Filmographies - films at UST by Country: Latin America-General

Set in the remote mountain jungles of Guatemala, Mayan peasants, tired of being thought of as nothing more than 'brazos fuertes' (manual laborers), begin organizing in an effort to improve their lives. The Guatemalan army retaliate by destroying their village and killing their families. One teenage boy, Enrique, and his sister, Rosa, barely escape the massacre and flee to 'el norte.' Aided by friends and a veteran immigrant, they make their way by truck, bus and other means to Los Angeles, where they try to make a new life."--

Bookended by a foiled attempt on Simón Bolívar's life in Bogota in 1828, the film charts the story of the revolutionary leader's impassioned fight for independence from Spain and creation of a united South American nation, the stories of love and loss in his life, the political intrigue and drama following his ascension to power, and his mysterious death.

An elderly physician that trains young people to provide health care to the poor people of a agricultural country finds out that many of his former students are being killed. He goes there to find out why these men with guns are killing anyone they want.

In the Puerto Rican community of Washington Heights, Manny is graduating high school near the top of his class and is headed to Syracuse University on a full scholarship. His family organizes a massive graduation party, paid for by his older brother, Junior. Junior is a habitual womanizer who's done time for dealing drugs, but now he's working as a contractor. He's still hustling he falsifies his insurance certificate for a new job and hires illegal Mexican workers off the street, but he's trying to pull his life together and support his wife, Miriam. But his big celebration for Manny does not go smoothly. Their father, a reformed crack dealer, tries to participate in the big event, but Junior, still haunted by their ugly past, chases Oscar off, threatening to kill him. Manny has a crush on a mature classmate and when he escorts her home from the party, they are accosted on the subway by two hoods who molest Marisol and steal Manny's graduation money. Just when it seems the world might be opening up to them, Manny and Junior find their hopes for the future in jeopardy.

Presents the three-generation saga of the Sanchez family as told by the eldest son. From the beginnings of his father's journey from Mexico to California in the 1920s, to his brother, Chucho's, tragic rebellion of the 1950s, to the realities of modern day, the struggle to live the American dream is sometimes darkened but never diminished for Paco Sanchez and his family.

A powerful epic about a man of the sword and a man of the cloth who unite to shield a South American Indian tribe from brutal subjugation by 18th-century colonial empires.

Dramatization of the true story of a plane crash in the Andes Mountains and the surviving passengers' ordeal to survive. As days go by with no rescue in sight, they realize that the only way to stay alive is to feed on the bodies of the dead.

A local priest of a Latin American fishing village [is] recovering from a tsunami that washed away dozens of elementary school students. Ten years later, one of the young villagers miraculously comes back to life, and the whole town wonders if he is a sign from God.

The epic adventure of Christopher Columbus' life of exploration and discovery of America! Columbus persuades the Spanish court to back his expedition to reach the East by sailing west in order to find a new trade route to Asia. His attempts to live in peace with the natives in the New World are sabotaged by his followers who seek to exploit the land and the native people.

This program was created to complement the 2002-3 exhibition of Aztec culture at London's Royal Academy. Many of the incredible works loaned to the exhibit are shown, along with sculptures and artifacts filmed in Mexico City and at important Aztec sites. Leading scholars and curators explore how the nomadic Aztecs drew inspiration from earlier cultures. The variety and sophistication of Aztec art are extensively illustrated, along with the exquisite craftsmanship of their manuscripts and their jewelry.

Through detailed examination of archaeological and forensic evidence, existing photographs, authentic artifacts, and carefully selected interviews from eyewitnesses and experts, events are reconstructed and historical questions are finally answered. Five hundred years ago, the Aztec people comprised the most powerful civilization in the Americas, a power exemplified by Templo Mayor, a 12-story pyramid where dutiful Aztecs worshipped their gods. It's also where the world's largest mass sacrifice reportedly took place. In a temple dedication in 1487, records tell of 20,000 people sacrificed over a 4-day period. But, could such a large-scale human sacrifice have been logistically possible? Travel to Mexico City where Unsolved History's experts aim to learn the truth. First, a team of computer modelers rebuilds Templo Mayor in staggering detail. Using state of the art computer graphics, animators bring the glory of the Aztecs back to life brick-by-brick and provide the virtual setting for a modern-day recreation of the sacrifice. Then, Australia's Anatomical Surrogate Technologies builds a collection of artificial human torsos to exact specifications to simulate the sacrifice. The simple arithmetic behind sacrificing 20,000 humans over just 4 days is nothing less than astonishing--literally hundreds of sacrifices had to be performed at each altar daily. Learn about the character and social position of the victims and discover what kind of person it took to man the sacrificial altars for hours on end. Expert testimony from surgeon Brendon Coventry wraps things up as he walks through the various intricacies of Aztec ritual and explains how long it took to perform a typical sacrifice.

What is democracy? Freedom, equality, participation? Everyone has his or her own definition. Across the world, 120 countries now have at least the minimum trappings of democracy, the freedom to vote for all citizens. But for many, this is just the beginning not the end. Following decades of US-backed dictatorships, civil wars and devastating structural adjustment policies in the South, and corporate control, electoral corruption, and fraud in the North, representative politics in the Americas is in crisis. Citizens are now choosing to redefine democracy under their own terms: local, direct, and participatory. In 1989, the Brazilian Worker's Party altered the concept of local government when they installed participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, allowing residents to participate directly in the allocation of city funds. Ten years later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was swept into power with the promise of granting direct participation to the Venezuelan people; who have now formed tens of thousands of self-organized communal councils. In the Southern Cone, cooperative and recuperated factory numbers have grown, and across the Americas social movements and constitutional assemblies are taking authority away from the ruling elites and putting power into the hands of their members and citizens. Featuring interviews with: Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Martha Harnecker, Ward Churchill, and Leonardo Avritzer as well as cooperative and community members, elected representatives, academics, and activists from Brazil, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, United States, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and more. Beyond Elections is a journey that takes us across the Americas to attempt to answer one of the most important questions of our time: What is Democracy?

The director gamely attacks both the right-wing factions that encourage illegal Hispanic immigration for the sake of fueling big business, and the left-wing factions that want to leave the borders open to push multiculturalism and swing democratic votes from non-citizens. As a visual expose, Burgard carries his cameras to the no-man's land surrounding the southern U.S. boundary, for a terrifying glimpse of land strewn with dead Mexican bodies, the panties of female rape victims hanging from trees, and all manner of other horrors too numerous to mention. The filmmaker also explores and corroborates illegal immigration's bankruptcy of the California health care system and paints President George W. Bush (in the second half of his sophomore term) as a man at serious risk of losing two conflicts - not only the one centered in Baghdad, but one in the southern reaches of the very homeland he claims to support and love but did little to protect.

For almost 2000 years, the ancient Maya of Central America recorded their history and ideas in an intricate and beautiful hieroglyphic script. Then, in the 16th century, Spanish invaders burned their books and ruthlessly extinguished hieroglyphic literacy. By the 18th century, when stone inscriptions were discovered buried in the jungles of Central America, no one on earth could read them. Breaking the Maya Code is the story of the 200-year struggle to unlock the lost secrets of this ancient civilization.

El espejo--para los indios americanos simbolizaba el poder, el Sol, la Tierra y sus cuatro rincones, y su gente. Ahora se esta levantando ante el viejo y el nuevo mundo un "espejo" extraordinario para reflejar las difirentes culturas de los paises y pueblos hispanohablantes, junto con los temas, instituciones, creencias y simbolos que han permanecido o cambiado a traves del tiempo. Carlos Fuentes looks for his ancestors in the mix of people that created Latin America: Spanish, Arab, Jewish, Indian, and African. He asks what is unique in their culture that is cause for celebration in the 500th anniversary year of Columbus.
programa 1. Virgen y el toro -- programa 2. Batalla de los dioses -- programa 3. Edad de oro -- programa 4. Precio de la libertad -- programa 5. Tres hispanidades. (No English subtitles)

Spanish with English subtitles
Ernesto Che Guevara was only 39 years old when he was executed in the Bolivian mountains in 1967. Through archival footage and photos this film tells the story of Che's short life: his childhood in Argentina, his early interests in the Spanish Civil War, and the motorcycle trip through Latin America in 1951 with his friend Alberto Granado.

Describes the last voyage of Christopher Columbus, undertaken beginning May 11, 1502, which ended with the loss of all four of his ships and left Columbus and his crew shipwrecked with little hope of survival, June 25, 1503. Historian Martin Dugard travels in the wake of the explorer, visiting the sites of Columbus' discoveries and disasters, such as Panama, Jamaica, and Hispaniola.

Four part series on the discovery of the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors and the subsequent fall of the Aztec and Inca empires.

On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy informed the world that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases on the island of Cuba, 90 miles off the shores of Florida. The events of the next 13 days brought the world closer to nuclear disaster than it had ever been before or since. This is the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis, exploring how the earth teetered on the very brink of nuclear holocaust and the fate of the planet lay in the hands of three iconic characters - Nikita Khrushchev, Fidel Castro, and John F Kennedy. As the anniversary of the Crisis approaches, nuclear brinks-manship is still high on the international agenda today and the events of October 1962 hold invaluable lessons for a generation too young to remember just how close we came to the end.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, much of Latin America was under the control of brutal military juntas engaged in what they perceived as a life-and-death war against communists. The role of the United States' government in this has been well documented, but until now, France's contribution was more shadowy. DEATH SQUADRONS reveals French veterans of the wars in Indochina and Algeria provided the inspiration, the training, and some of the intelligence that allowed Latin America's dictators to torture and kill thousands of their own citizens. Filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin traces the development of the theory of counter-revolutionary warfare, first tested Indochina and in Algiers (where 20,000 civilians died). Some of its foremost practitioners, like French General Paul Aussaresses, freely admit their contributions, even with a hint of pride. Others are surreptitiously captured on a hidden camera, admitting high-level political and military links between the dictators and the French government. Many of those interviewed are now either in custody or under indictment. Though little documentary footage of these practices exists, the Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo realistically recreated the French interrogation methods in The Battle of Algiers.

The dangerous journey of poor Central Americans though Mexico as they attempt to sneak into America in search of a better life is brought to the screen in this documentary. The majority of Central Americans live below the poverty line and most are in a constant struggle for survival; desperate to improve their circumstances, many try to leave their home behind and attempt to improve their circumstances by joining the underground economy in America. However, the path through Mexico to America is not a safe or simple one to follow, and each year an estimated 145,000 Central Americans are captured by Mexican police and sent back home. Many suffer brutal treatment at the hands of Mexican authorities, and hunger, disease, and exposure also claims the lives of many undocumented immigrants. Filmmaker Tin Dirdamal interviews a number of Central Americans trying to make their way through Mexico, as well as others who were unsuccessful in their efforts, and a handful of Mexicans sympathetic to the plight of the immigrants.

Explores the work of Fundación Capital ... a group of Latin American activist-economists that is pioneering strategies for financial inclusion across the region by aligning policy, market mechanisms, and advances in technology to create programs that place women at the center of the drive for social change. They collaborate with governments, big banks, and women marginalized by poverty in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, to expand financial inclusion with digital educational tools that piggyback on existing Conditional Cash Transfer to layer on ideas of asset-building, saving, and economic rights. The women who participate in the program become empowered economic and political agents in their communities, leading the process of societal transformation from the bottom up.

The film offers a look at Fidel Castro through interviews with Castro himself, historians, public figures and close friends, with footage from the Cuban State archives. Alice Walker, Harry Belafonte, and Sydney Pollack discuss the personality of the man. Former and current US government figures including Arthur Schlesinger, Ramsey Clark, Wayne Smith,Congressman Charles Rangel and a former CIA agent offer political and historical perspectives on Castro and the long-standing US embargo against Cuba. Family members and close friends, including Noel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, offer a window into the personal life of Fidel. We see Fidel swimming with bodyguards, visiting his childhood home and school, joking with Nelson Mandela, Ted Turner and Muhammad Ali, meeting Elian Gonzalez, and celebrating his birthday with members of the Buena Vista Social Club.

This 13-part series guides viewers chronologically and thematically through the region's varied genres and narrative styles, linking them to centuries of warfare, colonization, and national struggles for independence and identity.

History reports that the Inca were swiftly wiped out by a small band of Conquistadors, but new evidence is being unearthed that may help rewrite history. Uncovered remains of those who died in battle along with recently discovered documents suggest that even after forming military alliances with thousands of Indian, it took the Spanish many years to defeat the Inca Empire. Brought to life through CGI reconstruction and reenactments, the story of guerrilla warfare and rebellion are revealed and the truth behind the Inca's last stand is discovered.

The documentary that looks at the nature of U.S. policy in Latin American through the prism of the School of the Americas, the controversial military school that trains Latin American soldiers in the USA. The film presents different points of view on the School, US policy, and US involvement in Latin America. It includes interviews with a variety of scholars, legislators and activists as well as victims of the violence and repression in Latin America.

This eight-part series examines 500 years of Hispanic history in America. The series highlights the many contributions of Hispanic Americans that have influenced and shaped the history of the United States. Hispanics have contributed to advancements in medicine, science, politics, sports, entertainment, journalism, education, and civil rights, becoming a defining role in the growth of America. Vol. 1: This program discusses Spain's arrival to the New World and Spanish American explorations from 1492 - 1711. Christopher Columbus arrives in the New World in 1492. Bartolome de las Casas establishes Anti-Racism policy in Spanish Colonies. Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles founds Florida's St. Augustine in 1565. Santa Fe, New Mexico is established by Juan De Onate in 1606. Vol. 2: This program focuses on Spanish Americans independence and the forming of Hispanic identity from 1720 - 1836. San Antonio, Texas is founded by Father Antonio Margil de Jesus. Bernardo de Galvez leads Spanish forces against Britain in America's fight for freedom. In 1819 Luis de Onis prevents a war between Spain and the United States. The Texas Republic is founded by Jose Antonio Navarro and Lorenzo de Zavala. San Francisco is established by Juana Briones in 1836. Vol. 3: This program discusses Hispanics transition to becoming U.S. citizens from 1848 - 1949. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between Mexico and the United States ends the Mexican War. Francisco Ramirez founds the first Spanish language newspaper in Los Angeles. Spanish-American War is fought between April and August of 1898. The U.S. begins its Mexican American repatriation campaign. Dennis Chavez becomes the first Hispanic elected to the U.S. Senate. Vol. 4: This program focuses on the emergence of Hispanic culture and Hispanic American icons from 1959 - 2001. Ritchie Valens initiates Hispanic/Latin renaissance in American culture. Poet William Carlos Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize in 1963. Joan Baez sings at Civil Rights March on Washington D.C. in 1963. The United Farm Workers of America is founded by Cesar Chavez. Judy Baca brings the Hispanic Muralist Movement to the U.S. Franklin Chang-Diaz becomes the first Hispanic American in Space.

In this special volume of the series, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks to members of the international press core about the advantages of socialism and explains why true democracy cannot exist under the latter. Noting that the American empires practice of privatization, foreign invasion, and violence is not conducive to a humanistic society, Chavez instead offers that the healthiest government is one in which all of its citizens play a role in its construction and development, that the ultimate voice is the voice of the people and that Venezuela will always be committed to maintaining that ideal. Taped on location in Caracas

Six hundred years ago, in less than a century, the Inca people, located in present day Peru, forged an empire equal to that of the Greeks and Romans. They built their empire, not by military conquest but by treaties, based on providing food for all the empire's citizens. In the process, the Incas built architectural wonders for all eternity. Theirs is a history of what 7 million people can accomplish when they all work toward a common goal. Today Machu Picchu stands as a glorious reminder of this once incredible empire.

Many important events in Ana Maria's life have been disappointing. Will her Quince Años (fifteenth birthday) be any different? Her mother and five siblings are determined that it will be: hoping and struggling to make her Quinceañera a special day, despite a lack of support from her father. Exploring issues of family, faith, and coming of age, La Quinceañera is a touching portrait of a Mexican family's love and devotion to each other.

This series explores the influence of ancient culture on our lives today. Host, Michael Wood visits the ancient cities and great ports of the Inca, Aztec and Mayan peoples, and the jungles of Central America searching for the living legacies of these once great civilizations. This program traces how the institutions that arose with urban civilization 5,000 years ago, such as organized religion, bureaucratic government and international trade are still affecting the political and cultural mindset of many parts of the world today. The Mayans and Aztecs created sophisticated civilizations that in many ways paralleled ancient Mediterranean empires.

Sixteen hundred years ago, a mysterious left-handed warrior seized control of the Mayan city of Copán, founding a dynasty that would last for 400 years. Eventually the Maya abandoned Copán and all other Mayan cities, which lay undisturbed for over 1,000 years. Then, in the 19th century, explorers John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood stumbled on the vine-strangled remains of huge complexes of temples and monuments covered with strange portraits and hieroglyphs. In this program, NOVA takes viewers deep into the Central American rain forest to the resurrected ruins of Copán, a once majestic jewel of Mayan civilization which was inexplicably abandoned over a thousand years ago.

The Maya are best known for their spectacular architecture that made up their city centers, but they are also the most misunderstood of the great ancient civilizations. First, they were not the blood thirsty warrior society as they are often portrayed; and second, they were the world's first environmental farmers, creating a thriving agriculture society on poor land through advanced farming techniques and a profound sensitivity to their environment.

This documentary looks at the Aztec culture of death; the conquest of Cortes; apparitions, miracles, conversions and the end of human sacrifice; the missionary image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, signs, wonders, conversions and the end of abortion; the culture of life with testimonies of mothers saved from abortion; and the Pope and the Mother of Hope.

Follows eight people who leave the developed world with a variety of common and serious ailments, to embark on a one-month healing journey into the heart of the Amazon jungle. Working with a handful of shamans experienced in the harvesting and preparation of traditional plant medicines, as well as ritual exercises, these men and women seek to overcome Parkinson's disease, cancer, alcoholism, diabetes and depression. Ultimately, five of the patients return with measurable improvements, exceeding the expectations of many.

Did you know that U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for a school on U.S. soil that has graduated some of the worst human rights violators in the hemisphere? Since it was established in 1946, the United States Army School of the Americas has trained thousands of Latin American and Caribbean soldiers. Among them, we learn in the expose, are the former dictators of Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras and Panama.

A new find near Mexico City is turning history on its head. Over 550 bodies were found, more than 40 of which appear to be European, indicating that the Aztecs not only resisted the invaders, they sacrificed them to their gods.

Shaman, Healer, Sage tells the story of Alberto Villoldo, who transitioned from a career in modern medical science to one that uses a deep knowledge and understanding of the ancient energy medicine of the legendary Inka and Q'ero shamans of South America. The film is an exploration into the mysteries of life culminating with the deepest mystery of all-death-in which Villoldo shows us how to deal with our own mortality and that of our loved ones.

The sequel to the BBC's Civilization series, this picks up at the threshold of the 20th Century. It is written and presented by Robert Hughes, art critic and senior writer for Time. Hughes draws on a wealth of documentary materials from the archives of the BBC, including rare footage and interviews with noted artists. The range of major figures includes Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, le Corbusier, Max Ernst, Francis Bacon and Jackson Pollock.

Discusses the life of Simon Bolivar, including family, education, military career, and his role in the freedom of the South American colonies. Also reviews the history of the colonies under Spanish rule, such as explorations, conquests, social and economic aspects as well as the culture of the people.

The duration and scope of the 19th century Latin American wars for independence dwarf all other conflicts in the New World up until that time. This program enhanced by period paintings, engravings, maps, and documents from The John Carter Brown Library's Bromsen collection and other esteemed collections of Latin Americana tells the remarkable life story of Simon Bolivar, founder of Bolivia and liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru from Spanish colonial rule. Although his dream of Latin American unity was not realized in his lifetime, Bolivar's passion for independence lives on.

Director Oliver Stone visits seven presidents in five countries in South America to gain some understanding about the political and social ideas and the revolutions, and to clear up how people view them. Includes interviews with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Argentinean president Cristina Kirchner, Cuban president Raul Castro, Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Rafael Carrea (Ecuador), and Fernando Lugo (Paraguay).

This program discusses reproduction and motherhood in hyperpatriarchal societies of Latin America. Women on different economic and social levels discuss such topics as working mothers and how the extended family contributes to child-rearing; the sterilization movement; abortion; gay parenting; manipulation of women's reproductive rights by governments; and how access to medical services varies from country to country.

This program presents America's notion of "spreading democracy"; one that is perceived as a war on democracy. True popular democracy is now more likely to be found in the poorest countries of Latin America. John Pilger conducts exclusive interviews with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and US government officials who ran the CIA's war in Latin America in the 1980s, revealing US policy and what has happened in Latin America and potentially the rest of the world. John Pilger presents the idea of hope and action from ordinary people as a defense against the powerful governments of today.

"As the United States continues to build a wall between itself and Mexico, Which Way Home shows the personal side of immigration through the eyes of children who face harrowing dangers with enormous courage and resourcefulness as they endeavor to make it to the U.S. The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call "The Beast". Director/producer Rebecca Cammisa tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year old Hondurans who are desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota, and Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and focuses on Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow. They are the ones you never hear about - the invisible ones."--publisher's website.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. travels to Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and Peru to discover the African influence on Latin America. He examines the shared legacy of colonialism and slavery in a region that imported ten times as many slaves as the United States, and kept them in bondage far longer. Gates finds that the influence of people of African descent has had a massive influence on the history and culture of Latin America and the Caribbean, despite sometimes being forgotten or ignored.