmmaker Jayro Bustamante is a mesmerizing fusion of fact and fable, a dreamlike depiction of the daily lives of Kaqchikel speaking Mayans on a coffee plantation at the base of an active volcano. Immersing us in its characters' customs and beliefs, IXCANUL chronicles with unblinking realism, a disappearing tradition and a disappearing people. [92 minutes - Drama]

A revealing view into the lives of Latin American women. The drama follows five women from different walks of life as they converge in Mexico City to review the entries in the Latin American Women's Film Festival. [116 minutes - Drama]

Street life in Rio de Janeiro is astoundingly varied. There are more ways to earn a living than any North American can imagine. In this colorful film, Sergio Bloch, who has a special affinity for recording the pulse of urban life in his native Brazil, presents a variety of performers, vendors and special artisans. The film begins with a knife grinder, who not only sharpens tools, but plays Happy Birthday on his grinding wheel to attract customers. There is an animal trainer whose dogs perform tricks, a street photographer who really wanted to be a student, a herbalist who forages within city limits for plants that bring the Amazon to a city square. Some of the physical stunts are amazing: a one-legged soccer acrobat, jugglers who have 50 seconds at traffic lights for their acts. These and many others tell how they came to earn their livelihood in these unique ways--some are the third generation in their trade, others fell on hard times and needed work. These are not street people as we know them here--they are people who use public spaces as their studios, workshops, stages, offices and food centers. [ 58 minutes - Documentary]

A thriller inspired by the true story of Clara Rojas, kidnapped by the FARC in Colombia together with Ingrid Betancourt in 2002, who after six years in captivity had a child with one of the guerrillas: a family of farmers will have to look after the baby. A controversial film in Colombia due to the real event on which it is based (the kidnapping of Clara Rojas and Ingrid Betancourt), Operation E was at risk of being banned but was finally released in the country after a politicized trial. [107 minutes - Drama]