“The Reconstruction” (Juan Taratuto, Argentina, 93 mins)
Family plot performed modestly about the sometimes arduous human labor to be able to connect with ourselves. Shot in the region of Tierra del Fuego, southern Argentina, the film is short on dialogue and its placid images project confidence and trust. A film gifted with human qualities and cinematic quality in its narrative. (April 25, 9 p.m., New People • April 28, 2 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • April 30, 4 p.m., New People)
“Manila in the Claws of Light” (Lino Brocka, Filipinas, 1975, 124 mins)
Combining commercial elements of Philippine cinema of the 70s with social commentary, Lino Brocka found a fair balance to create this classic movie. Part thriller, part melodrama, it is a portrait of Manila as a raw, merciless city, while sensitive to the souls that gravitate in it. It is an essential work that transcends the commercial. (May 2, 6 p.m., New People • May 4, 6 p.m., PFA)
“History of Fear” (Benjamín Naishtat, Argentina/France/Germany/Qatar/Uruguay, 79 mins)
The film is populated by characters who live in controlled and safe spaces, but not enough to avoid the uncertainty and anxiety in their expressions and surroundings. A debut film endowed with ambiguity, where many of its stylish shots encapsulate an imminent danger that never materializes but that, it is subtly felt in the essence of its characters. (April 30, 7 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 2, 9 p.m., New People • May 7, 8:45 p.m., PFA)
“Club Sándwich” (Fernando Eimbcke, México, 82 mins)
Eimbcke is already a veteran with his comedies of ironic humor. Static shots, terse dialogue and surgical edition, make up the formula that gives effect to his films. Mother and son enjoy idly their summer vacation off-season, until Jazmín arrives to disrupt the peaceful family scene. It is the most successful of his films to date. (April 26, 4:15 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • April 28, 9:15 p.m., New People • May 4, 1:30 p.m., Sundance Kabuki)
“The Amazing Catfish” (Claudia Sainte-Luce, México, 89 mins)
With an effective blend of realism, drama and comedy, this first time 32-year-old director from Veracruz recalls Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda’s style and family-themed subjects. In Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, a young woman’s life is transformed when she meets a woman and her three daughters. The film shows great camerawork by Agnes Godard, usual of French director Claire Denis. (May 3, 6:00 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 6, 9:00 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 8, 8:45 p.m., PFA)
“All About the Feathers” (Neto Villalobos, Costa Rica, 85 mins)
Picturesque and with funny dialogues, it tells the story of a security guard excited about a gamecock and a group of lovable characters that surround it. Simple and direct, it is the first film of the Costa Rican director who studied film in Barcelona, Spain. It is pleasing to see movies come out of Central America, where film production is scarce. The production was supported by 273 people in IndieGogo. (April 25, 6:30 p.m., PFA • April 27, 8:45 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • April 29, 6:15 p.m., Sundance Kabuki)
“The Militant” (Manolo Nieto, Uruguay/Argentina, 121 mins)
Ariel studies at the university in Montevideo and returns to Salto, in the north of the country, when his father dies. Paused and picturesque, the movie mixes drama with the backdrop of the rough life in the Uruguayan pampas. It is the second film from the director of Montevideo. One should note the unfortunate translation of the title “El lugar del hijo” into English. (April 26, 9 p.m., New People • April 27, 3:15 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 1, 8:50 p.m., PFA)
“Cesar’s Last Fast” (Lorena Parlee/Richard Ray Perez, USA, 100 mins)
Inspiring, this documentary focuses around the 38-day hunger strike that Cesar Chavez, the president of the United Farm Workers, who was in his sixties at the time, held in the summer of 1988 in the San Joaquin Valley, Calif., to draw attention to the harmful effects of pesticides. The documentary contains much footage and interviews. (April 26, 1:30 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • April 29, 6:45 p.m., Sundance Kabuki)
“Coast of Death” (Lois Patiño, España, 81 mins)
The debut of this director from Galicia is a candidate to the Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary. It is a poetic ode to the Galician coast in northeastern Spain in which a fly-on-the wall camera observes from the distance the magical land of ‘meigas’ (witches) where fog and drizzle prevail. The documentary interviews fishermen, lumberjacks and the elderly. It starts as a breeze and fades like breathe. (May 2, 7:00 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 3, 9:15 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 5, 6:30 p.m., PFA)
“Manos sucias” (Josef Kubota Wladyka, USA/Col., 82 mins)
Shot in Buenaventura and Colombia’s Pacific coast all the way up to Panama, an area where drug trafficking abounds, it is the first film of this director based in Brooklyn and graduated from New York University. Full of action and intrigue, it is played by amateur actors who speak the dialect of the area. Spike Lee was co-producer and advisor. (May 4, 6:45 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 5, 8:30 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 8, 6:00 p.m., Sundance Kabuki)
“Bad Hair” (Mariana Rondón, Venezuela/Perú, 93 mins)
Junior wants to have his hair straight and be a singer. He is 10-years-old and lives with his mother and baby brother in a large apartment building in a poor neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela. Very good performances portray vivid characters that convey intense emotions between mother and child, with a wealth of nuances and a strong social backdrop. It is the third film by this Venezuelan director who studied film in France and Cuba. If we want to highlight one of the Latino films this year, it is this. (May 1, 9:15 p.m., Sundance Kabuki • May 4, 6:15 p.m., New People • May 7, 6:30 p.m., PFA)
Tickets are $15. Theaters: Sundance Kabuki, 1881 Post St., SF; New People, 1746 Post St., SF; Pacific Film Archive (PFA), 2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley.
More information: www.sffs.org/festival-home