Discoveries from Uruguay World Cinema

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A trumpeter for the Uruguayan Air Force Band finds an opportunity to make his dreams come true after enrolling in a music contest.

Valentina seeks refuge from the incessant waves of her mind in the pages of her upcoming poetry book Lapislazuli, trying to keep her life from slipping away like sand through her fingers. With words from her poem Citrino, we journey through a range of emotions and feel the ups and downs of her Borderline Personality Disorder.

Summer in Uruguay. The Saldaña family are looking after the house of their well-off neighbors, the Pernas. Having the key to temptation, they decide to abuse their duties and spend the holidays there. What begins as an innocent game quickly escalates to a full-out confrontation between the families after the unexpected disappearance of the Pernas' dog.

At 28, Santiago still lives with his mother and has no real job projects. In order to feel independent, he decides to move to his family's summer house in a seaside resort during the winter. His human ties in this deserted place will be reduced to his neighbor, a paranoid family man, and the local bike rider, an alcoholic man who carries a homemade nunchaku and claims his friendship.

A young woman on the beach waits until she's alone to take a bath naked. Just her and the ocean. Except for the figure that is glancing her from some bushes.

A portrayal of the multifaceted artist Sofía Saunier's daily routine as she takes care of her housemate and makes Transur, a film project showing the present reality of Uruguay's trans community.

The employer is a young man who apparently has everything going on for him except one pressing concern: his baby’s health. The employee is looking for a job to support his newborn too, so does not hesitate when the first decides to hire him to work in his lands. Both will meet their needs by helping each other. But one day an accident happens. This unexpected event will strain the ties between them, endangering the fate of the two families.

After the news of the sale of the house where we lived for the last 15 years and its imminent demolition, I felt the need to revisit my story, marked by a violent childhood. Digging into the personal archives that I started filming at the age of 19, I discover that my life was very similar to my mothers and I decide to start a dialogue with her, in the hope of healing a shared wound.

The life and work of French puppeteer Philippe Genty are marked by the power of his visual poetry. His childhood traumas and dreams led him to become one of today's greatest exponents of theater and visual arts. At 83, he finds himself in his studio in a Brittany forest, where he inhabits both his hells and his paradises. This journey begins when Philippe opens the doors to that world for us.

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.

Alex is around 40 years old, he is nice and friendly and also addicted to pleasure and sex. He lives with his wife and his two children. A tour of 24 hours in his life.

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.

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.

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.

The Last Vermicelli is a uruguayan short film published in 1987, based on the story of the same name by Roberto Fontanarrosa.

A construction worker takes a part in one of the most profound, obsessive and recognized theater companies of the Uruguayan scene. He will lead them to rebuild a new theater from the ruins of the old Odeón, burned two decades ago.

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.

Heartbroken, Maite arrives at a coastal town where the few residents live out their lonely lives. The peace soon disappears, when they come across an unconscious sailor on the beach one day, prompting Maite to decide whether to move forward and create a new life or remain stranded on those shores.

An ex-convict returns home in search of a new life and a chance to reconnect with his estranged young daughter, only to be met with resistance from his father-in-law - an influential pastor in the Evangelical community in town.

An average Sunday in the life of the filmmaker.

Twentysomething Bruno moves in to become roommates with Felipe. Before long, Felipe realizes he is feeling attracted to his roommate, a desire he was not expecting, and that he is not prepared for.

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...

Clara, a widow in the twilight of her life, spends her days lonely. She invites someone dear to her to share a barbecue together. However, his delay will undo her plans, and her ritual around the preparation will unstabilize itself.

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.

An anxious woman navigates the bustle of modern day Cairo to find her missing lover, a young adult strives for an authentic connection in a future society numbed by alcohol, and two Cold War-era lovers face the consequences of finding romance across political borders. A vibrant collection of short films - by turns gritty and dreamlike - exploring the changes and complexities of a Love Evolving.

Fruit falling down stairs

The official documentary of the Copa Libertadores Feminina 2021

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

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."

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.

In a small, coastal colonial town, a clawed vampire rises from the ground near an old cemetery. He immediately attack couple. The bodies are found and then taken to a coroner's office, where the doctor does a thorough examination, not only discovering the girl has been completely drained dry but also that there are puncture wounds and traces of human saliva on her neck. He takes his findings to his police inspector friend. After another girl is attacked and killed in the same manner, the two men ponder whether the killer is a psycho who only fancies himself a vampire. Even more bloodless corpses turning up all over town and a funeral home reporting a coffin being stolen fail to convince them one way or another.

Two kids merrily play make-believe inside their house, unaware of the inequality that exists in the world.

A woman tries to write a nice goodbye letter to her husband.

"Traslados" is a compelling documentary that investigates the notorious "Death Flights" conducted during Argentina's last civic-military dictatorship (1976-1983). Through powerful testimonies from former detainees, victims' families, and experts, along with archival footage, animations, and emotional recreations, the film pieces together the intricate puzzle of evidence that confirms the regime's brutal methods of murder and forced disappearance. Key moments featured include the discovery of the body of French nun Leonnie Duquet, the infiltration of military officer Alfredo Astiz into the Madres de Plaza de Mayo group, and an interview with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. The documentary also highlights the significant event of a plane used in the "Death Flights" returning to Argentina in 2023, serving as a poignant reminder of this dark chapter in history.

A tale based on a true story set in the old city of Montevideo. Marcelo is a young criminal turned taxi driver devoted to extorting money from rich homosexuals.

The mythical Uruguayan version of Saturday Night Fever, directed by J. Eduardo Ribero (yes, the one from Karibe with K), Sábado Disco Sábado Pachanga tells the story of a humble boy with a dream: to win the dance trophy. Faced with this desire, a businessman who will do everything to avoid his triumph takes precedence. With music by Rada, Psiglo and Diane Denoir, Sábado Disco is a film as disconcerting as it is unforgettable.

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.

Santiago wakes up in the desert and goes to his father’s house who receives him at gunpoint. Ernesto decides to sacrifice Arón, the dog, but phantasmagoric apparitions shake the family’s foundations.

The story of 4 normal people, with their jobs, dreams and frustrations. Set in offices, apartments and hovelled boarding houses with a gray-looking Montevideo in the background.

Between 1950 and 1952, the Uruguayan essayist, critic and writer José Pedro Díaz created a film diary with images that display a range of diverse interests: social observation, the portrait of the artistic-intellectual community in Europe and a look at domestic cinema from travels, portraying his wife, the poet Amanda Berenguer. As a perfect complement he also had a literary diary. Both form a unique testimonial chronicle: how to read the script and see what was filmed. This documentary deals with that lesser-known area of Díaz's work.

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

Teenager with Attitude gets recruited to pilot a Giant Robot.

Today is their last chance to have sex for the first time. Early tomorrow morning, Micaela is moving to Madrid, Santiago is staying behind in Uruguay. They have it all planned out: a secluded spot, condoms – and getting a few tips from a friend, just in case.

Award-winning documentary about how one Uruguayan leftist survived solitary confinement during the dirty war. The story of former Tupamaro guerilla fighter, Henry Engler, whose prolonged confinement and torture during the Uruguayan dictatorship led to a mental breakdown. Today Dr. Engler is a Swedish citizen and a scientist renowned for his research into Alzheimer’s disease. In this impressive documentary, the scientist visits the places of his painful past, painting an intimate and disturbing portrait of prison life under the dictatorship.

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.

Docudrama that shows life and country games in Uruguay at the beginning of the last century, through the adventures of a child. With country and gaucho themes, it was co-produced by the National Directorate of Public Relations (DINARP). The film is based on texts by Serafín García.

We follow the lives of some three-year-old children who attend their final year at an early childhood care center. We explore their language, their tests and experiments, their ways of communicating, their relationship with the environment, music and other forms of expression. A documentary about the wonderful process of growth and the challenges that a poor neighborhood faces in a very particular year.

Soledad loses the ability to orgasm after a strange man she met on a dating app bites her on their first date. Following the traumatic experience, she realizes that now she, too, needs to bite in order to feel pleasure.