Discoveries from Venezuela World Cinema

Short film by Diego Rísquez.

A girl is torn between a relationship that no longer satisfies her and a loneliness that terrifies her. Available on YouTube

At a school inside a fascist country, a child named Santiago finds himself obliged to deliver a welcoming speech to a senior official who will visit the school.

The salsa singer Rubén Blades attends the Super-8 Film Festival in Caracas and Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Feature film by John Dickinson.

Research focusing on the experience of the body in the drums of the Falcon coast.

A juxtaposition of two types of alienation: social and spiritual. While the concept itself refers to an estrangement from the self, it also explores how the subject loses their identity to social trends. The film portrays two groups of alienated individuals at different parties: the 'happy' party, where everyone smokes and drinks simply to conform, and the 'sad' party, where alienation is spiritual and intrapersonal. Although their realities differ, both groups hear the same thing: the sound of being alive.

Music from a haunted matinee.

Life in the slums of Caracas: misery, violence, unemployment, strength, vitality.

Hera; a teenage girl blinded by rage, manages to convince her best friend; Clara, of smashing the windshield of a brand new SUV belonging to Emiliano, a corrupt military who lives in the same building as them, as a way of retaliation after watching a video online that shows him torturing young protesters.

A film by Michael New.

First documentary dedicated to rescuing from oblivion the figure of the “other Che”: Carlos Fonseca Amador (1936-1976), founder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. It was filmed from 2010 to 2011 in key places such as León, Pancasán, Zinica, Managua, Estelí, Matagalpa and Havana after a two-year investigation in search of those who knew him personally among the leaders of the Sandinista Revolution and anonymous collaborators such as the peasants who fed his guerrillas.

Aquilino, better known as "Lepe", is a circus clown who returns to Caracas after several years of absence with his assistant Lepino to discover the whereabouts of his granddaughter Geraldine, the result of a relationship his daughter had with the young millionaire Juan Bértola, who died in a plane crash when Geraldine was just a baby.

Alberto and Clara visit a swinger’s resort in an attempt to revive their marriage. There, they meet Julia, an intriguing woman who develops feelings for Clara. The situation takes an unexpected turn when Clara confesses to Alberto that she has feelings for Julia and has had past bisexual experiences. Although hurt, Alberto remains in love with Clara and is determined to win her back, with the help of his new friend, G, the resort's bartender.

Anabel, a young woman who dreams of studying at the American Ballet, begins a love affair with Bruno, a biology student. When Anabel is about to achieve her dream, she gets pregnant and faces the dilemma of choosing between marriage or giving up Bruno's love and achieving her goal. She decides to have an abortion.

Halfway between fiction and documentary, Initiation of a Shaman tells the story of Rarowe, a young Yanomami who is about to be initiated and must make contact with spirits brought by other shamans. The young man feels the effects of the initiation and always waits until the end to see if he can withstand it. The initiation itself is a rare event and occurs only when the old medicine man is about to die. The ancient rites includes the struggle of the youth with evil spirits which attempt to prevent the old witch doctor from imparting his wisdom to the young man. Hallucinogetic plants are used by the tribe to increase perception. The eerie images depicted are similar to those evoked in the books of Castaneda.

Two sisters in love with the same man.

Simone develops an unhealthy obsession with the extreme sexual practice of bloodplay.

A young woman, moved by the circumstances of her social environment, falls into crime, drugs and prostitution

Bromelia dreams of a love for the rest of her life, while sewing trousseaus in her mother's bridal shop. When Pedro finally arrives, the love he yearns for so much will bring forth captivating and unexpected experiences.

An interview to the Venezuelan writer José León Tapia.

Experimental animation film by José Castillo.

Adolescent and from a modest neighborhood, Ana has spent her years in front of a sewing machine, working to support her two younger brothers and silently enduring the abuse of a pervert stepfather and an indifferent mother. Her hearing impairment has made marginalized her in a world that refuses to listen to her, becoming her in an object of use of who are around her. Unable to resign herself that her brothers will suffer the same fate, Ana decides to save them, embarking on a trip to freedom.

Cecilia, an artist and frustrated daughter, constantly tries to maintain her relationship with her mother, Carola, afloat. However, no matter how hard she tries, Carola seems determined to repeatedly fuel the resentment that has built up between them.

On her first student film shoot, Camila, the director, discovers that her boyfriend, Miguel, an actor, is cheating on her with his co-star. Upon learning of the infidelity, Camila questions her relationship with Miguel and her passion for filmmaking.

The Miranda Viaduct, a place where things with a lot of meaning happen, being a silent witness to countless stories and profound events. For someone who has lived in this place all their life, the knowledge of every corner and the memories that accumulate over time make the act of passing through it something deeply personal and full of meaning, generating each day a completely new experience full of memories.

The sound of metal creaking as if something is about to break. An old pickup truck adapted to carry passengers crosses the La Guajira desert in Colombia. With the wind come voices that merge among the passengers who travel there. A Wayuu woman returns to her territory, accompanied by her family, after years of exile due to a paramilitary massacre. A cyclical journey where the time layers of the territory touch and the border between the living and the dead is diluted.

Venezuelan feature film by Julio César Mármol.

Is it possible to use sound to travel through time and experience the fate of other people? This story of a sound engineer studying recordings of war conflicts from the past transports viewers smack dab in the middle of a ravenous rampage where the horrors of the past come to the fore. The film also presents a philosophical reflection on the role that sound plays in our world. The film was developed on the program of the AAMOD Premio Zavattini.

An adaptation of the tale by Antonio Arráiz.

A hazardous encounter leads América and Juan Pedro to recognize in each other the unsuspicious emotion of the first love. Young and innocent identified with their artistic devotion -he is a composer, she a dancer- they overstep the bound of their shared feeling, joyful and without great fears. They never imagined that their openhearted and pure love could hide a stain: that of racial prejudice.

Secrets from the past arise during a grieving couple's divorce.

The initiation journey of a boy who must leave his childhood behind and become a man in order to keep his family together.

Short film by Alfredo Lugo.

A scientist is confined due to a terminal, contagious illness. He muses with his alter ego about existence.

Since the 1940s, the Basque community in Venezuela maintained the Basque government in exile through its contributions and was very active in denouncing Franco's dictatorship, running countless propaganda campaigns. The PNV (Basque Nationalist Party), the main figure in this struggle, made this film — a testimony of the Basque resistance to Franco's regime.

Ana gets accepted in college, but she is unsure of her future. Her best friend, María, gifts her a special brownie, which causes some unfortunately events. Then, Ana receives some mysterious messages with confusing leads.

The Congo Mirador is a town that is on the water. Some children turn gallons that fishermen use to store gasoline into boats.

Victor, a middle-class child, escapes from his home in search of his father; after multiple crossings find it where you least expect, with the help of two small living on the street.

1, 2 y 3 Mujeres addresses the issue of women and their relationship with their social and geographical environment from different perspectives and aesthetic proposals through the stories of Eloína, Rosario and Gregoria. Eloína shows the greatness and value of assuming certain positions in the role of mother. Rosario exposes the experience of candor to the woman in the context of loneliness and Gregoria shows weakness versus strength and impetus in decision making to guarantee emotional stability.

The same asphalt without blood. The bullets whistled very close, today the children aim fake. I was in Monroy, they brought him from Tracabordo. The names are underground, the ruin dissipated in a few days.

A tarot reader plays with the fate of her clients until she receives an unexpected visitor.

A 12-year-old boy is asked to write an essay about what his family does at night.

Relentless chase between a pen and the letter d.

The streaming platform premieres ¡Ay Mamá!, a film that combines humor, nostalgia, and Christmas traditions, directed by Emil Zabala.

Cesar and Maria wander around the city like strangers, but are still able to recognize each other through the pain in a short glance, shaped by the violence that has changed their lives.

Experimental short feature about "Chimichimitos", little gnomes in Venezuela that dance to the sound of drums. It was awarded with the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at the 1961 Berlin International Film Festival.

Mexico, San Cristobal de Las Casas, 1982. Ana Olalde replaces the city, science, and pollution with people, art, and nature.

The director leaves his native country and adapts to new territories. Inside his work routine in a New York City restaurant, messages from his family come and go, shattered pieces of lost paradises.

A confectioner prepares the cake for a party to which she hopes to be invited.