Discoveries from Uruguay World Cinema

Magnis hears a cry for help and goes to the rescue. What could go wrong? Made in 3 days in 2016 as an entry for a scholarship. Released to the public ten years later.

Living the mundane existence of a professional bodyguard, always in the shadows of his clients, Ruben decides to make a change that will finally give him a personal connection outside of his solitary world.

A man, tired of the painful world that surrounds him, slowly begins to notice changes in his monotonous life. Little by little a dark thought takes shape in his mind; the world is forgetting him, slowly he is fading into the gray walls around him.

Rosa's father escapes from a nursing home and comes back to his former house. He hides a secret, and he's not coming alone.

Ivan, a Uruguayan political exile living in Mexico, returns to his country after his father's death. The reencounter with his empty home will push Ivan to look back in time in order to come to terms with the past.

A chronicle of a supermarket security guard's obsession with a late-shift janitor.

Three old men and a little boy try to preserve what they consider to be National Patrimony in the form of a locomotive nicknamed the "33"

Jimmy and Miguel embark on a heroic journey in which Miguel helps his companion, a washed-up rocker, find a cure for his nightmares and addictions.

An animated tribute to the singer-songwriter Eduardo Darnauchans and the poem narrated by himself

Rosa still lives by her husband's rules despite the fact that he died six months ago. Her worsening relationship with her son has left her estranged from her only family. When she meets Juan, a divorcee, with whom she shares her passion for tango, she starts to rediscover herself and something starts to change. But before she can move on she's confronted with some uncomfortable truths.

Tristán is navigating his teenage years in an exceptional way: navigating his gender transition alongside his mum Virginia, his friends, his school and the Argentine State, whilst discovering his passion for drawing. But when the pressures of adulthood begin to mount and a shift in the political landscape threatens his rights, he is faced with a question: is it possible to be trans without suffering so much?

In a near future in Brazil, a totalitarian regime forces the elderly into residences where they extract memories from their brains to train an AI system. Horrified by this new reality, one man escapes one of the residences and joins a guerrilla cell led by fellow dissidents over 75.

A team of advisers is brought in to manufacture the image of Marchand, producing social media profiles, commercials and a new public persona. Conflict arises when it is revealed that not everyone is who they present themselves to be. At his country estate, a rich businessman who wants to be president is groomed by a campaign team to create an image palatable to middle-class voters.

Basilio is a great guy, a poor devil with a huge heart who nobody really notices. Dominated by his wife, humiliated by his colleagues, despised by the man who walks his dog. Basilio decides to give it all up, but in the middle of his suicide attempt he meets three peculiar characters, a noise pollution officer, a young 12-year old girl and a creative and endearing woman who keeps losing her phone. With these three in tow, he wanders through the city, while the noise around him is growing.

After the death of his mother, Emilio is not prepared to manage a cursed inheritance, the promiscuity of his desires and the discovery of a love. At 18 years old, he will be puzzled when he realises that fate sometimes hangs on something as fragile as the flight of a dove.

During the COVID-19 lockdown in Lima, Ramón, a gay man in his thirties, receives the ashes of his estranged father. Unable to hold a funeral, he sets out to return the remains to his father’s native village of Mito. Along the way, he meets Mateo, a striking traveler grounded by the pandemic. Despite curfews, masks, and distancing, an unexpected bond forms. They dance, laugh, and grow attuned to each other’s presence, their closeness charged with quiet intimacy and unspoken possibility. As they journey into the Andean highlands, Ramón is drawn not only to Mateo but also to a deeper confrontation with grief, memory, and the hope of healing.

A rebel is imprisioned during political repression. He knows that the fate of all prisioners is death through torture. However, the jailer seem to want to help our hero. But is it really so?

Simon is 21 years old. He introduces himself as a mover's helper. He claims not to know how to cook or clean the bathroom, but he does know how to make a bed. Recently, he seems to have become a different person…

Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly was presented at the Teatro Solís, Montevideo in May 2023 as a stellar part of its lyric season. This acclaimed production, which addresses cultural clash and romantic tragedy, came from the National Theatre of Maribor, Slovenia, under the musical direction of Martín García.

Gregório is a rustic and idealistic peasant who lives frustrated in the village of Rosillas. Arrogant and bold, he wants to recover the waters of the family's old dam, which were diverted by Colonel Igrejas, an Argentinean farmer who acts in collusion with the town's mayor to benefit the cultivation of his own vines. In the midst of all this, Gregório will have to face the contempt of the residents, the corruption and the socioeconomic power of the elite, leaving aside the love for his little son Olegário, the care for his elderly parents and the love of Paula, the teacher at the school who insists that he go live in the city. How does the one who stays on the land that everyone has decided to leave survives.

Portrait of the birth of a friendship between two men, while one helps the other to die. The acceptance of pain, the sense of humour and the commitment to family and friends, will accompany the virtual chats between Fernando and Eric, who were unable to meet due to the pandemic.

Dissatisfied with his new life (and wife), a man tries to insinuate himself back into the home of the ex-wife and daughter he left ten years before.

A female capybara and her cubs are fleeing from a hunter who has settled in the lagoon where they live. Their search for shelter takes them to a nearby chicken coop, but the chickens, seeing their routine threatened, reject the capybaras and react by setting boundaries to keep them at a distance. The curiosity of the youngest, a puppy and a chick, will make them transgress the boundaries and take some risks in order to get to know each other. The situation will lead to an unexpected end that will change the lives of both species and, perhaps, that of some other animals.

In a world of uncertainty, two narrators lend their voice to the dreams, fears, and hopes of Latin American youth. Who has the right to dream and at what cost do we lose our dreams of the future?

The story of a Uruguayan car racer that dreamt about being in F1 and did all that was possible to reach his goal. When he was about to reach his best prize, he died in a car accident at the CART World Series tests in Laguna Seca, US. This is a story about inspiration and overcoming obstacles. It portrays that nothing is impossible in life if there is dedication and love. A story about a young man that went through many hardships and that raced with the best. He came from a far away country with no tradition in the international automobile racing world.

Santiago, an Argentine police corporal, crosses the border into Uruguay fleeing from other police officers who are looking for him. Using his uniform, he inspects regional food stalls, sampling dairy products and cold cuts to survive, while trying to go unnoticed among the locals. Without money or lodging, but with empathy and cunning, he begins to plot a new life, receiving help from local characters he meets along the way and even finding what he believes to be the love of his life.

A Media Agua is a documentary filmed in 16mm, made up of a series of short films that review the history of the last century through the eyes of an Anglo-Uruguayan family and their perception of Uruguayan culture, World War II and technological advances of the time. Based on found and salvaged film reels, the team attempts to piece together the history of this fragmented family and its subsequent three generations, with the goal of understanding their beliefs and secrets as part of the Secret Service in South America.

Boris is stunned when his girlfriend Ana asks for some time apart. He doesn't know why and she can't explain it. Some time can mean so many things. How much time apart? A week, a month, years? During this imprecise period of uncertainty, Boris is left at the mercy of chance. His life transforms into an erratic urban journey: moving into a transient hotel, buying a temperamental communist-era car, meeting up with a long-lost classmate, random encounters with other women and repeatedly trying to get back together with Ana.

Fernando, a lonely and tormented man, gets a job as a night watchman in a warehouse close to being demolished. The building is huge, with several floors and wings interconnected by a confusing network of corridors and stairs. One night, Fernando hears strange noises and finds a gate open that should be closed. From that moment on, nothing will be the same.

The story of Juan, a man who, after almost two years of waiting and with his heart working at barely 8% capacity, receives the news that there is a donor for him. 12 hours and 2 minutes elapse from that call until the end of the operation.

The man lives alone with his dog. He is obsessed and perturbed by her sole presence, so decides to get rid of her. But even if he abandons her far away, she keeps coming back.

A night out at her best friend's house will make Irina realize that maybe something about that girl interests her more than she thought.

In the 1950s, young revolutionary Ernesto Guevara meets Peruvian economist, intellectual and activist Hilda Gadea, whose sharp political vision and energy left a lasting mark on his path. At its core, the story delves into their romantic bond, Hilda’s journey through motherhood and the agonizing choice that ultimately shaped her life: remain by her daughter’s side or follow the call of the revolution.

Two musicians share a passion for tango. After a tragedy, the young man is never the same again.

I have to get that world back, to change this one," says Laura. Then she searches among the memories, letters, friends, piano, mountain, snow where she was born, the house where her adoptive grandmother lived (and died): Yenia Dumnova. It is a retrospective search, a historical and affective reconstruction made of fragments, memory, documents, fiction. As she unravels Yenia’s secret story, Laura will recover her own: her relationship with exile, time, family, art, adulthood and death. In this emotional journey, sometimes fictionalized, sometimes narrated by Laura Paredes, the author meets the stories of those who met Yania and remember her with the same wonder and affection as when they frequented her in that convulsive twentieth century.

Bloody crimes shake a little village. A bunch of teenagers discover the cause of these killings is a werewolf that has arrived to stay. Things turn real wild when the werewolf discovers them.

Gripped by the blind faith of her father, Reverend Pearson, Leni accompanies him on his evangelical mission. A banal accident forces them to stop at El Gringo's garage. When the Reverend becomes obssessed with saving the soul of Chango, the mechanic's son, Leni realises the time has come to take her fate into her own hands.

Miguel and Alicia are a young retired couple. One day, Alicia goes to visit her mother-in-law at the nursing home. Hours go by and she does not return. Concerned, Miguel goes out to look for her, but finds her sitting on the sidewalk. What's wrong with her? What happened during this visit? Alicia does not answer. The following days Miguel tries to find out the reason for his wife's attitude, who remains quiet and still in the same position, while he tries to get everything back to normal.

A woman that is an excellent wife and mother, and responsible and efficient in her work, commits a shameful act pushed by fate.

Hilda must be responsible of a decision that she took long time ago. Her life is altered by the news that her son is coming to visit her after several years away. She tries to replenish her weathered image by the passage of time. This will stir her reality and her link with the past.

Crowds is a feature documentary that records popular events of Uruguay where thousands of people gather spontaneously, called by faith, passion, celebration and memory. What happens when we set aside our individuality to act collectively? This documentary observes the passions that draw thousands of people close in order to join in a choral character. It discovers the crowd while it transgresses and experiences catharsis, while it seeks miracles and hopes; in continuous movement it splits and rejoins... until they dissipate and individuals re-emerge in their own solitude.

Román is a Uruguayan drama set in Rocha that follows a young man dealing with mental health, isolation, and the search for his place in the world. As the line between reality and imagination begins to blur, he is forced to confront his inner conflicts in a society that does not always understand him.

Still bitter from a recent divorce, martial arts instructor Clever discovers a car tricked out with flames in his neighborhood and sets out on a single-minded quest: to find the artist and treat his own vehicle. His journey leads to a secluded village, and to an enigmatic personality who isn’t quite what he expects. Delightfully odd and idiosyncratic, Clever is an absurd satire of the fragile façade of masculinity.

A Latin American horror anthology where filmmakers from conjure shadows rooted in their land, their ghosts, and their history.

A young city couple find themselves stuck at a rural gas station after their car breaks down. An old man, disturbed by their disrespectful behavior, starts telling them a story about the importance of respect: the cautionary tale of El Cojonudo.

Four stories of normal Montevideans like you and me, but with one thing in common: bad luck. One figure, the master of the ceremony, ties stories together commenting on the failures of those four people, as he tries to make his fortune on a slot-machine.

A Montevideo journalist discovers that the murder of a boy from the slums near the vineyards had political reasons, and was not an isolated incident. Developing a friendship with the victim's older brother, and then the entire family, the journalist tries to get to the bottom of this case. It is not the only case of summary executions of young poor boys in this vineyard, but nevertheless few people really want to challenge the powerful owner of the vineyards.

This film fable is not presented as an attempt to stop the natural course of existence, but as a way of approaching life and reconciling ourselves with its rules. Director Carolina Campo Lupo and Eliana were friends since they were teenagers, they grew up together and always accompanied each other, learning how to become women, mothers, friends and political beings. One day Eliana falls ill and, not knowing what to do, Carolina gives her her film camera as a way of dealing with the uncertainty. From that day on, together they begin to film their last encounters. With the camera as a witness, free and shared between adults and children, they go through the small moments of life; the everyday becomes transcendent and love emerges as the only thing capable of sustaining us.

In the days leading up to the start of the Uruguayan dictatorship in 1933, Eugenia and Emanuel argued over their differing positions on the issue, which created tensions in their relationship...

Nina and Emma are two young friends who decide to go on their first summer holidays on their own. When Emma starts dating someone she meets one of those nights, the dynamic between the two friends gets shaken and Nina goes through a summer of deep questioning.

A YouTuber disappears while investigating a New Age guru who apparently contacts extraterrestrial intelligence.

A father goes to the beach to search for crabs with his son. In the process, he undergoes an unexpected metamorphosis that will affect his perception of time and reality.

Lucía, a 27-year-old woman, returns to her childhood home in order to sell it. While waiting for the results of a pregnancy test, an unexpected encounter forces her to confront past wounds.

This documentary, which includes testimonies from architects, urban planners, and specialists, as well as images of the demolition of iconic buildings, invites us to consider how heritage preservation and modernity can be combined without transforming Montevideo into a "museum city."

Documentary on the life of uruguayan legendary musician Hugo Fattoruso.

The official documentary of the Copa Libertadores Feminina 2021

Tiana, a teenage occult fanatic, finds a ring that lets her summon tiny demons she will use to enact her revenge against anyone who mocked her. The only one standing in her way is her shy sister, Micaela.