Executive Order by Lázaro Ramos
The SXSW Film Festival has announced today the full lineup for its 28th edition which be held online March 16-20, and includes a selection of U.S. Latinx and Latin American titles among its 75 feature films and 84 short films.
Having its North American premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section is Language Lessons directed by and starring Natalie Morales, about a Spanish teacher and her student who develop an unexpected friendship. Having its world premiere in the Documentary Spotlight section is Fruits of Labor by Emily Cohen Ibañez, about a Mexican-American teenage farmworker who dreams of graduating high school, when ICE raids in her community threaten to separate her family and force her to become her family’s breadwinner.
Screening in the Visions section of the festival in its world premiere is Ayar by Floyd Russ, about a first-generation American Latina, who returns home to reunite with her daughter. But when her mother, Renata, refuses to let her see her due to Covid, Ayar is confronted by the many roles she’s been forced to play, including the role in this film.
The 24 Beats per Second section dedicated to films about music will host the world premiere of the documentary film Soy Cubana by Jeremy Ungar and Ivaylo Getov, which follows the Vocal Vidas, an all-female Cuban quartet, as they are invited to play their first show in the US, and a simple concert becomes a journey across physical and ideological borders—affirming the connective power of music, even in the most uncertain times.
The Dominican film Bantú Mama by Iván Herrera will have its world premiere in the Global section of the festival. The film follows an Afropean woman who escapes after being arrested in the Dominican Republic. She is sheltered by a group of minors, in a dangerous district of Santo Domingo. By becoming their protégée and maternal figure, she will see her destiny change inexorably.
The German-Mexican co-production Luchadoras by Paola Calvo and Patrick Jasim will also have its world premiere in the Global section. Luchadoras portrays the courageous female wrestlers of Ciudad Juárez, a city known for its high murder rate against women—who in the ring and in their daily lives fight to redefine the image of what it means to be a woman in Mexico.
Bantú Mama by Iván Herrera
The debut feature by Brazilian actor Lázaro Ramos Executive Order will have its Texas premiere as part of the 2020 Spotlight, showcasing films that were scheduled to premiere at last year’s edition of the festival, which was canceled due to COVID-19. Starring Ramos himself, the film is set in a dystopian near future in Brazil, where an authoritarian government orders all citizens of African descent to move to Africa—creating chaos, protests, and an underground resistance movement that inspires the nation.
The Narrative Shorts Competition will screen the Guatemalan-American co-production Chuj Boys of Summer by Max Walker-Silverman, in its Texas premiere. The film follows a Guatemalan teenager who begins his new life in rural Colorado speaking only his native language. The Documentary Shorts competition will host the world premiere of Águilas by directors Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Maite Zubiaurre. Along the scorching desert border in Arizona, it is estimated that only one out of every five missing migrants are ever found. Águilas is the story of one group of searchers, the Águilas del Desierto.
Kristian Mercado’s Nuevo Rico about a brother and sister stumbling upon a celestial secret that changes their lives forever and propels them into Reggaetón stardom, but they soon discover that their newfound fame comes at a deep price will have its word premiere in the Animated Shorts competition. Ariel Zengotita’s Flick about a reclusive college student who is driven mad after picking a booger he can’t flick away will participate in the Midnight Shorts competition.
