Corina by Urzula Barba Hopfner
The 32nd edition of the SXSW Film Festival kicks off today in Austin, Texas, running through March 14. This year’s lineup highlights a dynamic selection of films from Latin America and Latino USA, spanning documentary, narrative, and music-driven storytelling.
The Documentary Spotlight section includes two U.S. Latinx premieres. ASCO: Without Permission by Travis Gutiérrez Senger celebrates the trailblazing Chicano art collective ASCO, whose defiant creativity reshaped the boundaries of art and cinema. Uvalde Mom by Anayansi Prado follows a mother’s relentless fight for justice after a school shooting in Texas, exposing a community’s struggle against systemic neglect.
In the Global section, the uplifiting Mexican dramedy Corina, directed by Urzula Barba Hopfner and starring Naian González Norvind, will have its North American premiere. Starring Naian González Norvind and Cristo Fernández, the film follows a woman with agoraphobia who must confront her fears to save her job.
Three Latino music films will have their world premieres in the 24 Beats Per Second section. The Dominican feature 42nd Street by José María Cabral immerses viewers in Santo Domingo’s underground dance scene, where artists push against societal norms in a vibrant urban counterculture. La Salsa Vive by Juan Carvajal traces the roots of Afro-Cuban music from New York to Cali, Colombia—the global salsa capital. Selena y Los Dinos by Isabel Castro revisits the life and legacy of Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla through archival footage and interviews.
In the Narrative Short Competition, the U.S. Latinx short Entre Tormentas by Fran Zayas follows a grieving man’s quest to recover his brother’s remains after a hurricane devastates his hometown. The Venezuelan documentary Looking for a Donkey by Juan Vicente Manrique, about two firefighters imprisoned for filming a donkey, will have its U.S. premiere in the Documentary Short Competition. Also in this section, The Long Valley by Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian blends dreams and reality in an evocative meditation on California’s agricultural heartland.
Two Latinx shorts will debut in the Texas Shorts competition. Red Sands by Romina Cenisi explores the lives of Mexican-American off-roaders in West Texas, while Sweetbriar by Danny Rivera serves as a hybrid love letter to mothers, featuring the director’s own mother preparing to host her visiting queer son. The Mexican video Sonidos de Bosque for Laboratorios Moreno, directed by Alejandro Espinosa, will compete in the Music Video competition.
This year’s SXSW lineup also features new films starring Mexican actors Gael García Bernal and Eiza González, along with Jenna Ortega, of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent.
García Bernal stars in Holland, an unpredictable thriller by Mimi Cave. Also featuring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, and Jude Hill, the film follows a teacher in Holland, Michigan, whose idyllic life unravels in a twisted tale of secrets and suspicion.
Eiza González leads Ash, an American sci-fi horror-thriller directed by Flying Lotus. The film follows a woman who awakens on a distant planet to find the crew of her space station brutally killed—unraveling a terrifying mystery that could determine her own fate.
Jenna Ortega stars alongside Paul Rudd in Alex Scharfman’s dark comedy Death of a Unicorn. The film follows a father and daughter who accidentally hit and kill a unicorn en route to a weekend retreat, only to find his billionaire boss eager to exploit the creature’s miraculous properties. These three films will have their world premieres in the prestigious Headliner section, known for its red-carpet events showcasing major and emerging talents.
