The 2024 Sundance Film Festival begins Thursday in Park City, Utah. The lineup includes a promising group of new films made by or starring Latin talent, both emerging and established faces. From a Latin music heavy hitter taking on a serious gig to a famous Chilean heartthrob hanging out in Oakland, here are the 7 films screening at the festival that we're most excited about.
If you're not traveling to Park City, tickets are available for select titles screening online.
'Strange tales'
After an outstanding year thanks to the popular apocalyptic television series “The Last of Us”, Chilean actor Pedro Pascal stars in this fantastic project set in Oakland in 1987, composed of four interconnected stories that follow the underdogs of the Bay Area who face peculiar challenges (like skinheads and rap battles). From “Captain Marvel” co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the festival describes this new vision as a film that “imaginatively fuses cinematic styles and influences with dizzying abandon.” Pascal's co-stars include Ben Mendelsohn, Normani and up-and-coming Mexican-American actor Mike Infante.
'Frida'
In-demand editor Carla Gutiérrez (“RBG,” “Cesar's Last Fast,” “Chavela”) takes on directing duties for the first time with a documentary about revered Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Gutiérrez's interpretation of the artist who deifies conventions promises to bring us closer to her personal and creative facets through the woman's own words taken from multiple sources and using animated segments in addition to a large amount of archival materials. One can't help but be intrigued by the bold impulse to seek fresh consideration of a figure who seems to have been so thoroughly examined in numerous previous literary and cinematic works.
'Equalizer'
In 2021, Black Colombian activist Francia Márquez decided to take her fight against racial and economic injustice from her rural community to the national stage by running for president. Director Juan Mejía Botero documents the inner workings of her grassroots campaign and the power of her message. The title refers to someone who recklessly ignores established social hierarchies, a term that Márquez has claimed to demand better on behalf of the masses. Addressing some of Latin America's thorniest issues, Mejía Botero previously produced the article “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” which analyzed tensions on the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti due to the illegal charcoal trade.
'In the summers'
Gone are the days of her daring “Atrévete-te-te” verses, as René Pérez Joglar, better known as Residente, of the now-defunct urban duo Calle 13, plays Vicente, a troubled father in the Colombian director's film American Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio. debut feature film. Drawing on personal experiences within her own family, the filmmaker traces the time this ill-equipped father and his two daughters spent together in Las Cruces, New Mexico, over several years. Sasha Calle, who rose to mainstream recognition last year as Supergirl through “The Flash”; Lio Mehiel, star of the independent film “Mutt”; and Leslie Grace, from “In the Heights,” are part of the cast.
'Ponyboi'
Expanding and transforming his award-winning 2019 short film of the same title, Salvadoran American actor and filmmaker River Gallo (“Love, Victor”) wrote and stars in this portrait of a singular character set during a single day as an intersex sex worker in New Jersey who He gets into trouble with the mafia after a drug deal goes bad. Dylan O'Brien, of “The Maze Runner” and “Teen Wolf,” co-stars. Behind the camera is Colombian director Esteban Arango, whose first feature film “Blast Beat,” about two brave Colombian brothers who emigrate to the United States as teenagers, also premiered at Sundance in 2020.
'Sujo'
Mexican directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero return to Sundance with their latest hard-hitting drama that examines the indelible wounds of drug-related violence plaguing the country. Valadez premiered his first feature film “Sin señas particulars,” co-written with Rondero, at the 2020 festival. That stunning drama about a mother searching for her missing son swept the Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Academy Awards) with nine awards, including best picture, and earned it a Gotham Award. “Sujo” centers on the young son of a cartel hitman, as he grapples with the possibility of following in his father's blood-soaked footsteps.
'Your monster'
After being fired from the “Scream” horror film franchise for social media posts about the Palestinian situation, Mexican actress Melissa Barrera will premiere a new project this week: the first feature film from writer-director Caroline Lindy, which has been described as a romantic film. Comedy with genre elements. The star of “In the Heights” and “Vida” plays the lead role of Laura Franco, a humble actress whose life is turned into a disaster when she discovers that there is a charming “monster” (Tommy Dewey) living in her closet. The quirky premise is likely to expand the reach Barrera has shown in various roles in recent years.
