Latin American Studies: Films
Streaming Films
You can find hundreds of streaming titles through our film databases. Go here and change the dropdown to the right that says "All database types" to "Films."
Documentaries
Recent documentaries related to LAS owned by GVSU.
- Agrofuels This film explores how the increasingly common practice of diverting food crops to the industrial production of fuels is devastating indigenous communities, undermining small farmers, and endangering the environment across Latin America.
- Beyond Borders Explores the psychological forces driving the immigration controversy from both sides of the debate
- Beyond the Gates of Splendor Feature-length documentary film experience about the Waodani Indians and the missionary men and women who have given their lives to reach them.
- Coffee: A Sackful of Power Composed of archival photographs, old newsreels and interviews, this documentary examines the influence of coffee through the ages. South America supplies 66% of the world production, although most of the profits go to traders and speculators outside the region. The film explains the difference between the Brazilian and Costa Rican system of production, and why the Brazilian system has led to such poverty.
- El Contrato Filmed over an entire growing season, this film documents the experiences of Teodoro Bello Martinez, a poverty-stricken father of four living in central Mexico, and several of his countrymen who have contracted to work in a sprawling tomato greenhouse in Ontario, Canada.
- Crude The story of lawsuit by tens of thousands of Ecuadorans against Chevron over contamination of the Ecuadorean Amazon.
- Dictator in the Dock A series of 23 short films documenting the 2013 trial of Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. The retired general was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity committed during his presidency in 1982/1983.
- Discovering Dominga Denese Becker, born Dominga Sic Ruiz, is a survivor of the 1982 Rio Negro massacre in Guatemala. Nine years old at the time of the massacre, during which both of her parents were killed, Denese was adopted by an American family and raised in Iowa. As an adult she begins to confront her memories and nightmares, returning to Guatemala almost twenty years after the massacre and ultimately becoming an advocate for the victims and survivors at great personal cost.
- The Fire Within Focuses on the Jewish community of Iquitos, an isolated Peruvian city in the Amazon jungle of South America. Jewish men first came to Iquitos during the rubber boom in the late 19th century, married Amazonian women and raised families, while creating their own syncretic Jewish tradition.
- Gods and Kings In the muddy market square of Momostenango, Guatemala, where shamans burn offerings in the shadow of the Catholic church, a bizarre spectacle is arriving. Horror movie monsters jostle through the crowd, followed by Mexican pop stars, Japanese game avatars, and dictators from the dark years of the 1980s. Unlike the folkloric performances long studied by anthropologists, the new Disfraz dance won't show up on any postcard. In some villages, it's even been banned for the way it frightens tourists. So how did these fiberglass masks of Xena: Warrior Princess come to be blessed in the smoke of Maya altars?
- Gringolandia Americans have been living the expat life in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for more than 50 years and their numbers have increased dramatically. Some seek all the amenities they have at home, but at half the price. How do they impact this locale, which was once a sleepy provincial town? How do the Mexican residents view these 'visitors'?
- The Kayapo Documents life among the Kayapo Indians of central Brazil, a fiercely independent tribe, who were forced to become "businessmen" or see their traditional way of life destroyed.
- Korubo: A Fight to the End Documents a visit by Brazilian government officials to the Korubo people, hunter/gatherers of the Javari River Valley. Transcending a history of mutual distrust and violence with other groups, the Korubo warm to the camera team after receiving medical help for their malaria-stricken leader.
- Las Muertes Chiquitas Filmed over four years, this two-part documentary is Sallarès epic exploration of the female orgasm. Interviews with 30 Mexican women from various walks of life give personal perspectives on orgasms, pleasure, pain, power, violence, and death.
- Latinos Beyond Reel Filmmakers Picker and Sun examine how U.S. news and entertainment media portray-- and do not portray-- Latinos. They uncover a pattern of gross under-representation. They challenge viewers to think critically about the wide-ranging effects of these media stereotypes.
- Maquilapolis Using video diaries kept by two women community activists, this documentary explores the environmental devastation and urban chaos of Tijuana's maquiladoras, the multinationally owned factories that came to Mexico for cheap labor.
- Maria in Nobody's Land Three Salvadoran women, tired of the violence from their husbands and wanting to overcome poverty, decide to leave their families behind to travel to America - with only thirty dollars in their pockets. During their harrowing journey, the three women encounter prostitution, slave trade, rape, kidnap and even death, all in a quest for a better life.
- Mojados through the Night Filmed over the course of ten days, following four men into the world of illegal border-crossing between Mexico to United States.
- Owners of the Water A central Brazilian Xavante, a Wayuu from Venezuela, and a US anthropologist explore an indigenous campaign to protect a river from devastating effects of uncontrolled Amazonian soy cultivation.
- Rosita: A Documentary When a nine-year-old Nicaraguan girl becomes pregnant as a result of a rape, her parents--illiterate campesinos working in Costa Rica--seek a legal therapeutic abortion to save their only child's life. Their quest triggers a battle over whose life has precedence, and pits them against the governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the medical establishment, and the Catholic Church.
- The Shaman's Apprentice New effective medicines may be found in the Amazon's plant life, but the forest is disappearing. Even worse, the tribal shamans--healers and encyclopedias of rain forest botany--are the Amazon's most endangered species. The shaman's apprentice is the story of one scientist's quest to help Amazonians document and preserve their treasure.
- Soy Andina Documentary about two New York-based dancers who return to Peru to reconnect with their roots and dance.
- Voices that Heal The Shipibo-Conibo people have lived in the Peruvian Amazon for 4000 years, passing on their knowledge of plants and sacred songs from one generation to the next. Voices that heal tells the story of Herlinda Augustin, a renowned Shipibo shaman, healer and medicine woman, and of her struggles to keep her traditions alive while facing the challenges of the modern world.
- Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary Chronicles the difficult and dangerous journey faced by immigrants as they make their way to the United States illegally from Central America and Mexico.
- When the Mountains Tremble Chronicles the true story of Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, a Quiché Indian, as she stood up for her people and helped wage a rebellion in the wake of oppression. Shot at the height of the battle between the Guatemalan Military and the nearly defenseless Mayan population.
- 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."
- Who is Dayani Cristal? Tells the story of a migrant who found himself in the deadly stretch of the Sonora Desert known as "the corridor of death," and shows how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration. As the real-life drama unfolds we see this John Doe, unidentifiable at his point of death, become a living and breathing human being with an important life story. Eventually, the authorities are able to identify the man as a 29 year-old Honduran, Dilcy Yohan Sandres-Martinez, who had a tattoo of his daughter's name on his chest. Gael García Bernal and Marc Silver then recreate the dangerous journey that Sandres-Martinez took in his attempt to enter the United States.
Feature Films
Full-length feature films related to LAS owned by GVSU
- Amores Perros Three different people are catapulted into unforeseen circumstances in the wake of a car crash: a young punk stumbles into the underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's designer pooch disappears; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a Rottweiler.
- Aqui y Alla Aquí: Pedro returns home to a small mountain village in Mexico after years of working in the US. Having saved some earnings from two trips to the US, he hopes to now finally make a better life with his family, and even to pursue his dreams on the side by starting a band: Copa Kings. Allá: The villagers think this year's crop will be bountiful. There is also good work in a growing city an hour away. But the locals are wise to a life of insecurity, and their thoughts are often of family members, north of the border. While working in the fields, Pedro meets and begins to mentor a teenager who dreams of the US.
- Babel From issues like terrorism and immigration to husbands talking to their wives and parents understanding their children, Babel interweaves these three stories to examine communication - or the lack of it - within and between cultures.
- Bolivar Soy Yo An actor on a historical soap opera becomes convinced that he is the man he portrays on television: South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar.
- Central Station When a young boy in Brazil witnesses his mother's accidental death, a lonely, retired school-teacher reluctantly takes the child under her wing.
- Circo Follows the Ponce family's hardscrabble circus as it struggles to stay together. Tino, the ringmaster, is driven by his dream to lead his parents' circus to success in Mexico and corrals the energy of his whole family, towards this goal. But his wife Ivonne is determined to make a change.
- City of God A full-scale gang war rages in the City of God--understandably not covered by wary Rio photojournalists--but just the opportunity Rocket needs to make his move, get a job at a newspaper, and get out.
- Destiny has no Favorites Ana is a bored, Peruvian housewife who's husband rents out their garden to a soap opera production. When she is accidentally taken for an actress, she winds up cast in a plum role. As the set gradually becomes dominated by gossip and intrigue, the boundary between the real world and make-believe begins to blur.
- Four Days in September Political terrorists, in a desperate bid to focus the world's attention on their fight for freedom, kidnap an American ambassador. Now the diplomat's life hangs in the balance-- helplessly caught between a government unwilling to cooperate-- and his fear of the captors themselves!
- Frida The life of artist Frida Kahlo, from her humble upbringing to her worldwide fame and controversy that surrounded both her and her husband, Diego Rivera.
- In the Time of Butterflies Based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, whose deaths became the final blow to the regime of Leonidas Trujillo, who was assassinated six months later.
- Kamchatka In 1976, during the time of the "disappeared ones" in Argentina, two boys are moved to the countryside by their parents in an effort to keep the family together as long as possible.
- Los Tres Huastecos (1948) Three brothers (a priest, a soldier, and an outlaw), unaware of each others' existence, cross paths when one soldier receives orders to capture and bring his outlaw brother to justice.
- Men with Guns Dr. Fuentes is a man in search of 7 medical students he trained to work in impoverished native villages in Mexico. But early on he begins to suspect that men with guns got there first, and with every step he is confronted by bloody realities. Now, his is an almost desperate quest, but for a mythical village deep in the rainforest, one last refuge of hope called Cerca del Cielo.
- El Mariachi A would-be musician is mistaken for a criminal and must fight for his life.
- Mariana, Mariana The story runs in the 1940s Mexico City. A schoolboy (Carlos) falls in love with his best friend's mother (Mariana). The drama begins when Carlos gets out of school to declare his love to Mariana and is discovered by his teachers.
- The Middle of the World A man and his family travel 3200km (1984 miles) by bicycle, from the state of Paraíba to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in search of a job.
- The Motorcycle Diaries An inspirational adventure, based on the true story of two young men whose thrilling and dangerous road trip across Latin America becomes a life-changing journey of self-discovery.
- No An ad executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum.
- El Norte A drama about two Guatemalan teenagers, a brother and a sister, who leave their native land following the murder of their father and the disappearance of their mother. They are determined to start a new life in "The North", and set out on foot for California.
- Milk of Sorrow Fausta suffers from 'The Milk of Sorrow, ' an illness transmitted through mother's milk by women who've been raped during Peru's civil wars. Stricken with the fear that she's contracted the illness from her mother's breast milk, Fausta goes to extreme lengths to protect her own sexuality and safety. After her mother's sudden death, she finds herself compelled to embark on a frightening journey for re-awakening, freedom, and wholeness.
- Missing Critically acclaimed political drama about a father's search for his missing son in Latin America.
- The Mission An epic about a man of the sword and a man of the cloth who unite to shield the Guarani South American Indian tribe from brutal subjugation by 18th-century colonial empires.
- The Official History An Argentine teacher lives in blissful ignorance of the evils perpetrated by her country's government. Over time, she begins to suspect that her adopted daughter may have been the child of a murdered political prisoner. When she attempts to unearth the truth, her investigation reveals levels of political corruption so abhorrent that the illusions of her past life are irrevocably shattered.
- La Otra Conquista Mexico, 1521. The Spanish army of Hernando Cortés has swept through the New World forcing their religious beliefs on the brave Aztec people. A skillful Aztec scribe, who survived the Massacre of the Temple in 1520, spends years trying to preserve the rites and customs of his people. The Spanish army would conquer their land, but not the soul of the Aztec people.
- Al Otra Lado The story of three young children in three different countries. Despite their differences and distances from each other, they all share the same dilemma of losing a parent to another country and then struggling with their loss.
- Pan's Labyrinth Mexican film set in 1944, Spain. Dreamy 10-year-old Ofelia and her mother move to Navarra, Spain, joining her new stepfather, Captain Vidal. A Fascist officer, he is under orders to destroy the rebels. Ofelia discovers an overgrown, tumbledown labyrinth and meets an ancient faun who claims to know her secret destiny.
- The Pope's Toilet A small South American village is in a flurry over the Pope's 1988 visit.
- Revolución A series of ten short films that come together to celebrate the one hundred years since the Mexican revolution. A powerful and multifaceted compilation that expresses the rich culture and customs of contemporary Mexican society. Stories include the journey of a young Mexican-American woman bringing back her father's body to Mexico for burial, a tuba player living in a small village, children rescuing a priest that they find hanging upside down in a tree and a woman who works in a big box store.
- Sin Nombre A teenage Honduran girl forms an unlikely friendship with a Mexican gang member who is helping her to smuggle her family into the United States.
- Trust: Second Acts in Young Lives Follows participants in Chicago's Albany Park Theater Project as they first hear the story of an 18-year-old teenager from Honduras whose past involved rape and incest and then transform her story into a daring original play that brings the group together and teaches them to trust in one another.
- Vidas Secas This Brazilian 'Grapes of wrath' is set in the early 1940s, and describes two years in the life of an itinerant cowhand's family struggling to eke out an existence in the drought-ravaged, landowner-dominated sertão of the country's Northeast.
- Without a Trace The story of two women on the run: one a Spanish dealer in ersatz Mayan relics the other a young mother who has run away from her drug dealer boyfriend. The two women ultimately form a bond of solidarity and camaraderie that is put to the test when both a border officer and the boyfriend catch up with them.
- Y tu Mama tambien Two teens set off on a wild cross-country trip with seductive, 28-year-old Luisa. Luisa schools them in the finer points of passion, but will their mutual desire for her destroy their friendship forever?
Subjects: Latin American Studies
- Last Updated: Feb 14, 2024 11:51 AM
- URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/las
