by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Now in its 39th year, the Miami Film Festival has long been a showcase for Latin American cinema. Here is a rundown of a half dozen notable films that premiered at this year’s festival, four from Latin America, and two that had Florida connections.

Immersion (dir. Nic Postiglione)

The gripping Chilean film, Immersion has Ricardo (Alfredo Castro) taking his two adult daughters, Teresita (Consuelo Carreño) and Claudia (Mariela Mignot) to the family’s lake house. “The area is ruled by fear,” Ricardo says, en route, and he displays his own concerns when he sees three indigenous men signaling for help on a sinking boat. Pulling up anchor, he speeds off only to be reprimanded by Teresita for not helping the men in trouble. He claims they looked untrustworthy. When they arrive at the house, which is dilapidated, there is evidence that someone is living there. As tensions mount between Ricardo and his daughter, they eventually go off in search of the drowning men. Locating Walter (Michael Silva) and Conrrado (Alex Quevedo), they must search for Adrian, who swam off in pursuit of Ricardo’s boat. Immersion uses this set up to address themes of race and class as the suspicious Ricardo treats Walter and Conrrado as criminals. But as the search for Adrian continues, the balance of power—between father and daughters, or between the three men—shifts. Does father know best? Director and co-writer Nic Postiglione employs ominous music and crops in closely on the actor’s faces at every possible moment to keep viewers on tenterhooks throughout his taut thriller. 

Estación Catorce (dir. Diana Cardozo)

Estación Catorce is writer/director Diana Cardozo’s absorbing, impressionable coming-of-age tale. In rural Mexico, seven-year-old Luis (Gael Vásquez) likes to engage in risky play with his classmates. When a school evacuation sends everyone home, Luis helps his father Manuel (Antonio Becerril) shutter the house. An intense and urgent scene unfolds outside; men with guns kill a couple in the town. Manuel quickly enlists Luis’ help to loot the house of the dead, and the sins of the father soon impact his son. Luis is taunted by a classmate who said Manuel is a thief and gets into a fight (which gets Luis grounded). Manuel, who is proud and stubborn, tries to redeem himself in his son’s eyes, buying him an expensive soccer ball he can’t afford, but that too, becomes a fraught situation. A magnificent sequence has father and son biking through the mountainous region with the furniture he looted, hoping to sell it. The episode prompts Luis to discover more of his father’s flaws. Estación Catorce artfully captures that threshold of innocence that slips into adulthood with sensitivity and subtlety. Vásquez is an ingratiating child actor, and he has a terrific rapport with Becerril, who conveys so much of his character’s emotions without dialogue—his vacant eyes communicate so much of his despair. Cardozo’s film culminates in a shocking act of violence, but it signifies Luis’ dramatic change. This is a heartbreaking film. 

The Lost Children of Jarabacoa (dir. Rolando Díaz)

Also heartfelt is The Lost Children of Jarabacoa which has journalist Elaine Pérez (Judith Rodriguez Perez) investigating adoption cases in the Dominican Republic. She is specifically searching for Moraima, a young woman who was adopted—and then returned. In her efforts, she meets mothers who have given up some of their children because of poverty, and who have birthed numerous babies because their husbands would not let them use birth control. Moreover, mothers recount stories of their children who died because of poor health. One woman explains that her husband sold one of her children, while another allowed her daughter to be adopted in the hope that she would have a better life. The Lost Children of Jarabacoa illuminates the social issues at play here, as well as how mental illness also contributed to some of the cases. Director Rolando Díaz’s film is a bit crudely made, but its points resonate. 

And it is not a spoiler to reveal that Elaine’s meeting with Moraima that packs the most emotional punch—especially when she discusses her children and her thoughts about her birth parents. 

Camila Comes Out Tonight (dir. Inés María Barrionuevo)

Camila Comes Out Tonight, from Argentina, has the title character (Nina Dziembrowski) moving to Buenos Aires so her mother, Victoria (Adriana Ferrer) can manage her dying grandmother’s affairs. Enrolling in a Catholic school, Camila befriends Lourdes (Laura Daniela Visconti) and the gay Pablo (Federico Sack).She also starts separate romantic relationships with Bruno (Diego Sanchez) and Clara (Maite Valero). However, her activism and liberal views about abortion, feminism, and sexuality are not appreciated by some of her classmates; this gets Camila into trouble. She also has tensions with her mother. This absorbing coming-of-age drama shows how Camila’s politics have an impact on those around her, and director/cowriter Inés Barrionuevo features many scenes that indicate this—from her stealing a kiss from Clara by the school’s swimming pool or participating at a protest for women’s rights. Although this film is slow, its observational nature pulls viewers in, and Dziembrowski makes Camila sympathetic and empowering. 

Borrowed (dir. Carlos Rafael Betancourt & Oscar Ernesto Ortega)

Borrowed is a two-hander, based on a stage play, about David (Jonathan Del Arco), who invites Justin (Héctor Medina of Viva) to model for him at his house in the Florida Keys. Their initial conversation is flirtatious but as David paints and dines with his guest, Justin feels uncomfortable and tries to leave. David, however, wants him to spend the night—and he locks him in, and handcuffs him to ensure this will happen. Borrowed shift gears here as David feeds, dances with, and bathes Justin, who may be experiencing a kind of Stockholm Syndrome for his captor. As each man tells stories about their past, they bond—but is it real? The actors are best during the scenes where the characters’ motives are ambiguous, and Héctor Medina is captivating telling stories about his sexual experiences from his youth, but Del Arco struggles with his big confessional speech which mars this otherwise intriguing drama. 

Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way (dir. William T. Horner & Stacey Woelfel)

Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way is a sincere documentary that pays tribute to the late HIV-positive Pedro Zamora, whose appearance on MTV’s The Real World has tremendous sociocultural impact. Directors William T. Horner and Stacey Woelfel use interviews with Zamora’s sister Mily and his father as well as archive footage to (re)acquaint viewers with Zamora, a gay man who came to Miami. from Cuba when he was 8. They talk about his AIDS activism, and his life before he joined the cast of The Real World in 1994. Keep the Cameras Rolling then interviews a handful of the show’s cast members about their memories of Pedro, recounting the impact of having an HIV-positive housemate as well as the influence Zamora had educating viewers and changing minds about living with AIDS. His groundbreaking work includes kissing and “marrying” his boyfriend Sean Sasser on the show, but as Horner and Woelfel emphasize, it was how Pedro represented love and life, even as his health worsened. The filmmakers also feature interviews with President Bill Clinton to provide context for Zamora’s important story. This is a poignant documentary about a young man who left an important legacy. 

The Miami Film Festival runs online and in person through March 13. For tickets and more information, visit: https://miamifilmfestival.com/festivals/