Latin American Film Festival
May 7 - 14, 2021
¡BIENVENIDO! BEM-VINDO! WELCOME! BIENVENUE!
The Canadian Film Institute created the Latin American Film Festival in 1997.
Our goal is to increase the awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the richly creative and diverse cinemas of Latin America in Canada’s capital. Over the first 23 years of programming and organizing this public festival, in collaboration with our generous partners at the GRULA (the group of Latin American embassies accredited by the Government of Canada), we have presented 323 Ottawa premieres of Latin American films, 29 visiting filmmakers, and have attracted close to 68,000 spectators.
The Latin American Film Festival has grown to become one of the most eagerly anticipated cultural events of the year. This is due to the energy and support of the Latin American embassies and their many ambassadors and staff members over the years, our festival sponsors, our volunteers, and you, the generous public who come to the screenings to explore the incredible diversity and artistry of Latin American cinema.
For obvious reasons, our 24th edition will take place entirely online. We hope you will enjoy all 15 films from 15 countries in the safety and comfort of your homes. Although travel restrictions may be in place, for one week in May you can travel all across Latin America! And this year the Latin American Film Festival is available Canada-wide, so tell all your friends across the country to come to the Festival.
On behalf of the Canadian Film Institute team, I wish you a wonderful 24th Latin American Film Festival!!
Tom McSorley
Executive Director
Canadian Film Institute
Thank you to our Embassy partners
Tickets & Passes
One film screening for your household. Some film screenings include a filmmaker interview.
Find ticket links in the schedule below or in the LAFF Virtual Cinema.
CFI Supporter members get 30% off tickets.
Cinephile and Cinephile PLUS members get free tickets to most CFI events. Get your membership here.
Choose five film screenings to watch throughout the Festival.
Cinephile and Cinephile PLUS members get free tickets to most CFI events. Get your membership here.
BIGGEST SAVINGS! Watch every film in the Festival.
Cinephile and Cinephile PLUS members get free tickets to most CFI events. Get your membership here.
All LAFF screenings are available only within Canada.
If you need further instructions how to watch online, read through our Online Screenings: How to & Troubleshooting page.
Schedule
This schedule lists each film on the first day it is available.
Each film screening will be available for 48 hours. You will have 24 hours to complete your viewing once begun.
Films presented with English subtitles.
May 7
Screening includes Q&A with writer-director Gonzalo Maza.
This Is Cristina (Ella es Cristina)
2019 | 82 minutes | Chile
Director: Gonzalo Maza
Language: Spanish
Cristina and Susana have been best friends since high school. Now in their 30s, their lives are in need of some kind of shaking up. Recently divorced, Cristina is not really prepared for her new status as a single woman; Susana, meanwhile, is moving back into her mother's house. After a bad fight, the two friends decide to keep their distance from each other. And now, both separated, they will have to deal alone with the long line of self-centred, exasperatingly egotistical men around them. Life is unpredictable, though, and something unexpected may soon re-unite them. Shot in gorgeous black and white and inspired by the films of John Cassavetes and Jim Jarmusch (director Maza acknowledges them as big influences), This is Cristina is an offbeat, endearing comedy about changes in life and in love, executive produced by Salma Hayek.
May 8
Screening includes interviews with the cast (en español)
Alelí
2019 | 88 minutes | Uruguay
Director: Leticia Jorge Romero
Language: Spanish
The death of family patriarch Alfredo sends his heirs into a downward spiral. With the pending sale of their beloved beach house, itself a repository of childhood memories, three siblings’ long-simmering resentments are brought to a full boil, egged on by their willful and stubborn mother, now a widow and refusing to be marginalized by the dramatic changes afoot in the family. Alternating between moments of laugh-out-loud absurdity and startling poignancy, Alelí is a witty and observant black comedy about a dysfunctional family that seems more than willing to set the past, present, and maybe even the future on fire.
Screening includes Q&A with producer Felipe Morrell, hosted by Ambassador of Colombia His Excellency Jorge Londoño de la Cuesta.
Pixi Post & the Gift Bringers
(Pixi Post eta opari-emaileak)
2016 | 90 minutes | Colombia
Director: Gorka Sesma
Available Languages: English, Spanish
For centuries, the many Christmas genies of the world have worked together to bring magic and happiness to children. This year, however, former genie Monopolish is determined to become The One and Only Christmas Genie and launches a vicious attack on the secret Genies’ Forum. All hope for the survival of Christmas rests with Pixi Post, a technologically reclusive elf, who must use all her wits and skills to thwart his evil plan and become the saviour of Christmas. An animated feature for the young and the young at heart, this film will help lift those pandemic blues, and bring a little bit of early Christmas spirit to our challenging times. Fun for the whole family. In English or Spanish language versions.
May 9
Kimura
2017 | 90 minutes | Panama
Director: Aldo Rey Valderrama
Language: Spanish
This intense drama revolves around Armando Carrera, a haunted former boxer with a tragic past who returns to Panamá in search of his brother, Alejandro. Having left under a dark cloud years earlier and having worked hard to put himself back on track, Armando’s return is a deeply personal quest to seek his family’s forgiveness. Once back home, however, he faces many changes that will test his resolve, to the point where he is forced back into the dreaded boxing ring to find redemption. This situation is made even more difficult with the arrival on the scene of Manfredo, a corrupt sports promoter linked to the world of drug trafficking and illegal betting. Will Armando redeem himself, or fall further?
Screening includes Q&A with writer-director Mark C. Baldwin.
Tropical Iron: The Saga of Minor Keith
2017 | 108 minutes | Costa Rica
Director: Mark C. Baldwin
Languages: English, Spanish
This compelling history documentary tells the incredible story of Minor Keith and the construction of the Costa Rican Atlantic Railway in the 19th Century. A seemingly small infrastructure project, the laying of a mere one hundred miles of track cost the lives of over 4000 men, took nearly 20 years to complete, and bankrupted a nation. It also resulted in the formation of the United Fruit Company (UFCO), the largest agricultural enterprise in the world, and for years the most controversial U.S. company ever to operate in Latin America. UFCO and Minor Keith are still considered embodiments of U.S. Imperialism in the region. This illuminating film shows and tells why. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.
May 10
Martin & Margot or There's No One Around You
2019 | 93 minutes | Guatemala
Director: Chris Kummerfeldt Quiroa
Languages: Spanish & English
A border crossing story of identity and romance. When two young lovers, and aspiring filmmakers, from the United States no longer feel at ease in their troubled homeland, they set out on a passionate quest to find their mutually-favourite poet, who vanished in Guatemala many years ago. Along the way, they explore an unfamiliar and beautiful country filled with extraordinary landscapes, as well as a rich, deep, and complex cultural heritage. They also discover new areas and depths in their own relationship, a relationship that will be tested when Margot makes a surprise announcement that will change everything: or will it?
Screening includes Q&A with writer Huichi Lora and director José Enrique Pintor "Pinky".
Santo Domingo
2019 | 80 minutes | Dominican Republic
Director: José Enrique Pintor
Language: Spanish
José Enrique Pintor’s latest film is a visually rich exploration of the story of the foundation of the first city in the Americas. In 1492 the map of the known world would soon be transformed utterly with the arrival of the Spaniards to the American continent. Landing in Santo Domingo, they built a remarkable city that would become the cradle of the most important achievements of this new world, as well as becoming the point of departure for further exploration of the Americas. Using both documentary modes and dramatic reconstructions of events in the fabled city’s history, Pintor’s is a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary city.
May 11
Screening includes Q&A with director Gory Patiño.
The Goalkeeper (Muralla)
2018 | 90 minutes | Bolivia
Director: Gory Patiño
Language: Spanish
Jorge "Muralla" Rivera was once a famous goalkeeper. Far from the bright lights of the soccer stadium, he's now bus driver trying to make ends meet. When his son falls sick and needs an organ transplant that Jorge cannot possibly afford, he takes increasingly desperate steps to earn money for the operation. One of those desperate measures involves his recruiting a young woman to become involved in an underground sex trafficking network. As this dark parable unfolds, Jorge will seek redemption by trying to rescue the girl he ensnared, even if it means his own personal destruction. Powerful and uncompromising, The Goalkeeper was selected as the Bolivian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film and at the 91st Academy Awards.
Morazán
2017 | 115 minutes | Honduras
Director: Hispano Durón
Language: Spanish
In 1842 in Costa Rica, Francisco Morazán was serving as the Head of State of Costa Rica, attempting to unite Central America into one Republic, not so unlike his neighbours to the north. But the forces against him – the Catholic Church and the wealthy elite - conspired with the army to overthrow him. A major box office hit in Honduras, Morazán is not only a thrilling, re-claimed piece of the past: it gives viewers some much-needed background and context to Central America’s fascinating and complex history that informs so much of what is still happening today. Based on actual events, Morazán is Honduras’ first official entry to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film.
May 12
From the Embassy of Cuba to Canada: We would like to dedicate the Cuban participation in the Latin American Film Festival in Ottawa 2021 to the 62nd Anniversary of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC).
Innocence (Inocencia)
2018 | 121 minutes | Cuba
Director: Alejandro Gil
Language: Spanish
Based on actual events, Innocence begins its tangled tale in Havana in November 1871. A class of first year medical students are imprisoned by the Spanish colonial authorities on dubious charges of subversion, with eight singled out for special punishment. For sixteen years, Fermín Valdés Domínguez, friend and cellmate of the victims, struggles to prove their innocence, when a new clue brings him closer to the key that unravels the hidden truth. This powerful story examines the tireless research of Fermin to overturn this massive injustice and the shocking events that led to one of the most tumultuous periods in 19th century Havana. Gripping. Winner of the Audience Award, Special Jury Mention, and the SIGNIS Award at the 40th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema of Havana.
The Supreme Manuscript (El Supremo Manuscrito)
2019 | 82 minutes | Paraguay
Director: Jorge Díaz de Bedoya, Michael Kovich Jr.
Language: Spanish
Augusto Roa Bastos’ masterpiece, I, the Supreme, is not only a daring, groundbreaking Paraguayan novel, it’s also, alongside the writings of Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes, one of the key works of 20th century Latin American literature. So when that novel’s original manuscript goes missing during an auction, art collector Anton Remianiuk and literature graduate Ana Morel (who also happens to be the highest bidder for the manuscript) join forces to find it. Soon enough in this unusual thriller, the unlikely couple of literary sleuths will find their lives in danger as they are forced to confront, as Augusto Roa Bastos did so brilliantly in his novel, Paraguay’s dark and dangerous past.
May 13
Screening includes Q&A with writer-director Diego Araujo.
Black Hole (Agujero Negro)
2018 | 102 minutes | Ecuador
Director: Diego Araujo
Language: Spanish
Between the temptation of the new and the familiarity of the old, aspiring novelist Victor must make a decision. Víctor’s thirty-something life takes an unexpected turn when his live-in girlfriend Marcela announces that she’s pregnant. Instead of taking responsibility and assuming his role as a soon-to-be-father, Víctor slowly spirals into a irresponsible second adolescence when he meets Valentina, a rebellious, defiant, and precocious 16-year-old girl who lives next door. As Marcela’s pregnancy proceeds, the distance between her and Víctor begins to increase, and Víctor seems to be heading recklessly into territory better left unexplored. Droll and deadpan, Black Hole is “…a sexy and secretly bitter comedy,” David Obarrio (BAFICI), “A romantic comedy with satiric overtones and touches of surrealism,” Marcela Ribadeneira (El Telegrafo).
Screening includes Q&A with actor Gianfranco Brero, hosted by Ambassador of Peru His Excellency Roberto Rodríguez Arnillas.
North (Norte)
2019 | 101 minutes | Peru
Director: Fabrizio Aguilar Boschetti
Languages: Spanish, English
Alejo, an archaeologist from Lima, travels to Canada, where his Peruvian family migrated years ago, settling in Newmarket, just north of Toronto. It is his first time back in two decades and his first appearance since the death of his mother. His arrival arouses mixed feelings in his father and two brothers, while an unexpected bond forms between Alejo and Sophie, his brother's girlfriend. During Alejo's stay in Newmarket, however, old family resentments are rekindled and dark secrets are brought to light, particularly involving Alejo and his father. Alejo must finally confront the truth about himself and his family and, more dramatic and urgent still, decide whether his future lies in Canada or in Peru.
May 14
Screening includes Q&A with screenwriter Paz Garciadiego, hosted by Ambassador of Mexico His Excellency Juan José Gomez Camacho.
The Devil Between The Legs
(El Diablo entre las Piernas)
2019 | 147 minutes | Mexico
Director: Arturo Ripstein
Language: Spanish
Legendary Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein’s latest film is a shimmering black and white and twisted valentine to love and to its more intense cousin, l’amour fou. Revolving around an idiosyncratic old couple, Beatriz and the Old Man, Devil unfolds as a surprising portrait of how time’s passage affects human desire in general, and this couple’s relationship in particular. While the Old Man, a retired homeopathic pharmacist, drifts around their couple’s Mexico City home grumbling about Beatriz when not paying secret visits to his mistress, Beatriz decides to take private tango lessons and realize her own carnal desires by pursuing her dance partner, a much younger man. Their now adult children long gone, the only person to watch over this strange, relentlessly combative elderly couple is their young maid, Dinorah, who will eventually decide to take action to change things. Arturo Ripstein and screenwriter Paz Garcíadiego’s latest daring cinematic collaboration is a frank exploration of sex, love, and everything that lies in between.
Super Crazy (Re Loca)
2018 | 94 minutes | Argentina
Director: Martino Zaidelis
Language: Spanish
Nothing good ever happens to Pilar (a luminous performance by Natalia Oreiro). Her deadbeat husband is useless, her boss is forcing her to work with a very difficult colleague, her psychiatrist doesn’t listen to her, and people on occasion even insult her in the street. One day, Pilar’s world is turned upside down when she meets an old man who advises her to drink a mysterious potion. Waking up the following morning, Pilar feels completely reborn, and proceeds to do and say anything and everything that goes through her mind. A series of hilarious encounters ensues, where everyone will suddenly have to deal with her sudden transformation. While life appears to improve for Pilar, those around her aren’t so sure.