1492: The Quest for Paradise (The Spanish Conquest) Big budget account of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas. Released in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery. Shows the disastrous effects the Europeans had on the original inhabitants, and Columbus' struggle to civilize the New World.

 

Al otro lado (To the Other Side) Three countries, three cultures, three distinct realities introduce us to the lives of three children (one Mexican, one Cuban, and one Moroccan) that all share the same sentiment, having to deal with the absence of a loved one and the need to bring him back home. This is a very tender-hearted way of looking at migration from the perspective of the little ones left behind. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles. 85 minutes. Rated PG-13.)

All About My Mother tells of the devastation and eventual recovery of a woman who loses her only son in a tragic car crash. Described as a "touching screwball melodrama." (DVD In Spanish with English or French subtitles; 102 minutes, Rated R).

 

Amar te Duele Teenagers Renata and Ulises search for love and freedom amidst class divides, prejudice, peer pressure, and urban violence in this moving Romeo-and-Juliet story set in the shopping malls, working class barrios, and wealthy neighborhoods of Mexico City. Winner of numerous MTV Movie Awards and awards from the Mexican Cinema Journalists. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 104 minutes; Not Rated)

 

Amores Perros Three lives become inextricably linked in the wake of a terrible crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog-fighting; an injured super-model's pooch disappears into the apartment's floorboards; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a gun-shot Rottweiler. (DVD, In Spanish or French with English, Spanish or French subtitles; 153 minutes, Rated R for violence, language and sensuality)

 

El Analfabeto Mario Moreno "Cantinflas" portrays an illiterate poor fellow that has received a letter from a dead relative containing a fortune for him, but because he is ashamed that he does not know how to read, he decides to go to school and learn to read before knowing the contents of the letter. The movie doesn't focus on his schooling as much as it does on his new job and his love for a girl. As in other movies, youll encounter the greedy villans, good hearted people, and the charm of Cantinflas. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 110 minutes; Rated PG)

Ay, Carmela Traveling entertainers during Spain's Civil War find themselves having to choose between their principles and their wish to live. (Video in Spanish with English subtitles; 105 minutes; Rated PG-13)

 

Azucar Amarga (Bitter Sugar) Gustavo is a young Havana Communist who believes in the revolution; he hopes for a scholarship to study aeronautical engineering in Prague. But his faith in the new Cuba is tested: his father, a psychiatrist, can make four times as much playing piano at a hotel for foreigners; his sweetheart, Yolanda, wants a career as a dancer and longs for the riches of Miami; his younger brother Bobby simply wants to play rock music, and as a result is in constant trouble with the authorities. When Bobby takes a shocking step of revolt and Gustavo is refused service at a foreigners-only bar, the contradictions in his resolve to become a "new man" push him to the breaking point. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 75 minutes; Not Rated)

 

Atame (Tie Me Up Tie Me Down) Ricky is released from a mental hospital, and knows exactly what he wants to do. He hunts down Marina, a porn film star he once had sex with, and tries to convince here to be his wife. She is a bit reluctant, so he ties her up.

 

Arrancame La Vida (Tear This Heart Out) A young girl recounts her girlhood and eventual marriage to a general of the Mexican revolution. by one of the most outstanding writers of the new feminist Mexican literature, it is at once a haunting novel of one woman's life and a powerful account of post-revolutionary Mexico from a female perspective. Based partially in the life of General Maximiano Avila Camacho, brother of the Mexican president Manuel Avila Camacho. He was governor of Puebla from 1937 to 1941 and served as secretary of public works in his brother's Cabinet. He was infamous for being ruthless, arrogant and violent with his political enemies.

 

Apocalypto (Apocalypse) In the Maya civilization, a peaceful tribe is brutally attacked by warriors seeking slaves and human beings for sacrifice for their gods. Jaguar Paw hides his pregnant wife and his son in a deep hole nearby their tribe and is captured while fighting with his people. An eclipse spares his life from the sacrifice and later he has to fight to survive and save his beloved family.

 

Beauty (Bella) An international soccer star is on his way to sign a multi-million dollar contract when a series of events unfold that bring his career to an abrupt end. A beautiful waitress, struggling to make it in New York City, discovers something about herself that she's unprepared for. In one irreversible moment, their lives are turned upside down... until a simple gesture of kindness brings them both together, turning an ordinary day to an unforgettable experience.

 

Boca A Boca (Mouth To Mouth) For financial reasons an unemployed aspiring actor works for a phone-sex enterprise. One day he receives a call from the mysterious wife of one of his best clients.

 

Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) Based on the play by Frederico Garcia Lorca. Groom’s mother prepares him for his wedding, but the bride is secretly in love with another. The bride flees her own wedding party and the groom gives chase. The conclusion is a knife fight between her husband and her lover. The dances use the expressive gestures and motions of cabaret flamenco, choreographed for single dancers, pairs and groups. The mother's pride in her son is heartwarming, but the savage cultural edge shows when she sends him to bring back his bride -- she personally gives him his knife.

 

Bajo Juárez: La ciudad devorando a sus hijas In an industrial town in Mexico near the US border, hundreds of women have been sexually abused and murdered. As the body count continues to rise, a web of corruption unfolds that reaches the highest levels of Mexican society

 

Bad Education is an outrageous tale of desire, revenge and murder. Filmmaker Enrique gets a  iit from an aspiring actor claiming to be his old school friend Ignacio (Gael García Bernal), who has written a story about their traumatic childhood spent at Catholic school. In the story, a drag performer (also played by Bernal) attempts to blackmail a predatory priest by exposing their scandalous past. The tale provides the inspiration for Enrique's next film. But when the villainous priest from their school days arrives to tell his own version of the events, the truth is wilder than anything anyone could have imagined! (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 105 minutes; Rated NC-17 for a scene of explicit sexual content)

 

Before Night Falls details an incredible journey through the life and work of the late Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. Victimized by a government that banned his books and jailed him f or a crime he didn't commit, Reinaldo endured unspeakable persecution in a courageous stand against censorship and oppression. Without a country, but not without integrity, he fled to America where he continued to fight for personal expression and produced a stirring body of work. (DVD In Spanish or English with English, Spanish or French subtitles; 133 minutes, Rated R for strong sexual content, some language, and brief violence)

 

Belle Epoque (The Age of Beauty) is the irresistible story of a young Spanish Civil War deserter who befriends a liberal-minded artists whose four daughters each find themselves very attracted to him. A blend of humor and passion that explores the era of new-found sexual freedom for women in Hispanic society. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 109 minutes; Rated R)

 

El Bolero de Raquel A destitute young man is left in charge of his deceased friend's son by his widow. When he meets the boy's teacher, she convinces him to go to school also. (DVD, In Spanish with English subtitles, 101 minutes, Rated G)

 

Bolivia A starkly realistic story of an illegal immigrant from Bolivia who lands a job in a greasy diner on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bolivia poignently depicts the world of poverty, racism and violence that characterize his newfound reality. Tempers flare as discontented working-class people barrel toward tragedy. This taut film is an urgent and timely drama of life in Argentina, a nation in crisis that, in the last few years, has reached unprecedented poverty levels with vast unemployment, bankruptcy, and a shrinking economy. Winner of awards at numerous film festivals, Bolivia is filmed in stark black-and-white neo-realistic style.(DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 75 minutes; Not Rated.)

 

Butterfly (La Lengua de la Mariposas) is a heart-warming tale about a young boy growing up in a small Spanish town. Moncho is timid about starting school, but he is guided and nurtured by his kind and devoted teacher, Don Gregorio. As the school year comes to a close, civil war begins sweeping across the country, forcing the boy's family and community to choose between the fight for freedom and the threat of persecution. (DVD, In Spanish or French with English subtitles; 94 minutes, Rated R for a strong sex scene)

Cabeza de Vaca The story of the Spanish conquistador, Cabeza de Vaca, who, along with a small group of explorers, was abandoned by their Spanish captain and given up for dead. The film explores the conquistadors' crusade in Mexico, and Cabeza de Vaca's observations about the native peoples he encounters. (Video in Spanish with English subtitles; 108 minutes; Not rated)

El Callejón de los Milagros (Midaq Alley) is adapted from the novel by Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. The film is set in the old downtown section of Mexico City. The events that take place have been divided into the stories of three neighbors whose lives are intertwined: Rutilio, the family man who experiences homosexual feelings that shatter his domestic life; Susanita, the spinster who dreams of getting married and falls prey to a thief; and Alma, the virgin who becomes a cocaine-addicted prostitute. With humor, with pain, and with love for mankind, the film narrates the collective life of the people that live in the heart of the city, in a place called Midaq Alley, or El Callejón de los Milagros. (DVD, In Spanish with English subtitles, 140 minutes, Not Rated.

 

Camila is a headstrong, confident upper-class woman living during the 19th-century Argentine dictatorship of Juan Manuel de Rosas. Somehow her social indiscretions are allowed, but when she meets the handsome young priest, Ladislao Gutiérrez, her passion gets the best of her. A lavish period piece based on a scandalous real-life romance. (DVD, In Spanish with English subtitles, 105 minutes, Not Rated).

 

Celos (Jealousy) With wedding preparations in full swing, a man discovers a photo of his fiancée with another man and becomes obsessed with learning about this former lover. (DVD, In Spanish with English subtitles, 105 minutes, Not Rated/could be R).

 

Chac, the Rain God, a cult film from the 1970s, is based on ritual and legends from the Popul Vuh, as well as Tzeltal and Mayan stories. Shot in the Chiapas region of Mexico, this film focuses on a small Tzeltal village during a terrible drought. Desperate for relief, thirteen men set out on a quest to save their people from starvation. They seek a solitary Diviner who lives in the mountains and knows the ways of the Ancients. They hope that he can summon Chac, the Rain God. The Diviner takes them far from their own land on a strange journey -- a trek that challenges their beliefs and even their sanity. Magical, mystical, and intensely visual, Chac, the Rain God is a dazzling portrait of a Native American spiritual quest. (DVD, In Spanish with English subtitles, 94 minutes, Not Rated).

 

El Ché: Investigating a Legend. Ché Guevara, the man with the beret and the star, embodies one of the strongest myths of the 20th century. He was a combination of a saint and an adventurer, somewhere between Don Quizote and a latter-day Jesus Christ. In his relations with Fidel Castro, he is the hero of a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Ché Guevara became a symbol of an entire generation. Today he is a myth. Some still draw inspiratiopn from him; others condemn him, sometimes bitterly. For all, he is a subject of controversy and passion. This film examines the myth; it contains: his voyages of discovery throughout Latin America, the meeting with Fidel Castro, his travels around the world, and his tragic end in Bolivia at age 39. (DVD in English and in Spanish with English subtitles, 150 minutes, B&W and Color)

La Ciudad is a moving tribute to the struggles and hopes of a group of new Latin American immigrants facing the harsh realities of urban America. Men hired to work in an abandoned lot are left stranded in the face of tragedy. A young man arriving from Mexico falls in love with a girl from his home village, only to lose her in the intimidating urban wilderness. A puppeteer living homeless with his daughter dreams that she'll one day learn to read. A seamstress, desperate to send money home to help her sick child, is trapped working in a sweatshop eventually rebelling against her employers. La Ciudad takes us on an eye-opening journey through a world of frustration, hope, and sheer will, leaving us with an enlightened view of a determined group of struggling contemporary Americans. (DVD, in Spanish and English with English subtitles, 88 minutes, Not Rated)

 

Common Ground Set against Argentina's devastating economic crisis, Common Ground is a powerful and uplifting film. A respected university professor and his devoted wife have lived in Buenos Aires for many years. Without warning, they find their comfortable world threatened when the husband is forced into early retirement. Facing an uncertain future, the couple relocates to the countryside where they bravely set out on a new chapter of their lives. (DVD, in Spanish with English subtitles, 112 minutes, Not Rated)

 

El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Padre Amaro) A recently ordained priest is sent to help an aging priest run a small parish church in rural Mexico. Upon arriving at his new post, he meets a beautiful young woman with a religious passion that borders on obsession. Quickly, her passion for her faith becomes helplessly entangled in a growing attraction to the new priest. But when the handsome priest crosses the line that separates temptation from sin, he finds himself torn between the divine and the carnal, the righteous and the unjust. (DVD, In Spanish with English, French or Spanish subtitles, 119 minutes, Rated R for sexuality, language and some disturbing images)

 

Carmen (Gypsy Flamenco Dancer) Based on the opera by George Bizet. Never before has the art of flamenco dance been so pulsatingly sensual. Or a love so treacherously obsessive. In this explosive interpretation of the classic opera "Carmen", the lines between passionate illusion and real life become intricately entwined. Your senses will be aroused like never before.

 

Carne Tremula (Live Flesh) Pizza delivery man Victor is having an argument with Elena, whom he met a few days ago, but she was high then and doesn't want to hear about him. Reacting to the noise, two cops, young David and older Sancho, arrive at the scene, the gun accidentally goes off.. Four years later David is a wheelchair basketball star, he's married to Elena, Victor is released out of prison and their destinies begin to cross again.

 

Cinco de Mayo Each May 5th, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in cities throughout the United States. But few people know the holiday's significance. It's a story that began on a sweltering morning, May 5, 1862, in the city of Puebla, Mexico and surrounding forts, when an ill-equipped Mexican Army, along with Zacapoaxtla Indians and regular citizens, beat the invading French Army. Filmed in Mexico and the U.S., this is the riveting story--from events leading up to the bloody battle and the aftermath. Today, the memory of French occupation has faded, except for Cinco de Mayo--the day the Mexicans defeated the most powerful army in the world.

 

Danzón is a love story about a telephone operator whose hum-drum life is enlivened only in her ballroom dance class. When her dance partner suddenly disappears, her life changes drastically as she sets out to find him. (Video in Spanish with English subtitles; 103 minutes, Rated PG-13)

A Day Without a Mexican The California Dream becomes a hilarious nightmare when the Golden State's entire Latin American population mysteriously vanishes. For most, "the disappearance" forces the cracks in their private lives wide open, including a TV news reporter (the state's last remaining Hispanic) and a senator who becomes governor pro tem despite his anti-immigrant stance. Confusion, misunderstandings and humorous situations abound, making A Day Without a Mexican a comedic satire and a modern fable with a very current message. (DVD, in Spanish with English subtitles; 98 minutes, Rated R)

 

The Devil's Backbone is a stylish and unpredictable supernatural chiller from director Guillermo del Toro which deftly mixes horror, suspense, and dark humor. Twelve-year-old Carlos is the latest arrival to Santa Lucía School, an imposing stone building that shelters the orphans of the Republican militia and politicians during the last days of the Spanish Civil War. Carlos gradually uncovers the dark ties that bind the inhabitants of the school: hidden riches, sexual intrigue,and the restless ghost of a murdered student. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 108 minutes; Rated R for violence, language,and some sexuality.)

 

The Devil's Miner is an astonishing portrait of two brothers, 14-year-old Basilio and 12-year-old Bernardino, who work deep inside the silver mines of Cerro Rico, Bolivia. Raised without a father and living on the slopes of the mine, Basilio and his brother must work in the mines when they are not in school to help support their family and afford supplies vital to their education. In the mines, which date back to the 16th century, it is an ancient belief that the Devil determines the fate of those who enter. Basilio and his brother place their faith in the mountain devil's generosity, hoping to earn enough money so that they can continue to go to school -- their only chance of escaping their destiny in the silver mines. This film is endorsed by Human Rights Watch as shedding light on human rights abuses throughout the world. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 82 minutes; Not Rated.)

 

Eva Perón: The True Story An amazing and complex woman, Eva left an impoverished childhood behind to rise to fame as the wife of Juan Perón, popular President of Argentina. Loved by her people, but hated by the elite, she was elevated to almost "saintly" status, before facing the most difficult challenge of her life. (DVD in Spanish with Englsh subtitles; 114 minutes Rated PG-17 for adult language and adult themes)

 

El Amor Brujo (A Love Bewitched) Based on the ballet by composer Manuel de Falla. Candela marries Jose; soon after he is stabbed to death in a brawl over another woman. Every night, Candela is compelled to arise from her bed and dance with the ghost of Jose. Candela eventually marries Carmelo, who has loved her since they were children, but she is not yet free of her dead husband.

 

Engineering An Empire: The Aztec Empire It is a story wrapped in myth and legend. How did a tribe of wandering nomads engineer the Americas greatest empire in just 200 years? Their civilization rivaled Rome in its sophistication. Aqueducts, palaces, pyramids and temples stood as a tribute to their gods and a testament to the power of humankind. The Aztecs crowning achievement was a gleaming capital city that astonished European explorers called the Venice of the New World. Their thirst for power and blood set them on a course for destruction. When it finally came their annihilation would be swifter and more complete than the world had ever known.

 

Engineering An Empire: The Maya Empire Deep within the jungle cryptic remains of a lost civilization, one that spanned a continent for more that 1,000 years. They were the ancient Maya, their rulers filled their cities with sky high pyramids, ornate palaces and lavish plazas. They were masters of their environment, then after generations of prosperity and innovation the ancient civilization collapsed, turning bustling cities into ghost towns, to be reclaimed by Mother Nature. Centuries later answers to they mystery surrounding these majestic people and the god-like kings who ruled them tell a story of conquest, ingenuity and disaster.

 

El Jardín del Edén (The Garden of Eden) In Tijuana, the border is a 15-mile long wall that separates Mexico from the United States. Serena, Jane, and Elizabeth are three women in this hot, dusty border town, each looking for meaning in their lives. Serena, a young Mexican widow, arrives with her three children to build a new life; Jane, an American, is looking for her brother; and Elizabeth, a Mexican-American artist, is in search of her roots. Each finds more than she had expected in this place that is a refuge for some and a prison for others: a garden and a desert. (DVD in Spanish with English subtitles; 110 minutes; Not Rated.)