Latin Wave 19:
New Films From Latin America
April 24—26, 2026
Organized by the MFAH in association with the creative partner Fundación PROA, Buenos Aires. Sponsored by Tenaris. Programmed in collaboration with Cinema Tropical
The annual Latin Wave series provides the opportunity for Houstonians to see new films from Latin America, and to meet internationally acclaimed filmmakers. The nature of the festival allows audience members to interact with the filmmakers in Q&A sessions and informal conversations. These dialogues enrich the understanding of contemporary filmmaking in Latin America.
All screenings at:
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Brown Auditorium Theater at the Caroline Wiess Law Building, 1001 Bissonnet St.
Lynn Wyatt Theater at the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, 5500 Main St.
Admission: General admission is $10. MFAH Members, students with ID and senior adults receive a $2 discount. Students with ID receive complimentary admission on Sunday, April 28 only.
For tickets and more information visit: www.mfah.org/latinwave
CORINA
(Urzula Barba Hopfner, Mexico, 2024, 96 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
*Presented by filmmaker Urzula Barba Hopfner with a post-film Q&A
Buy Tickets
Set in Guadalajara during the early aughts, the auspicious and quirky debut by Úrzula Barba Hopfner tells the story of Corina, a young woman who has rarely left home in 20 years, except for her job at a local publishing house. To save her job after making a grave mistake in the company’s most famous book saga, she must confront her fears and embark on a journey to track down a mysterious writer. Starring Naian González Norvind (New Order) and Cristo Fernández (Ted Lasso), Corina won the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival and is an uplifting, endearing fable reminiscent of Amélie about embracing the unknown.
Friday, April 24, 7pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
THE VIRGIN OF THE QUARRY LAKE / LA VIRGEN DE LA TOSQUERA
(Laura Casabé, Argentina/Mexico/Spain, 2025, 93 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets
Set in the sweltering summer of 2001 amid Argentina’s looming economic collapse, The Virgin of the Quarry Lake is a visceral, supernatural, coming‑of‑age horror that melds teenage desire with dark folklore. Best friends Natalia, Mariela, and Josefina are bound by youth and an all‑consuming crush on their longtime friend Diego—until an older, more worldly woman captures his attention. Heartbroken and desperate, Natalia turns to whispered spells and ancestral incantations in a bid to reclaim love, but what begins as jealousy soon morphs into something far more sinister. As the oppressive heat and social unrest build, so does Natalia’s transformation, leading her into uncharted territory of self‑empowerment, rage, and terrifying consequence. Gorgeously atmospheric and unsettlingly precise, Laura Casabé’s film conjures the volcanic emotional landscape of adolescence with supernatural dread.
Friday, April 24, 9.15pm — Lynn Wyatt Theater
THE BLUE TRAIL / O ÚLTIMO AZUL
(Gabriel Mascaro, Brazil/Mexico/Netherlands/Chile, 2025, 85 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets
The latest film from visionary director Gabriel Mascaro (Neon Bull) is a striking dystopian drama set in near‑future Brazil, where the government relocates seniors to isolated colonies under the guise of economic “well‑being.” Seventy‑seven‑year‑old Tereza refuses to accept forced retirement and instead embarks on a clandestine journey through the Amazon, encountering unexpected companions who help her reclaim freedom and possibility. Anchored by a powerful lead performance from Denise Weinberg and co-starring Rodrigo Santoro, the film celebrates resilience, intergenerational connection, and the courage to defy ageist and authoritarian constraints.
Saturday, April 25, 3pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
RUNA SIMI
(Augusto Zegarra, Peru, 2025, 81 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets
Fernando Valencia is an Indigenous voice artist, activist, painter, and devoted single father from Cusco, who began a project to reimagine iconic animated scenes in Quechua, also known as Runa Simi, the ancestral language of the Incas. When millions of viewers respond with enthusiasm and pride, Fernando sets out on a quixotic quest: dubbing Disney’s The Lion King with the help of his energetic eight-year-old son. Armed with relentless determination, he confronts rejection, setbacks, and self-doubt, transforming a personal passion into a powerful call for language justice. The debut feature by Augusto Zegarra—winner of the Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director at the Tribeca Film Festival—celebrates Indigenous resilience, cultural pride, and the vital importance of representation.
Saturday, April 25, 5pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
A POET / UN POETA
(Simón Mesa Soto, Colombia/Germany/Sweden, 2025, 120 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets
Óscar (first-time actor Ubeimar Rios) is an erratic failed writer who has given up on life. He wanders the streets of Medellín in a drunken stupor, lamenting the state of literature in Colombia and embodying the cliché of the tortured artist. When the opportunity arises to mentor a young student, he sees a chance at redemption—if he doesn’t screw it up first. Simón Mesa Soto’s darkly comic and caustic second feature, winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is a raw, riotous farce where good deeds collide with the universe’s cruelly poetic sense of humor.
Saturday, April 25, 7.15pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
A LOOSE END / UN CABO SUELTO
(Daniel Hendler, Uruguay/Argentina/Spain, 2025, 95 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets
Santiago, an Argentine cop on the run, crosses into Uruguay to escape his own colleagues. There, he navigates a series of unpredictable obstacles, relying on quick wit and the unexpected kindness of strangers. As he begins to rebuild a life he never imagined, he discovers a fragile sense of belonging and meets a woman who might be the love of his life. What starts as a desperate flight evolves into an offbeat journey of reinvention, chance, and quiet resilience. The latest film by acclaimed actor-director Daniel Hendler blends existential comedy with the spirit of a road movie and the tension of a thriller, offering a richly textured portrait of the Uruguayan countryside and the unpredictable paths that life can take.
Saturday, April 25, 9.30pm — Lynn Wyatt Theater
CAMISEA
(Enrique Bellande, Argentina, 2005, 68 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
*Presented by Guillermo Goldschmidt, project manager, PROA with post-film Q&A
Buy Tickets
One of the most ambitious engineering projects ever undertaken in Latin America becomes the subject of Camisea, a film that contemplates how infrastructure changes reshaped Peru by extending natural gas across its coastal region. The narrative observes the passage of time, the physical effort involved, and the human presence embedded within a transformation of such immense scale. Filmed deep in the jungle and high in the Andes, Camisea was shot in territories where Werner Herzog filmed Fitzcarraldo just over 20 years earlier, invoking a shared cinematic lineage marked by obsession, endurance, and landscapes that assert their own logic. Directed by Enrique Bellande (BAFICI Award winner, 2003), the picture was shot on Super 16mm and recently restored in 4K. Camisea offers an immersive cinematic experience in which monumental ambition contends with intimacy and restraint.
Sunday, April 26, 1pm — Lynn Wyatt Theater
THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO / LA MIRADA MISTERIOSA DEL FLAMENCO
(Diego Céspedes, Chile/France, 2025, 109 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets
Set in a dusty Chilean mining town in 1982, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo follows young Lidia as she grows up within a vibrant household led by drag performers and trans women. When a mysterious illness sows fear and hysteria, the community becomes the target of suspicion and violence. In his debut feature, Diego Céspedes crafts a haunting allegory of love, myth, and prejudice, reimagining the early AIDS era as a western infused with poetic intimacy and desert-dry surrealism. Winner of the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival, this potent period drama honors Chile’s proud legacy of queer cinema while confronting bigotry with both vengeance and compassion.
Sunday, April 26, 3pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
THE SECRET AGENT / O AGENTE SECRETO
(Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil//France/Netherlands/Germany, 2025, 161 min. In Portuguese, German and English with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets
The most celebrated Latin American film of the year—nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture—The Secret Agent is a genre-defying political thriller from acclaimed filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau). Set in Recife during Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1977, this electrifying neo-noir stars Wagner Moura in a career-defining performance as a widowed technology researcher who becomes an unwitting target at the heart of a political maelstrom. On the run from mercenary killers and haunted by the past, he must navigate a tense, unpredictable world of danger and deception to escape the country with his young son. With the help of a mysterious woman and her underground resistance allies, he confronts the city’s volatile spirit in a story that blends suspense, political intrigue, and a cinematic homage to Filho’s youth.
Sunday, April 26, 5pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
