SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION

Short Films in Competition is one of the longest running programs of the festival, and we are pleased to keep being chosen by many talented filmmakers from Latin America to present their works with us.

Programming Committee: Sarah Shamash and Artemio Narro.


The winning film will be chosen by the Short Films Jury and receive a cash prize of $500 CAD.

This year, the shorts in competition will screen before feature films.


5:03 AM

(Precedes CHAVELA)

Director: Abril Schmucler Iñiguez
Mexico, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 13 min

In the privacy of her bathroom, Paulina undresses, removes makeup. Her social networks reveal the troubles she is living through.


ABATE

Precedes COLD WATER OF THE SEA

Director: Lucas Vinzon Guimarães
Brazil, 2018
Portuguese with English subtitles | 14 min

Isabel finds out that her grandfather’s farm, a formative space of her childhood, was sold by her parents without telling her. Haunted by veiled memories, she drives to the farm in an attempt to repair the past.


AND THAT IS HOW THE RIVERS CAME TO BE
(Y así aparecieron los ríos)

Screens in LANGUAGES OF SOVEREIGNTY – Program 1

Director: Miguel Aráoz Cartagena
Peru, 2018
Kukama with English subtitles | 3.16 min

An animated oral story that takes us back in time to the moment when a mighty Kukama God created the Amazon’s rivers with his bow and arrow.


CHEMISTRY
(Química)

Precedes the screening of THE GOOD GIRLS on August 24

Director: Mariana Musalem Ramos
Mexico, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 11.53 min

Ten-year-old Valeria has a strong bond with her neighbour Susana, also ten, but an incident will change the future of their friendship.


GUAXUMA

Precedes the screening of THE HEIRESSES on August 29

Director: Nara Normande
Brasil, 2018
Portuguese with English subtitles | 14.16 min

Tayra and I grew up on a beach in the northeast of Brazil. We were inseparable. The sea breeze brings me back happy memories.


HIDDEN LIFE
(TIERRA AJENA)

Screens in #ACTIVISMO – SHORTS PROGRAM

Director: Valeria Brenes
Costa Rica, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 14.33 min

In a futuristic city, an authoritarian regime spreads propaganda that all soil has become infertile. On an assignment for the National Communication Centre, Sam discovers a secret that makes her question everything she knows.


MARÍA OF THE MANGROVES (MARÍA DE LOS ESTEROS)

Precedes MATAINDIOS

Director: Eugenio Gómez Borrero
Colombia, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 7.10 min

While extracting oysters from the mangroves, María unearths memories, songs, and ghosts. Present and past are blurred,and today, just like before, María refuses to leave her land.


THE MEXICAN GALAPAGOS

Screens in #ACTIVISMO – SHORTS PROGRAM

Director: Tania Claudia Castillo
Mexico, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 13 min

In the middle of the Chihuahuan desert, there is an archipelago of lagoons that hosts the oldest organisms living on our planet. Due to their biological diversity, scientists compare them with the Galapagos Islands. This region is currently under threat.


MONTE CARMELO

Screens in #ACTIVISMO – SHORTS PROGRAM

Director: Edén Bastida Kullick
Puerto Rico/Argentina, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 2.53 min

A picture-film tells the story of the day that Felix’s family’s bees expelled the US Navy from their land. A story that is kept alive in Vieques, Puerto Rico and serves as an ember for the resistance to the colonial status of the island.


PAULA’S ETERNITY 

Precedes the screening of LOS SILENCIOS on August 24

Director: Dayana Gauthier
Venezuela, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 10.50 min

Five-year-old Liana and her family face a devastating drought. While the mother packs to leave, Liana has an unexpected encounter that will change the destiny of all.


VICTORIA

Precedes screening of YO, IMPOSIBLE on August 28

Director: William Reyes
Honduras, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 9 min

Victoria, an elderly transgender woman, lives in a small town in the centre of Honduras, where she has struggled towards finding acceptance.


THE WOODLAND (EL MONTE)

Precedes ON THE STARTING LINE (LA ARRANCADA)

Director: Claudia Claremi
Cuba, 2018
Spanish with English subtitles | 13.10 min

In the Sierra Maestra mountains of Cuba, José Manuel explains to his granddaughter Malena his worldview, and shares with her a deep knowledge of nature’s mysteries. Plants and humans have a great resemblance and must respect each other.