28th Annual CineSol Film Festival – Synopsis of Films

Barbudos directed by Larry Mankuso.  Documentary Short.  23 minutes.  Spain.  April 2013, despite the American embargo, citizen Bob Wood returns to Cuba almost 60 years after he left.

Battambang Mission:  In Kike Figaredo’s Footsteps directed by Iosu Andi and David Tejera.   Documentary Short.  22 minutes.  Spain.  Five children, five stories, five lives rescued from Hell.  Through the eyes of these children, we will see a suffering Cambodia trying to overcome a past of war and destruction.

Behind the Mask directed by Eli Elan Gonzalez Jr.  Short.  13 minutes.  RGV.  The life threatening battles with yourself, you can only hope to win.  Join Eli as he goes about his day fighting for his life, but the type of fight that is hidden behind a mask.

Comal directed by Orlando Loredo.  Documentary Short.  23 minutes.  RGV.  Comal follows a single mom who owns a food truck in McAllen, Texas.

Dar-Dar directed by Paul Urkijo Alijo.  Short.  10 minutes.  Spain.  Dar-Dar is a mythical Basque demon who eats fingers.  If you decline, he will return at night time to eat your soul.

Espera directed by Emily Grooms.  Documentary Short.  15 minutes.  RGV.  Stuck in a makeshift camp along the Texas-Mexico border, asylum seekers await their immigration appointments indefinitely when “Remain in Mexico” stalls their hope of coming to the US.

Fist of Justice directed by Max Riojas.  Feature.  104 minutes.  RGV.  Samson Lerma is returning home after being away for 13 years to attend his brother’s funeral.  Samson is forced to face the demons from his past in order to save the family he left behind years ago.

Good Night directed by Adam Van Wagoner.  Animated Short.  3 minutes.  RGV.  Sara, through childhood and adulthood, comes to face the uncertainties that plague her life.  She ultimately finds that she must rely on the things that are certain in order to persevere and accept the unknown.

Hunting directed by Hauazkena Taldea – Begona.  Animated Short.  5 minutes.  Spain.  Hunting is an homage to artist Rafael Ruiz Balerdi’s Tarzan.

I, Mermaid directed by Augusto Almoguera.  Short.  9 minutes.  Spain.  Mermaid is finally the woman she always wanted to be, but a heartbreak causes old ghosts and insecurities to reappear within her.  Reinterpretation of “The Little Mermaid” from the point of view of a transsexual girl.

Ian:  A Moving Story directed by Abel Goldfarb.  Animated Short.  9 minutes.  Argentina.  Ian was born with cerebral palsy.  Like all kids, he wants to have friends but discrimination and bullying keep him from his beloved playground.  Ian won’t give up easily, accomplishing something that will surprise everyone.

In Your Arms Tonight directed by Jonathan Gonzales.  Short.  24 minutes.  A young maid contemplates her future after having an affair with her rich employers, who is struggling to reconnect with his wife after she was sexually assaulted over a year ago.  https://www.facebook.com/En-Tus-Brazos-Esta-Noche-Short-Film-100414035029453/.

Jim Allison:  Breakthrough directed by Bill Haney.  Documentary.  90 minutes.  Today, Jim Allison is a name to be reckoned with throughout the scientific world, holding a 2018 Nobel Prize for discovering the immune system’s role in defeating cancer.  But for decades, he waged a lonely war against the skepticism of the medical establishment and the resistance of Big Pharma.  Narrated by Woody Harrelson.  https://www.breakthroughdoc.com/https://www.facebook.com/CancerCureDochttps://twitter.com/CancerCureDoc.

Josie directed by Jackie Barragan.  Documentary Short.  14 minutes.  A true account of a woman living on the U.S./Mexico border and her quest to find retribution while becoming an undefeated martial artist.

Look directed by Hugo de la Riva.  Short.  7 minutes.  Spain.  Cristina wakes up from a nightmare.  Or maybe not.

Made in China directed by Ale Damiani.  Short.  7 minutes.  Uruguay.  After matching on Tinder, a young couple wakes up the morning after to find out that a strange pandemic will have them in lockdown together.

Migration directed by Jerome Peters.  Short.  15 minutes.  Belgium.  A family of farmers comes across a stranger with a peaceful message.  The problem is that they don’t like visitors.

Miss Blueberry Beauty Pageant directed by Sarah Kennedy.  Short.  12 minutes.  Welcome to the 1984 Miss Blueberry Beauty Pageant!  Where the girls are a feast for the eyes and as sweet as honey.  Follow these three finalists as they navigate the twists and turns of a pageant that reveals a much more sinister secret.  https://www.facebook.com/missblueberrybeautypageant/.

Of Hearts and Castles directed by Ruben Navarro.  Short.  15 minutes.  Spain.  A man struggling with a break up meets another man for a night in Los Angeles that will forever keep them connected.

Oh Mercy – Searching for Hope in the Promised Land.  Documentary Short.  12 minutes.  RGV.  Thousands of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers from Central America await court dates and immigration hearings in the US.  Increasingly desperate and discouraged, they huddle in squalid camps and detention centers on both sides of the Rio Grande.  https://www.ohmercyfilm.com/.

On the Divide directed by Maya Cueva & Leah Galant.  Documentary.  80 minutes.  RGV.  On the Divide follows three people living in McAllen, who despite their views, are connected by the most unexpected of places:  the last abortion clinic on the U.S./Mexico border.  https://onthedividemovie.com/https://www.facebook.com/OnTheDivideMoviehttps://twitter.com/onthedivide.

Pacha Kuti:  The Golden Path directed by Reed Rickert.  Documentary Short.  6 minutes.  Peru.  When Arnold returns to his native community in the Peruvian Amazon after living n the urban world, he remembers the stories told to him by his grandfather and the great importance of maintaining balance with the jungle.

Pushing the Limits directed by Pablo Hernan Aulita.  Documentary Short.  30 minutes.  Argentina.  Jean Maggi, shortly after birth contracted a disease for which he could never walk.  When he reached the highest route in the Himalayas with his adapted bicycle, he marked a true world landmark.

Solar Noise directed by Pablo Hernando.  Short.  16 minutes.  Spain.  A collection of stories about people who had a fleeting vision of the future after an inexplicable cosmic event.

Swamp Lion directed by Torben Bech.  Feature.  111 minutes.  RGV.  After his son is diagnosed with advanced cancer, a truck driver struggles to climb the mountain of medical bills.  Jim needs come up with money to afford treatment and ultimately decides to traffic drugs across the US/Mexican border.  https://www.facebook.com/swamplionmoviehttps://twitter.com/SwampLionMovie.

Tejano Night directed by Alexander Rosales.  Short.  13 minutes.  While out of town at a family gathering in south Texas, an awkward Mexican-American, Mijo, is forced to tag along with his cousin to a local bar after butchering his Spanish pronunciation at dinner.  https://www.rosales.film/tejanonighthttps://www.facebook.com/tejanonightfilm/.

The Collapse:  The True Story of the Queen Isabella Causeway Collapse directed by Robert Espericueta & Joshua Moroles.  Documentary.  60 minutes.  RGV.  Four fishermen save the three survivors after a tow boat pushing four fully loaded barges hits one of the pillars of the Queen Isabella Causeway causing the tragic accident of South Padre Island and Port Isabel ultimately claiming the lives of eight people.

The Delivery directed by Dogus Ozokutan.  Short.  12 minutes.  Cyprus.  Yusuf accepts the job of carrying refugees with his refrigerated meat truck, believing this is the only way to find money for saving his daughter’s life.

The Guardian of Memory directed by Marcela Arteaga.  Documentary.  93 minutes.  The Juarez Valley, a region once known for cotton production, is now nothing more than burned down houses, empty towns, and memories.  Carlos Spector, an immigration lawyer born in El Paso, TX, fights to obtain political asylum for Mexicans fleeing from violence.

They Call Us Sediciosos directed by Iz Gutierrez.  Short.  17 minutes.  RGV.  An ignored narrative:  racist Rangers and vigilantes have been targeting the Texas-Mexican community in the lower Rio Grande Valley during a time known as “La Matanza” (The Massacre).

Truly Texas Mexican directed by Anibal Capoano.  Documentary.  91 minutes.  RGV.  The road movie weaves through San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Harlingen, and McAllen naming the racism that erased Native American history.  Intrepid women kept on cooking innovative dishes, culinary creations, and in the process, strengthened the community’s living memory and heritage.  https://trulytexasmexican.com/.

Tune You Out directed by Isaiah I. Navarro.  Short.  31 minutes.  RGV.  It’s Halloween night and Derek and Sarah find themselves trapped in the middle of the woods with a group of owl worshipping cult members and a few other survivors.  Will they survive the night?

Vecinos:  Love Thy Neighbor directed by Alex Avila.  Feature.  82 minutes.  Roberto hasn’t done much changing lately, but even from his couch he’s seen his neighborhood become a place he barely recognizes.  When Maria moves in down the hall from him, though, Roberto has no choice but to consider the good side of change.  https://vecinosthemovie.com/https://www.facebook.com/Vecinosthemovie.

Voices of the Valley directed by Camille Morales-Zayas.  Documentary Short.  11 minutes.  RGV.  Marcy, Emmy, and Carmen, three Hispanic artists, take us through the struggle of life in the south of Texas known as The Borderlands.

Welcome to our World directed by Alfredo Ramos.  Feature.  80 minutes.  RGV.  Freddie, a young and irresponsible supermarket box boy, is forced to rise to the occasion when his father has a work related accident.  Freddie must now assume the man of the house and keep the family from going homeless with hilarious results.

Witch Hunt directed by Evan Gorski.  Short.  9 minutes.  A vengeful keyboard warrior falls victim to his own game after a mysterious visitor arrives at his door.

Yulisa directed by Joshua Echevarria & Jonathan Schienberg.  Documentary Short.  14 minutes.  RGV. A young pregnant woman, fleeing for safety, finds herself trapped in dire conditions in a dangerous Mexican-US border town, just weeks before she’s supposed to give birth.