Mauricio Reyes Serrano

Underground Rivers

From the very beginning, Simón Velez’s film instils a sense of dramatic tension: moving from a sudden crescendo and the grainy sounds of nervous electro noise to a bucolic archery scene between two men, and the texture of analogue film.

The Calm After the Storm

After studying abroad, Mercedes returns to Colombia to work on the next film by her father, the famous Víctor Gaviria. Fluctuating between admiration and reproach, Mercedes constructs a private diary that goes beyond familial conflicts to question the place of women in the film world, which is still strongly ingrained with a patriarchal mindset.

So Foul a Sky

If there was an award for the most stylish opening scene, it would go to Álvaro Pulpeiro for ‘So Foul a Sky’. A road movie and a immersive report from a Venezuela on the verge of collapse. Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s classic novel ‘Nostromo’, we are led into a twilight world where allegiances change among the travellers under the enormous dome of the sky. Pirates and pilgrims cross tracks, and oil is traded on the black market in the middle of nowhere. Crackling car radios relay an ideological battle of words. Has the oil cast a curse on Venezuela? The country is in the midst of the worst political and humanitarian crisis that South America has experienced in the 21st century. Instead of trying to explain the chaotic situation, Pulpeiro places us in the middle of it. A sensory and cinematic film, where the oil runs like thick, black blood through the arteries of the road network and connects us with some of the people who are trying to make life work beyond law and order.

Familia

Katalina, Daniela and Máximo live together as a family. Their life changes after the birth of Luciana, Daniela and Máximo's daughter. On the one hand, Katalina decides to look for a new space to live alone, and on the other hand, Daniela and Máximo reflect on what it means to have a family.

Mute Fire

On 6 March 1906, four men were executed for the attempted murder of Colombian president Rafael Reyes. The event was photographed, and the photos were later used for a fictionalised film on the failed coup. From then on, cinema in this South American country has been inextricably linked to its violent history. Moving images have been used for historiography, propaganda, disinformation and to instil unity in a nation that refuses to come together. Falsos positivos, murdered youths disguised as guerrillas by the army to simulate military success, are a common element.

Big Bridge

After jumping from a bridge, William steals a motorcycle to take his girlfriend for a ride.

Nocturno: Ghosts of the Sea in Port

The Spanish vessel ‘Ilha Brava’ arrives from the deep seas of the south Atlantic. 55 days at sea are interrupted by only five days docked in the port of Montevideo. The city exists as a hologram for the sailors, standing like a shadow behind the vessel that gives shelter. Men of diverse nationalities and religions, yet all share the same broken gaze, in which a dream of home absorbed through a screen is a haunting and entertaining presence during the long dead hours of waiting.

The Treehouse

A fiery young couple may be as hot for each other as they are ill-suited. An astute look at the stormy passions and knotty intensity that make some relationships alluring to the point of being unbearable.

Watch How I Forget You

It's the beginning of spring. Federico travels for 20 days from Bogota, Colombia, to Buenos Aires, Argentine. In Buenos Aires he meets a couple of friends that introduce him to Florencia, a girl that makes him doubt his return.

Strange Days

Two young Colombians, Luna y Juan, live in the suburbs of a Buenos Aires without Argentines. Their relationship oscillates between tender gestures and violent explosions. Everything between them gradually gets more intense: their games, fights, recklessness and even their monotony. But something changes when Federica shows up that sets into crisis the fragile nature of their relationship, unveiling the decadence they have gotten themselves into.

Heat Wave

In the damp and dusty village of La Hondura, La Mona is ready to sacrifice everything to maintain her authority even if loneliness is the price she must pay. Her body, however, refuses to toe the line.