Discoveries from Ecuador World Cinema

The stories of a group of Latina migrant mothers whose kids have been taken away by an unfair system in Italy.

The documentary follows the classification, preparation and participation in the Olympic Games of the athletes Beatriz Pascual, Rolando Saquipay and Claudio Villanueva.

Two families dispute a land with a land dealer.

A conflicted mestizo man in Quito rejects his roots and tries to pass as part of the white elite, building a fragile identity based on appearances. As his ambitions clash with reality, his relationships and sense of self begin to unravel.

Family problems, if not resolved, repeat themselves. This leads Misha, a young photographer, to question his own family's history only to understand that memory has multiple facades.

A doctor with a talent for playing the piano finds artistic inspiration in hospital patients and composes her last melody.

A murder sets in motion a series of tragedies that find their way to the city morgue's Dr. Arturo Fernandez. Physically and emotionally isolated, Arturo develops an intimate relationship with the personal lives of his cases, forcing him to confront his connection to the living and the dead. This dark, serpentine tale offers a richly textured rendering of Ecuador's capital.

A world like ours, limited by language.

Documentary short film about a man (Juan Pablo Manzano) who gave his life to deliver films, with his video club more than 30 years ago.

"Galapagos: Paradise in Loss" is a documentary focused on the reflection on the relationship between human beings and nature, told from the perspective of the inhabitants of Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands.

From a point of view-listening that is both animal and elemental, between the air, the ocean and the sand, relationships emerge between humans, birds and marine life.

Decades after that first love, after that mistake that cost him everything... The anthropologist will receive a letter that will change his life.

In the Andes is the closest city to the Sun. Here, groups of power conspire to bring chaos to the population, using biological weapons, mental manipulation, quarantines and black magic. Luca and Lulu face Mos Antor and his supernatural powers. Both must deter the attacks and challenge a plot that drives humanity into a dystopian future.

First feature film by Ana Cristina Franco Varela

A few years ago the indigenous musician Delfín Quishpe uploaded a video clip on YouTube of his song Torres Gemelas without imagining the impact it would have. For some, the video was strange and in bad taste, however his charisma and his lyrics made him a celebrity. After ten years, Delfín still has not overcome the hangover of fame and now he struggles not to turn off the magic of his music, in a world of ephemeral stars in the digital age.

A meeting between the daughter and the grandmother of the director, Iván Mora Manzano, at a time when the memories of one, the girl’s, were taking shape, and the other’s the grandmother’s, were vanishing. This starting point is used as a pretext to talk about other topics such as the importance of family memories and the search for memory.

During the curfew decreed by the Covid-19 pandemic in Guayaquil, Junior (25), a small trafficker from the northern area, must learn to sell pork to pay child support.

Nunkui, the female spirit of the garden. Nunkui, the name of a Shuar girl in a lush world of plants, animals, spirits and an extended family. Between premonitory dreams and mining conflicts in the Amazonian Cóndor mountain range, Nunkui searches for her place in the world, influenced by her grandfather Yaunchu, an old Shuar leader.

Sea turtles arrive at Same Beach in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, for the nesting season. After laying their eggs, the mother sea turtles return to the sea, while the nests remain on land facing dangers caused mainly by humans. Plastic pollution, mass tourism, the use of chemicals, and more create an ideal scenario for a fatal outcome. However, Pastor Rodriguez, from the Reto Same collective, brings volunteers together to protect the lives of mother turtles and their nests.

A Table that deals with the importance of caring for the environment through the good management of human waste. A story that seeks to generate critical reflection with two characters based on Ecuadorian fauna.

Gerardo, a short person, suffers a deterioration in his health that gradually affects his mobility. This leads him to implement an idea that has bothered him for a long time; help make people with disabilities visible through the creation of cinematographic stories.

The Hippodrome

Locked up and under surveillance, a retired terrorist recalls, through magazines and advertisements of defunct airlines, fragments of a past shared with a woman who is no longer there.

Estrella 14 tells the story Barcelona Sporting Club's first championship in 14 years. Barcelona Sporting Club is the most popular soccer team in Ecuador.

Ethan, an 18-year-old boy who believes the whole world revolves around him, loses all that when nothing is real about him.

Documentary that follows the popular expressions of five provinces of Ecuador.

Can a commune survive in the 21st Century? Engabao, a fishing commune in Ecuador, has historically been a site of land struggle between inhabitants and wealthy businessmen that threaten to convert collective lands into private property. Three founding members of the commune share their life stories, from which we discover that the struggle to survive, both individually and collectively, is one and the same.

The documentary recreates the mythical journey made by the native peoples of Sarayaku in the Amazon, who navigated down the river for months until they reached Kachi Urku, the mountain of salt.

84-year-old Maura is the guardian of a very particular tradition in danger of extinction. She is a singer of amorfinos, verses full of humor that will disappear forever with her departure.

Final minute is an Ecuadorian police thriller film, directed by Luis Avilés, was produced by Leticia Becilla and starring Ricardo Velasteguí. It is the first film in the world to be recorded entirely with drones.1 The film was released in Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, Manta, Durán and Samborondón, on August 3, 2018.

In a remote tropical village where superstition, ritual, and desire intertwine, ancient forces awaken beneath the surface of everyday life. As tensions grow between faith and ancestral magic, passion, jealousy, and violence begin to spiral through the community. In this feverish landscape of fire, moonlight, and serpents, destiny moves in cycles that no one can escape.

Allan, a bookstore owner, struggles to get over his ex, Estefanía. Estefanía's Ghost, along with Julio Cortázar and Medardo Ángel Silva, will help Allan find love, or at least get laid, or both.

In one of the most unique and fragile ecosystems on the planet, the Galápagos archipelago, marine biologist Carolina Proaño is fighting to preserve a critically endangered endemic species: the Galápagos petrel. For years, studying these seabirds, which spend most of their lives in the ocean and are closely linked to the health of the marine ecosystem, led her to face an alarming reality: the invasion of plastic in natural habitats. Inspired by the resilience and vulnerability of these birds, Carolina decided to go beyond science. Thus, Precious Plastics Galápagos was born, a community initiative that transforms plastic waste into useful products and raises environmental awareness among young people, families, and fishermen on the island.

Ricardo Ruales Eguiguren, like his father, lives with Treacher Collins syndrome. This genetically transmitted facial condition altered his appearance and prevented him from pronouncing the letter “r” for years, which plunged him into silence. At home, however, almost nothing was talked about. Not the family illness, nor his homosexuality.

Our environment shapes our ideas, our dreams, and even our happiness, an unknown emotion without its eternal companions: expectations, pressure, and limitations. But how do we rediscover it? Or more importantly, how do we rediscover ourselves to uncover happiness without its companions? Perhaps it is time to meet the elephant.

A screenwriter turns to witchcraft for inspiration, bringing an entity that induces him into a state of ecstasy, which allows him to write with ease; although this little by little merits certain sacrifices.

Martina is a young novice who is dedicated to assisting the priest Francisco in funeral masses. With the unexpected death of Afrodita, a charismatic and respected drag queen whose last wish was to be veiled with joy and party, her secret past within the LGBTIQ+ community reappears, which he must face. Between Vogue, an ex-girlfriend, and her fear of coming out of the closet, she will understand that she does not have to fear love and living authentically.

Mike and Alanna drove a motorbike and sidecar from Alaska to Argentina and interviewed 120 couples about how to stay together for life. They also subjected themselves to scientific tests, to see if their marriage would last. They found out the results at the end of the road...

Arch of the Queen

The flow of migration from South to North America is not only a recent phenomenon. In the early 1980s, for example, Ecuadorians fled their country from the war with Peru, or escaped the violence in the border region by heading to the north of the country. Among them were the family of Wil Paucar Calle.

A short film that tells the story of Fernando Daquilema and the indigenous uprising between 1870 and 1871 in the province of Chimborazo.

When Nina and María's harvest is rejected, mother and daughter venture into one of Europe's largest food markets. Together, they will strengthen their bond as they face this challenge.

In the 90s, best friends Emilia and Mateo, both 13 and outsiders, find solace in their bond and their love for the Spice Girls. Bullied by their peers, Emilia is inspired by the group's message of "girl power." When she discovers a video dance contest offering tickets to a Miami concert, she sees it as their chance to meet their idols. As they rehearse, they face insecurities and bullies but remain determined. Their journey is filled with obstacles, yet they persist. On the day of the winners' announcement, they anxiously await the results. The film celebrates friendship, resilience, and the pursuit of dreams.

Chronicle of the judicial process for the murder of 16-year-old student Paúl Guañuna, committed by police officers in 2007. The fight of a father and thousands of young people against racism, authoritarianism and impunity.

On April 16, 2016, a devastating earthquake shakes the Ecuadorian coast. Independiente del Valle, a young soccer team from the Sangolquí Valley, invents a new face for soccer by donating the box office from Copa Libertadores tickets. The club joins the solidarity gestures of a united country. For a moment, sport is seized by a spirit that brings it closer to the realm of pure play. What happens, then, when the game stops being just a game? Is something new invented?

Short film by Gustavo Valle

Ale and Emma, two twin sisters spend the weekend of the elections together, perfectly knowing that they both think differently about politics.

A group of women enters the life of a writer to take care of him and his poem.

Oswaldo Guayasamín, one of the most renowned Latin American artists, with more than 600 portraits in his pictorial career, (among which are F. Mitterrand, Carolina de Mónaco, Juan Carlos I, Rigoberta Menchu) paints his self-portrait, while he tells us the foundations of his art.

A young film professor and his student will find themselves entangled in a plot revolving around a mysterious can of film containing secret information related to one of the darkest chapters in human history. Which force will ultimately retain this mysterious can of film? Good or evil?

Samuel, an office worker tired of existing, decides to take poison to end his life, without imagining that time would pass and his pain would increase indeterminately, until he had a connection with a spiritual entity.