A Tiny Message to Infinity is a documentary essay which dives into the deeply human need to communicate, identify, and define ourselves. In this case, through the messages – official and unofficial – that humanity has been sending into outer space. This set of communications, made of matter, images, and sounds is creating one of the most extensive collective portraits of humanity ever built, through which we try to explain, once again, who we are. And, through them, we might also be cultivating the hope that life can continue on other planets, in the face of the dramatic degradation of our current home: Earth.
Sofia is 16 years old and in the middle of a crucial championship volleyball season. She tries to take care of an unexpected pregnancy by herself — willing to risk the dangerous and clandestine options in her country where abortion is a capital crime. Sofia asks for her father’s help, but as the news starts to spread through her small village, any autonomy Sofía may have thought she had over her own future is quickly, and brutally, banished. However, Sofía’s need for survival is bigger than the oppression she is subjected to, even if the consequences will be devastating.
Marcos is in jail in a prison in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the middle of the pandemic, his most precious possession is a mobile phone that his girlfriend Sol smuggled to him into jail. With it, Marcos records and sends me videos. Together we make this film that is his portrait, but also mine. Through this clandestine exchange, All or Nothing narrates Marcos' life in prison and his love story with Sol. A relationship that for Marcos represents the hope of a better life, for which he bets on everything or nothing. So when that love comes to an end, Marcos becomes a man who has lost everything. Even the promise of a future.
Domitila, an elderly woman of Peruvian origin, lives and works in the shadows for more than 20 years. When she lost her daughter to cancer, she found herself unable to repatriate her body without exposing herself to the authorities. She is advised to opt for cremation, but Domitila wants to fulfill her daughter’s will, that of being buried in their village of origin.
A funeral car cruises the streets of Medellín, while a young director tells the story of his past in this violent and conservative city. He remembers the pre-production of his first film, a B-movie with vampires.The young queer scene of Medellín is casted for the film, but the main protagonist dies of a heroin overdose at the age of 21, just like many friends of the director. Anhell69 explores the dreams, doubts and fears of an annihilated generation, and the struggle to carry on making cinema.
At the end of the 17th century, in the heart of the Amazon, a Portuguese settler is in search of gold to restore his family's former prestige. Jonas, a young boy with indigenous and European origins, dreams of continuing the quest for gold initiated by his ancestors. Torn between two roots, he will sooner or later have to confront his past to understand the true origins of this quest, and discover who he really is.
Carabalí is an Afro-Colombian leader who is currently in exile. After receiving countless death threats from armed paramilitary groups in his region, he had to leave his community to protect his life. Far away, alone, in refuge and exile, he is invaded by doubt if the fight was worth it. But it is also from that distance that he strives to maintain contact and strengthen the bonds that bring him closer to his family, his community and the struggle. That is where he finds the answers to his doubts and reaffirms that the fight, his fight, must continue from whatever location he is in.
Marcel (30), a young music producer, is forced to return to his hometown after fifteen years, Margarita Island (Venezuela), to sell his father's house, who has just died. Once there, he meets Chino (30), his childhood friend. He also meets Charo (15), Chino’s younger sister, who in a fit of rage secretly kills a gamecock (fighting cock) that was under the care of his brother, but really belonged to a gangster named Humberto, who has control of the town’s water supply, and is also Chino’s boss. Charo is the price that Humberto sets for his dead rooster. Chino desperately seeks to pay off his debt in any other way. Humberto orders Marcel to be beaten, which makes Marcel reconnect with his violent past, and in complicity with Charo, they decide to attack him.
Drawn by the recent discovery of a deteriorated ethnographic film, a director searches for a way to reconstruct it missing parts. He repeats the 1925 expedition in the present.
In Valparaíso’s prison, inmates’ human rights are violated on a daily basis. A cultural program allows a group of inmates to go back home through virtual reality experiences. Ariel (20) has a terminally ill mother, Cueto (45) dreams of seeing his nieces again, Mr Claudio (54) is an outsider who misses the sea and Franco (26) is desperate to finish his sentence and reunite with his son. They live different experiences and are helped by the others who create the best environment possible, a contrast to the abuse of the prison guards, which they learn to cope with together. Their last VR experience is collective, they all virtually attend Franco's wedding after he finishes his sentence. They moved around like they were dancing, contrasting with the cold walls of the prison surrounding them.
Healings is a feature-length documentary about a reconstruction process involving both the identity and the trauma of an Afro-descendant family in contemporary Brazil. Returning to her neighbourhood of origin on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte, visual artist Fabiana Ex-Souza takes us on her quest to repair her mother, Maria de Fatima's memory. In an attempt to rectify her death certificate on which Ex-Souza is not inscribed as her mother's legitimate daughter, the artist will embark on a procedure to restore her disavowed filiation rights. In order to do so, her father will have to revisit his errors of the past, recognize Ex-Souza, and accompany her in this process. Between apprehension and hope, a path to healing wounds begins to emerge.
César (68) is a night watchman in a factory. One afternoon he receives a letter from his sister. She has sold the family plot of land in the mountains where his wife's ashes are buried. He decides to leave his job and travel to the countryside to retrieve them. On his way he loses his money. Determined to get there, he continues his journey on foot through the mountain trails he knew as a child. Among pine forests he discovers the house of Antonia (69). He spends a few days there working where he discovers photographs of the construction of the dam in which his family participated. On his way he sleeps in the forest and dreams of old illustrations of plants he collected as a child. He continues on and when he reaches his land he sees the tree that houses the ashes engulfed in flames.
Alexander Obregón (40) is a modest humanities teacher, student leader, and passionate about poetry. After a strange police operation, he is apprehended and accused of belonging to one of the country's guerrillas. This fact led him to "El Pedregal", a dangerous Colombian prison, where prisoners from all social groups coexist. And where he will live the most terrible of humiliations. As a result, Alexander finds refuge in the writing of poems, and in the reading of the prison code, with which he acquires new knowledge, making it available to inmates. This fact leads him to become a social leader of the prison. A story where poetry turns into actions, and actions turn into a man determined to change the lives of thousands.
Stories of love and heartbreak marked by tragic events are intertwined in Imaza, a territory whose river delimits the border between two worlds that do not meet. Alberto Tiwi and his wife go to the Judiciary. Because he participated in an indigenous protest, he faces a trial that can sentence him to life imprisonment. His great fear is not that he will be condemned, but that he will be separated from his wife. They arrive at the school that is in danger of disappearing due to the rising water level of the river. They are received by teacher Segundo, who has proposed to measure the depth of the water so that what he loves most is not destroyed. There is also a history of heartbreak. Haydée, a student who wants to flee to avoid the suicide due to love pains that have marked the women of the Awajún people.
Guadalupe, a single woman in her 60s, volunteers at a soup kitchen for homeless and marginalized people in Mexico City. This is where she meets Claudio, a bachelor in his 40s, who recently lost his job and home. His distinguished and elegant demeanor captures Guadalupe’s attention. The bizarre friendship that arises between the two generates a lot of controversy. Both face disdain, mockery and even threats from volunteers and homeless alike.The film and the huge city give them the gift of anonymity, a space to share outside of the soup kitchen’s community, a pretext to escape prejudice, to share in conversation and get lost in adventures they would’ve never allowed themselves in their normal day to day lives. Even if they know that when the film is over, they will return to normality.
Yeka, a 13-year-old girl, is forced to enter adulthood after a stray bullet kills her best friend. Due to impunity for those who shot her friend, Yeka starts her own investigation. Through Vanyelinna, a twelve year old girl who befriends her, she infiltrates a dangerous drug dealer's family who are considered guilty, only to find out that her suspicions are based on prejudices and that they are a loving and supportive clan who help her in her mourning process. When Yeka begins to develop feelings for the family, she finds out that the stray bullet was shot by a young member of the clan. She will have to decide if she accuses them or stays quiet. After all, justice is not as simple as its looks.
In the midst of a serious economic crisis, Julieta tries to keep her decadent porn movie theater in downtown São Paulo. Devouring books and obsessed with happy endings, Julieta helps everyone who crosses her path, but is unable to help herself. Pressed by a property developer to sell her cinema, she tries to resist in every way and preserve her fertile imagination with the help of her friends.
In the near future in San Jose, part of the population lives in walled communities, hires armed security nannies, and trains their children in kid’s shooting ranges. A 65-year-old grandma wounds her hand trying to shatter the glass of the car in which she mistakenly locked her granddaughter. That one mistake will cause the child's mother, who is part of the generation that lives in fear, to feel her mother is old and incapable of taking care of her child. She will be forbidden from seeing her granddaughter, and that will trigger a series of unfortunate events that will lead her to do things she never thought she would ever do. These things won’t be achievements precisely, but they will be her own personal way to show them the love for her granddaughter and that she is still of use.
Juan, a 42 year old filmmaker, gets the news that Valeria, the History teacher with whom he had an affair 28 years ago, when he was 14 and she was 34, has been hospitalized and is now in a coma, victim of a stray bullet. Juan goes to the hospital and there he meets Laura, Valeria’s daughter. Juan and Laura start a relationship that turns into romance, and one night, when Juan confesses to Laura that he was her mother’s lover, they suddenly realize that she, Laura, could also be his daughter. Juan and Laura decide to take a paternity test and wait four days without seeing each other until the results come out. Finally, the fourth day arrives, the results are delivered and with them an unexpected climax to this story.
A massacre occurs in a remote community as a result of which six children are murdered. Lucia, one of them, returns to the town as a spirit that observes the silence in which its inhabitants are submerged. Fear does not let them sleep. Lucia helps her grandparents survive this trance until they can finally fall asleep.
Vincent, 55, owns a photo store in a shopping mall. A fan of Salvatore Adamo, he has booked a tour that should take him to the mythical places of his idol's career. He only has two weeks to pay, but his business is experiencing difficulties. One day, Vincent is assaulted on the bus. He is saved by Adela, 35, a prostitute of Nigerian origin. Although used to being wary of people, Adela lets her guard down with him. A story will then be born between them, which will help them heal some of their wounds.
But one day, Adela is kidnapped and raped. In order for her to try to start a new life far away, Vincent decides to give her the money saved for her turn. Adela accepts and leaves. Vincent stays in his store listening to Adamo.
Sad Song is the story of Leandro, a street performer, and his son, Ángel, a slaughterhouse worker. The protagonists’ journey will reflect the struggle of a family to survive with dignity after an illness, amidst an adverse social context, in the outskirts of Santiago de Chile.
About to turn 21 and excited to have a good time, Estela secretly plans to become independent from the strict rules of her family. For some time now, she has been doubting the beliefs she grew up with. To achieve her goals, she furtively finds her first job as a janitor in the women’s bathroom at the “14th floor”, an exclusive, trendy nightclub popular among upper class teenagers in Mexico City. Inside the women’s bathroom, where strangers advise each other, become fleeting friends or enemies, and rarely notice the person assisting them, Estela will discover a new universe which will transform her as she attempts to shake off guilt and finally fit in. She might even be able to fulfill her deepest wish and celebrate her birthday for the first time.
What is it like to be progressive and work in institutions based on extreme right wing ideologies? The Policeman and the Pastor is a creative documentary that builds an intimate portrait by a sensitive immersion into two complex individuals, an antifascist police officer and a feminist pastor. The narrative develops following two characters who consider themselves in "limbo": they are viewed with suspicion by progressive movements, and seen as traitors in the institutions where they work. This film investigates this “no place”, understanding it as a privileged space. Alexandre and Valeria walk through groups that do not communicate and are key characters to understand and delve into contemporary social issues the world is facing.
Cruz (40) is an actress who has dedicated her career to interpreting characters in front of medicine students at a university. She is a simulated patient, who practices emotions and who reenacts, for young doctors, realities which are unknown to them. Nothing disturbs Cruz's life too much until one night when she jogs in the gym of her building and sees a body fall from above. Cruz is the only witness, but instead of helping the victim she keeps jogging, a reaction that is recorded by security cameras, and questioned by the police as a result of her reaction. Cruz feels that she had lost all connection with her own feelings and tries to force real emotions inside her at the same time she starts to question the social roles that typecast her.
After losing his entire smallholding to a violent flood, Joaquín - a Wichí native from the Pilcomayo river, seeks to find a new life in the city. When subjected to racial abuse and discrimination, Joaquín commits what he believes to be a fatal violent act, causing him to flee into the jungle where he seeks refuge on an ostrich farm. Pursued by the guilt of his actions, his life is transformed by a mysterious encounter with an armadillo that leaves him with the power to heal. As he tries to connect with his new found gift, the guilt of the same hands having killed continues to internally torture him. As an act of redemption, Joaquín returns to the city, where he discovers that the man he believes to have killed was miraculously saved from a coma by a warm hand coming to rest on his face.
A vibrant and diverse community flourishes in the fertile South African lands Today its elders tell the story of how their people were uprooted from neighboring lands and thrown into deserted areas; the suffering separation left scars but never transformed them into individualistic beings. Despite the forced separation that occurred in the 1960s, today they remain together thanks to their wisdom and faith. A University was built on their lands, and today this institution accepts their public guilt, but to return the land seems impossible. The elders light up the screen with their way of approaching the problem; Community wisdom, spirituality, and patience faces what apartheid tried to take away from them fifty years before.
In Brazil, women are being forbidden to walk on the streets. With this background, we see, in three different chapters, how women in different moments of history try to create a possible path for their lives. And to write a different story. In each chapter, the main character passes the baton to the next. The characters are not recurrent, however, it’s the actions and decisions of each of them in each chapter that define what will take place in the next one. These women struggle, and they build a new relationship between imagery and bodily experience created in their lives but also in the film. What can the warfare image of a woman in motion be?
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