LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN STUDIES

B E S T S E L L E R S
LA OPERACION SACRIFICIO:
Who Betrayed Che Guevara
OUR BRAND IS CRISIS

AFTER THE BATTLE

Filmed on location in Angola, South Africa and Cuba, this documentary examines the politics of the war from both sides and features remarkable combat footage, archival material and interviews with Cuban and South African soldiers as well as grieving families of those who died in the war.


AFTER THE BLACK BOOK

In April of 1999, Chilean journalist Alejandra Matus wrote The Black Book of Chilean Justice, an exposé of the Chilean judicial system.


AIMÉ CÉSAIRE: POET AND STATESMAN

This video features an interview with the most influential French Caribbean poet of the twentieth century and a leader whose visionary statesmanship in Martinique inspired a renewal of French Caribbean culture.


THE AMAZON: A VANISHING RAINFOREST

Filmed in the heart of Brazil's Amazon River Basin, this video focuses on the work of the National Institute of Amazon Research, and shows how encroaching development poses a threat to the region's fragile eco-system.


THE AMERICAN DREAM: PUERTO RICANS AND MEXICANS IN NEW YORK

This documentary examines two migrant experiences, one from the Caribbean and one from Latin America, which comprise an important part of the Hispanic experience in New York.


AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS

Reveals the nature and the extent of the U.S. government and corporate complicity in the 'destabilization' campaign and the 1973 coup that overthrew Allende's Popular Unity government in Chile.


AWAKE ZION

Ever wonder why Jews and Rastafarians both use the Star of David and make references to Zion? This exuberant documentary explores the surprising connections between reggae culture and Judaism.


BACHATA: MUSIC OF THE PEOPLE

This video explores a disreputable but popular musical genre from the Dominican Republic. Bachata, which derives from Latin American traditions of guitar music, is commonly viewed as "vulgar" or "low class," the "poor people's music."


THE BATTLE OF VIEQUES

Examines the U.S. Navy's control and use of Vieques, a satellite island and municipality of Puerto Rico, as a military training, exercise and deployment base.


BENEDITA DA SILVA

A profile of the first black woman ever to be elected city councillor and member of the Brazilian Parliament from the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro.


BITTER CANE

Examines the history of Haiti, from the 1804 revolution to the occupation (1915-34) by U.S. Marines, and the repressive Duvalier regimes of `Papa Doc' and `Baby Doc.'


BLOQUEO: Looking at the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba

Since 1962 the United States has imposed an economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba. Bloqueo examines its effects, the reasons for its implementation, and why it has endured for so many decades.


THE BORINQUENEERS

The Borinqueneers is the first major documentary to chronicle the never-before-told story of the Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment, the only all-Hispanic unit in the history of the U.S. Army, from its creation in 1899 through its service in WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. Narrated by Hector Elizondo.


BRAZIL: A REPORT ON TORTURE

This video shows why young, idealistic students, well-to-do lawyers, priests, and poor working people often become identified as enemies of the state and, subsequently, torture victims.


THE BRICK-MAKERS

Portrays the day-to-day existence of a peasant family which produces earthen bricks for a living, revealing different aspects of the culture of poverty.


A BRIDGE OVER THE CARIBBEAN

This documentary, featuring interviews with industrialists, economics, and government officials, analyzes the economic development of Puerto Rico, from 1940 through 1994, including the impact of NAFTA on the Commonwealth's economy.


BULLSHIT

Her opponents gave her the "Bullshit Award" for sustaining global poverty. Time magazine hailed her as one of the great heroes of our time. She is Vandana Shiva and this is a film about globalization, genetic engineering, bio-piracy, food and water.


CAMILO TORRES: THE GUERRILLA PRIEST

A film biography of the Colombian priest who was killed by government anti-guerrilla forces in 1966, becoming a revolutionary martyr and symbol of the new activist priest in Latin America.


CASTRO: MAN AND MYTH

Castro: Man and Myth is an intimate portrayal of one of history’s most controversial leaders: Fidel Castro. The man who freed Cuba from a crushing regime and lived a Communist dream, stood up to American and international condemnation, yet survives to this day.


CHAMPIONS

Members of the 1978 world champion Cuban women's volleyball team discuss their long hours of training and discipline, the thrill of their victory, and the painful nostalgia of retirement.


CHANGING TIDES

Examines the phenomenon of the Cuban "balseros," those Cuban citizens who in the summer of 1994, in response to the island's deepening economic crisis, took to the sea in flimsy, homemade rafts in a desperate attempt to reach Florida.


THE CHARCOAL PEOPLE

This film by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Nigel Noble documents the workaday lives of Brazilian peasants who cut down trees in the Amazon rain forest and burn the wood in earthen kilns to make charcoal, an essential ingredient for the manufacture of pig iron in the U.S.


CHE GUEVARA: THE BODY & THE LEGEND

More than 40 years after his death, the image of Che Guevara has become one of the most recognizable icons of our age. This captivating documentary explores the mystery surrounding his death and the birth of his legend.


CHILDREN ARE THE HOPE OF THE WORLD

This video examines the educational system in Cuba, visiting a preschool, elementary school, middle school, a boarding school for special education students, a ballet academy and a sports academy.


CHILDREN IN DEBT

Examines the controversial issue of Latin America's `external debt' to the U.S., focusing on the ways it affects children, including malnourishment, lack of medical care, abandonment of babies, and child prostitution.


THE CHILDREN'S WAR

In the last five years, more than 1,800 children have been murdered in Brazil, and the country now has over 7,000,000 homeless children. The film visits the slums, the suburbs, and the alleys, revealing the extent of this national scandal, as well as the police brutality and the activities of professional `death squad' killers hired to kill the children.


CHILE: BY REASON OR BY FORCE

Examines the legacy of ten years of dictatorship in Chile, focusing on the four days of nationwide protest surrounding the ten year anniversary of the coup lead by General Pinochet.


CIMARRONES

This docudrama explores the little known situation of African slaves in Latin America in the 19th century, depicting life in runaway slave communities.


COCALERO

In 2006, Evo Morales became the first indigenous president of Bolivia - winning the election with the largest majority in the country's history. Hailed as "outstanding" by the New York Times, Cocalero is a captivating portrait of this controversial figure and his astonishing rise to power.


CONVERSATION WITH ALLENDE

In this historic interview with Salvador Allende, Chile's new President articulates his basic beliefs and lays out the program he intends to pursue as leader of the Popular Unity government.


THE COST OF COTTON

This video includes biographical material about the Schnabel family, comments by Schnabel’s famous former students, and concentrates on Schnabel’s later years as a master teacher.


COURAGE OF THE PEOPLE

A dramatic reenactment of the historic 1967 massacre of 'The Night of San Juan,' when the Bolivian army launched a surprise nighttime attack upon striking tin miners and their families.


COVERING CHIAPAS

This video examines award-winning broadcast journalist Amy Goodman, of New York's WBAI-FM radio, at work covering the February 1994 emergence of Zapatista rebels in the Mexican state of Chiapas.


CREATION OF THE WORLD: A SAMBA-OPERA

This music and dance spectacular, sung and danced by members of the award-winning Beija Flor Samba School and photographed during the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, dramatizes the legend of genesis according to Yoruba mythology.br>


CROSSING ARIZONA

A Sundance festival favorite, Crossing Arizona offers a far-reaching and up-to-the-moment look at the hotly debated issue of illegal immigration as captured at America's current flashpoint - the Arizona border.


CROSSING BORDERS: A CUBAN RETURNS

This video chronicles the 1998 return to Cuba of an American college professor, Dr. Magaly Lavendenz, forced as a child to leave Cuba in 1962, and who grew up in the U.S., but with a distinct Cuban identity.


CUBA: A Lifetime of Passion

With unprecedented access to Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits, Cuba: A Lifetime of Passion looks at the extant reality of the Cuban Revolution and its uncertain post-Castro future.


CUBA AMOR

This beautifully photographed video gives a rare (for Americans) view of Cuba. Apart from its current economic crisis as an embattled socialist government, it is also an undeniably beautiful Caribbean island which current U.S. laws prevent most American tourists from visiting.


CUBA AND FIDEL

Castro speaks about the differences with the U.S. which led to severed relations, changesin Cuba since the revolution, and socialism and capitalism.


CUBA AT A CROSSROADS

This four-part series examines changes in Cuban society during the post-Soviet economic crisis between 1994-98.


CUBA VA!: THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEXT GENERATION

This controversial documentary looks at Cuba's future from the outspoken and dynamic perspective of Cuban youth.


THE CUBAN EXCLUDABLES

This powerful documentary, which includes exclusive footage of the detainees and interviews with official such as U.S. Federal Judge Marvin Shoob and former U.S. Ambassador to Cuba Wayne Smith, combines wrenching human drama and political conflict.


THE DAY OF THE DEAD

This documentary examines one of the most significant holidays on the Mexican calendar, showing how it is celebrated today and tracing its historical background, which goes back 3,000 years.


THE DECLINE OF THE MAYAN EMPIRE

This video chronicles the history of the Mayans, the most sophisticated civilization among pre-Columbian societies.


DESTINATION BARBADOS

This video, which documents one of the oldest cultural festivals in the Western Hemisphere, celebrates the vitality of calypso music today on the island of Barbados.


THE DEVIL'S DREAM

Portrays the appalling socio-political realities of contemporary Guatemala, where the majority of the population--malnourished and illiterate--are exploited by wealthy landowners and businessmen and brutally repressed by the military.


THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TISOEUR: HAITI AFTER DUVALIER

This video chronicles events in Haiti since the collapse of the Duvalier regime, from the downfall and ignominious flight into exile of "Baby Doc" Duvalier and his wife.


EVERYDAY ART

This contemporary portrait of folkloric traditions in Cuba, focusing on the everyday life of musicians and dancers.


FAVELAS

Takes viewers into the heart of the Brazilian favelas, the slums that spread uncontrollably through Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest industrial center.


FIDEL

Saul Landau's classic documentary is a remarkably informative and engaging portrait of the early years of the Cuban Revolution.


FOR THE FIRST TIME

Celebrates the universal and almost magical appeal of motion pictures by showing a Cuban Film Institute mobile film unit traveling deep into the Cuban countryside to show peasants their first movie.


FROM THE ASHES: NICARAGUA TODAY

Traces the historical roots of the Nicaraguan national liberation movement and U.S. relations with Nicaragua, including scenes of the 1979 Sandinista insurrection, which overthrew the Somoza regime, and Sandinista social and ecnomic reform.


GIRL BEAT: POWER OF THE DRUM

This video profiles members of Banda Dida, an all-girl drumming and vocal group in Salvador, Brazil.


GOLUB: LATE WORKS ARE THE CATASTROPHES

An acclaimed documentary on American artist Leon Golub, whose politically charged work calls attention to human rights violations and the abuse of power around the world, including U.S. involvement in El Salvador and Nicaragua.


GRASS WAR!: PEASANT STRUGGLE IN BRAZIL

In 1959, some 800 families resisted efforts to remove them from their remote farms. One peasant leader, Jofre Correa Netto, became known as the “Fidel Castro of Brazil,” and became the target of an assassination attempt.


GRENADA: THE FUTURE COMING TOWARDS US

Examines the aims and accomplishments of the New Jewel Movement and the reasons for the Fall 1983 U.S. military invasion.


GROWING UP IN THE SOUTH

This documentary chronicles one week in the life of street kids living in Cusco, Peru. Working in collaboration with a shelter for some of Cusco's 3,000 street kids, the filmmakers enlist several of the youngsters to form a street theatre company.


GROWING UP ON THE STREETS: 12 YEARS LATER

In 1988, filmmakers Luc Cote and Robbie Hart went to Cusco, Peru, to make a documentary about the life of the city's street kids, runaway children from dysfunctional families or youngsters abandoned by their parents, who struggle to survive on their own.


GUATEMALA: ROADS OF SILENCE

Examines the plight of Guatemalan Indian peasants victimized by the government's counterinsurgency program which has led many Guatemalans to go into exile or to become internal refugees inside the country.


HAITI DREAMS OF DEMOCRACY

A colorful report on post-Duvalier Haiti in which the Haitian people express their fervent desire for democracy.


HAUNTED LAND

In this feature-length documentary, two paths cross on a tortuous descent into Guatemala's tragic past: that of Mateo Pablo, Maya survivor of one of many massacres that took place during the country's recent civil war, and Daniel Hernandez-Salazar, Guatemalan artist and photographer, whose work deals with local human-rights violations.


HAVANA: The New Art of Making Ruins

From Buena Vista Social Club to Hollywood blockbusters, Havana's crumbling architecture has been romanticized in countless films and movies. But what about the people who must live in these buildings? This unique documentary paints a thought-provoking portrait of the inhabited ruins of Havana and their curious blend of magic and decay.


HAVANA POSTMODERN: THE NEW CUBAN ART

Examines the new Cuban art movement and its social and cultural roots, featuring interviews with artists and students at Cuba's top art school, who discuss Cuban national identity, censorship and self-expression, and how one makes a living as an artist in a socialist society.


HOLY FATHER AND GLORIA

An emotionally powerful account of Pope John Paul's 1987 visit to Chile, which caused a massive outpouring of political discontent with the Pinochet regime, including emotional appeals to the Pope to support protests over the imprisonment and torture of political prisoners, the lack of political freedom, and widespread hunger and unemployment.


I AM JUANA BACALLAO

A profile of the colorful singer who uses the street Spanish of Cuba to sing, swagger and slang her way into the hearts of her audience.


I SPENT MY LIFE IN THE MINES

This film autobiography of a Bolivian miner also chronicles the rise and fall of the mining industry and the political history of Bolivia.


I'LL GO TO SANTIAGO

A gentle, loving portrait of Santiago de Cuba and its people.


IMAGES OF FAITH

Examines the centuries-old tradition in Puerto Rico of using hand-carved santos in Catholic religious practices. The film visits an elderly santero (carver) and his teenage apprentice, revealing the skill and artistry of this ancient craft as well as the importance of the saints in the lives of the faithful.


IN CANE FOR LIFE

Shot during the seven months of the Brazilian sugar cane harvest, this video portrays what may be the last generation of the nation’s 800,000 sugar cane cutters (an environmental law approved by the National Congress has ruled that by 2015 practically all cane harvesting must be mechanized).


INNOVATING NICARAGUA

Shows how the Innovators Movement of the Sandinista Workers Union fabricated machine parts and other items to maintain the Nicaraguan economy during the U.S. economic blockade.


THE JUDGE AND THE GENERAL

In 1998, Chilean judge Juan Guzman - a supporter of General Augusto Pinochet - was assigned to prosecute the country's ex-dictator for human rights crimes. This engrossing documentary follows the twists and turns of a landmark case that influenced the application of human rights law around the world.


JUNGLE PHARMACY

Focuses on the work of dedicated physicians, scientists and environmentalists who hope to heighten awareness of the ongoing destruction of one of the world's largest medicine chests, the Amazon rainforest.


KEEP THE CIRCLE STRONG

Follows the five month journey of Mike Auger, a Cree Indian from northern Canada, who travels to Bolivia to live and work with the Aymara Indians.


LA OPERACION

Puerto Rico has the highest incidence of female sterilization in the world. Over one-third of all Puerto Rican women of childbearing age have been sterilized.


LA SEÑORA EVA PERON

This historical documentary, filmed in Argentina, chronicles the life of Eva Peron (1919-1952) through a wealth of archival footage, rare photos, and interviews with many of her colleagues, closest confidants, and contemporary political leaders.


THE LAND BURNS

The film profiles Juan Amaro, 35 years old, who six years ago settled with his wife and eleven children on an abandoned ranch.


L.E.A.R.: THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARY WRITERS AND ARTISTS

Examines the history of this famous organization founded in Mexico City in 1934. The League, whose founding members included painters such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, included artists from various disciplines, all of whom shared a commitment to the fusion of art and politics.


LAFANMI SELAVI

Filmed at a center for street children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, founded by former President Aristide in 1986, this video interviews five young children.


LAND FOR ROSE

Examines the popular movement for land reform in Brazil. The film shows massive demonstrations, marches and protests throughout Brazil, including the establishment of a large camp of some 1500 landless peasants at an unused private farm in Rio Grande do Sul.


LA PROMESA

La Promesa chronicles the grueling pilgrimage one Cuban father endures to fulfill a vow he made to St. Lazarus for restoring the health of his young son.


LAST OF THE KARAPHUNA

Chronicles the history and contemporary lifestyle of the Carib Indians who dominated the West Indies centuries before the arrival of Columbus, but whose sole survivors today number less than 3,000 farmers and fishermen on a small reservation on Dominica.


LIFE AT THE SOURCE: THE ADVENTURES OF AN AMAZON EXPLORER

Recounts the larger-than-life but true story of Arno P. Calderari--professional adventurer, jungle explorer, deep sea diver, treasure hunter and wildlife filmmaker-interweaving Arno's reminiscences with rare film footage of his many adventures.


THE LIFE AND POETRY OF JULIA DE BURGOS

This docudrama portrays the life and work of the great Puerto Rican poet, from her impoverished childhood in Puerto Rico, to her political involvement as a young woman in the nationalist movement, to her subsequent exile in Cuba and New York where she died in 1953.


LIGHT MEMORIES OF RIO

Examines the history of photography in Brazil, dating from 1839, and simultaneously traces the history of the development of Rio de Janeiro as one of the world's major cities and a political and cultural center of Brazil.


LISTEN CARACAS

A Yekuana Indian chief in the Amazon, a leader in the struggle for indigenous rights, speaks out forcefully about the disrespectful attitude shown towards his people by colonizers and missionaries


LONGEVITY: TO LIVE TO BE 140

This video features an interview with Dr. Alexander lief, a gerontology specialist at Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital, who discusses his on-location study of the people living in the Andean village of Vilcabamba in Ecuador.


LUISA CAPETILLO: A PASSION FOR JUSTICE

Dramatizes the life and work of Luisa Capetillo (1879-1922), a Puerto Rican journalist, writer, suffragist, and labor organizer.


MADE ON RAILS: A HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN RAILROAD WORKERS

Examines the history of one of Mexico's most combative unions, from the 1920s through the present day, through archival footage and interviews with surviving participants.


MAGIC WOOL

Tells the story of the Bordadores of Isla Negra, a group of Chilean peasant women who embroider beautiful tapestries of wool on flour sacks depicting colorful images from their daily lives.


MAKING DO

Faced with widespread conditions of mass unemployment, poverty, urban crowding, and governmental crisis, more than a billion people in some 100 underdeveloped nations throughout the Third World have developed their own 'informal economy,' a parallel lifestyle operating on the margins of the society's formal economy and legal system, which provides them with a means of survival.


MAKING THE NEWS FIT

Examines American media coverage of the war in El Salvador and how journalists cover a war in which the U.S. is deeply involved.


MALAJUNTA

This documentary examines the 1976-1983 period in Argentina, when that nation was terrorized by one of the cruelest military dictatorships in Latin American history.


MAMA... I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU

This autobiographical video, in which the filmmaker reveals his homosexuality to his mother, explores the awkward situation of being ‘out’ to friends but closeted to family.


MANOS A LA OBRA: THE STORY OF OPERATION BOOTSTRAP

Examines Puerto Rico's 'Operation Bootstrap,' the highly vaunted economic development plan undertaken in the 1950s to provide a role model for economic development throughout Latin America.


MARIO VARGAS LLOSA: THE NOVELIST WHO WOULD BE PRESIDENT

Profiles the life and work of one of the world's greatest contemporary novelists, who in 1990 campaigned unsuccessfully for the Presidency of Peru.


MARTIN CHAMBI AND THE HEIRS OF THE INCAS

Profiles the life and work of Martin Chambi (1891-1973), a full-blooded Indian, who ran his own photographic studio in Cuzco, Peru's ancient Inca capital, where he photographed many of Peru's wealthy European families.


MARYSE CONDE SPEAKS FROM THE HEART

This video features an interview with the widely read and gifted writer from Guadeloupe, author of 14 novels, five plays, and numerous collections of essays.


MEMORIES OF TATA

An intimate portrait of the filmmaker's immigrant Central American family-in particular the macho traditions of his grandfather-woven from childhood memories and family reminiscences, revealing how exaggerated expressions of male identity can cost a man the love of his entire family.


THE MESOAMERICAN CULTURAL CODE

This three-part video series examines different social aspects of the cultures of Mesoamerica (i.e., the nations of Mexico and Central America).


MIAMI-HAVANA

Examines the continuing human tragedy of families divided as a result of the thirty year conflict between the U.S. and Cuba.


MISSING CHILDREN

Portrays the courageous efforts of Argentine mothers and grandmothers to locate their children and grandchildren who were among the innocent victims of the military junta's `dirty war' against the opposition in the late 1970s and early 1980s.


MOTIVATIONS

A portrait of painter Manuel Mendive who discusses the African themes in his art.


MOVING FORWARD

Micro credit may just be a theory to some, but to three low-income women in Cali, Colombia, it has become a source of hope as they work hard to take the stigma out of poverty.


THE MUSIC OF THE DEVIL, THE BEAR, AND THE CONDOR

Takes us to the heart of the Andes to capture the atmosphere of the annual music festivals, showing ceremonies of the Aymara Indians who dress as devils, bears and sacred spirits that come to life at carnival time.


MYSTERY OF THE MAYA

One of the greatest empires history has ever known is on the verge of collapse, in desperation its leaders look to the heavens for answers.


THE NATIONALISTS

Surveys the activities of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party in the 1950s, including the background to the shooting incident in the U.S. Congress by four Puerto Rican nationalists in March 1954, and the contributions of the movement's leading figure, Don Pedro Albizu Campos.


NEIGHBORS: THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO

An in-depth look at economic relations between the U.S. and Mexico, including banking, trade and illegal immigration, and the impact of maquiladoras--labor-intensive factories owned by U.S. firms but located in Mexico--and how these 'offshore' operations affect American consumers and workers.


THE NEW CINEMA OF LATIN AMERICA (Series)

This two-part documentary examines the social and artistic roots of the national cinemas of Latin America, tracing the evolution of its theoretical and esthetic positions, the development of new forms of representation, repression against filmmakers, and the emergence of a new women's cinema.


THE NEW CINEMA OF LATIN AMERICA: CINEMA OF THE HUMBLE

Explores the movement's origins, traces the evolution of its theoretical and esthetic positions, and focuses on the development of cinema in Cuba and Nicaragua.


THE NEW CINEMA OF LATIN AMERICA: THE LONG ROAD

Examines the development of new forms of representation, repression against filmmakers, variations of strategy in response to different circumstances in different countries, and the emergence of a new women's cinema.


NICARAGUA: THE DIRTY WAR

Portrays the U.S.-supported contra army's war against the Sandinista regime and Nicaragua's civilian population.


NICARAGUA: SCENES FROM THE REVOLUTION

Combines historical and contemporary footage of the Nicaraguan Revolution, from the inception of Sandanismo in the '30s to the 1979 insurrection and the first 100 days of the Sandinista government.


ONLY EMPTINESS REMAINS

This emotionally devastating feature documentary examines political repression and the situation of the 'disappeared' during Argentina's 'dirty war' in the late Seventies.


AN ORDINARY FAMILY

When the Argentine economy collapsed in 2001, even the comfortably middle-class suddenly found themselves poor and struggling to survive. An Ordinary Family chronicles the experience of one family in Buenos Aires during this crisis.


OUR BRAND IS CRISIS

For decades, U.S. strategists-for-hire have been quietly molding the messages of candidates in elections around the world. This critically-acclaimed documentary is an astounding look at one group's campaign to elect the President of Bolivia and its earth-shattering aftermath.


PABLO NERUDA: POET

Examines the life and work of the Nobel Prize-winning poet. In an interview conducted shortly before his death, Neruda discusses his worldview and explains his writing methods. This discussion is intercut with readings from Neruda's poems and commentary tracing the development of his poetic vision.


PANCHO VILLA'S COLUMBUS RAID

Examines an unusual episode of the Mexican Revolution, on March 9, 1916, when Pancho Villa's guerrilla band attacked the small border town of Columbus, New Mexico. In response, the U.S. Army launched a 10,000 man, eleven month punitive expedition into northern Mexico to capture Villa and his men.


PANORAMA

The historical collage of Cuban Dance forms, including contradanza, danzon, son, mambo, cha-cha-cha, and culminating in an exuberant carnival celebration, features dancers from Cuba's famed El Conjunto Nacional de Danza Moderna.


PARAGUAY: THE FORGOTTEN DICTATORSHIP

Offers a rare look at Latin America's oldest dictatorship, that of General Alfredo Stroessner, who took power in 1954.


PATCH ADAMS, THE CHILDREN AND HAVANA

This video chronicles the humanitarian visit to Cuba of Patch Adams, the doctor made famous in the Robin Williams film, who advocates the importance of humor in the treatment of his patients, especially children.


PRODUCING MIRACLES EVERYDAY

Over half of the Latin American labor force works in the `informal economy,' creating their own forms of income and employment through hard work and ingenuity.


PROFESSION: CHILD

This shocking documentary, produced by the International Labour Organization, reveals the exploitation of child labor in Brazil today, focusing on the daily lives of four children in and around Rio de Janeiro.


PUERTO RICO: PARADISE INVADED

Examines the history and present-day reality of Puerto Rico, including the history and the contemporary relationship between the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S.


QUE HACER?

Filmed during the historic 1970 elections in Chile, blends documentary footage of the Salvador Allende political campaign-including vicious street battles, mass rallies and screaming crowds-with a fictional story of political intrigue.


A QUIET REVOLUTION

Examines the role of Liberation Theology in Latin America today by showing the efforts of Christian Base Communities, groups of poor and marginalized people attempting to solve their problems of hunger, disease, unemployment and political oppression through the application of Biblical principles.


THE RAGGED REVOLUTION

An incisive look at the realities behind the romantic myths of the Mexican Revolution.


RAPHAEL CONFIANT SPEAKS

In this video of the keynote speech at the November 2001 International Conference of Caribbean Literature in Martinique, the prolific and outspoken French Caribbean writer from Martinique, who writes in both French and Creole, describes his evolution as a writer, his passion for Creole culture and the history of the literary movements of Negritude, Creolite and Antillanite. He also addresses the current preoccupations of contemporary French Caribbean writers, including his own.


REBELLION IN PATAGONIA

This classic of the Latin American cinema is based on actual historical events involving the brutal military suppression of a series of strikes during the early Twenties by rural workers in the southernmost province of Argentina.


RED SQUAD

An investigative (but frequently humorous) documentary on the surveillance activities of the New York City Police Department's Bureau of Special Services, known as the Red Squad.


RESISTENCIA: HIP HOP IN COLUMBIA

This video offers an unusual look at the current political and economic crisis in Colombia—including a decades-long civil war, a rampant drug trade, kidnapping for ransom, and financial scandal at the highest levels of the government—through the eyes of young Colombians, in particular the country’s finest rap musicians, DJs and breakdancers.


RETURNING TO CHILE

An emotionally moving investigation of the problems of identity and adjustment confronting Chilean youngsters who returned to Chile after many years in exile with their parents.


REVELACIONES / REVELATIONS:HISPANIC ART OF EVANESCENCE

Documents the Fall 1993 construction at Cornell University of site-specific installations by eight acclaimed Hispanic artists, featuring interviews with the artists, scenes of the exhibit, as well as the controversy and protest it engendered on campus.


ROAD OF NO RETURN: THE BANISHMENT OF MARIA DE LAS MERCEDES BARBUDO

This short drama portrays the efforts of a young woman photographer to uncover the fragmentary and little-known history of an early nineteenth-century Puerto Rican feminist and political activist who was deported for her nationalist beliefs by the Spanish colonial government of the era.


SACRED EARTH

Reveals the plight of landless peasants in Guatemala, where property ownership is restricted to a small percentage of the nation's most wealthy citizens.


SACRIFICIO: WHO BETRAYED CHE GUEVARA?

The one person singled out as ultimately responsible for Guevara’s capture was his former lieutenant, Ciro Bustos. His version of those events, combined with interviews with historians, former CIA agents and Bolivian army officers, raises serious questions about how history is written.


SANTA MARTA: TWO WEEKS IN THE SLUMS

Portrays daily life in a mountaintop slum in Rio de Janeiro, featuring interviews with residents who discuss police harassment, the lack of educational and employment opportunities, problems of sanitation, violence, drugs and alcohol in the community, and social and racial discrimination.


SECUESTRO: A STORY OF A KIDNAPPING

This critically acclaimed feature documentary dramatizes the complex problem of kidnapping in Colombia, where the disparity between rich and poor has turned kidnapping for ransom into a virtual business, with a kidnapping occurring every seven hours.


THE SHORT LIFE OF JOSÉ ANTONIO GUTIERREZ

This acclaimed documentary tells the moving and nearly unbelievable story of the first American soldier to be killed in Iraq, a one-time street kid from Guatemala who illegally crossed into the United States.


SIMPLEMENTE JENNY

Examines women in Latin America and the cultural values that shape their lives. Scenes of urban slums, abandoned children, reform schools and broken homes are juxtaposed against romanticized media images.


THE SIXTH SUN: MAYAN UPRISING IN CHIAPAS

Before dawn on New Year's Day, 1994, startled tourists and residents of the Mexican state of Chiapas watched as armed Mayan Indians declared war on the government, seizing eight towns and sending shock waves through Mexico's political establishment.


THE SOUL OF THE ISLANDS

Examines the history and legends of the Shuar Indians, formerly known as the Jivaro or ‘head-hunter’ Indians, of Ecuador, focusing on their centuries-long history of resistance to the armed might of the Inca and Spanish empires and the preservation of their current way of life.


THE SOUND OF RUSHING WATER

This poetic docu-drama about the pride and anguish of Haiti features the renowned Haitian singer Toto Bissainthe who recounts in song a fable that recreates Haiti's past and reveals its continuing tragedy.


SOUTH OF THE BORDER

A colorful and entertaining survey of protest music in Central America, from Mexico City to Managua, where popular music has become a forum for social commentary and political protest.


STEPPIN': MICHAEL MANLEY IN JAMAICA

This video shows Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley during an election campaign throughout the island nation.


STITCHING OUR FUTURE

This poignant and inspiring documentary tells the story of Coopa-Roca, a cooperative of seamstresses in a shantytown in Rio de Janeiro who, in an effort to provide an income for their families, design and manufacture women’s clothing and accessories.


STREET VENDORS: THE INFORMAL MAJORITY OF MEXICO

This documentary examines the human side of Mexico's informal economy, which is estimated to comprise some two-thirds of the country's working population.


STRONG ROOTS

This video documents the struggles of peasants in the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil, which is engaged in a national political campaign to occupy and cultivate unused land.


TAKING AIM

In 1985, Monica Frota, an independent Brazilian filmmaker, collaborated with the Kayapo people of the Brazilian rain forest to develop Mekaron Opoi D'joi (He Who Creates Images), the first Kayapo media project.


TARGET NICARAGUA: INSIDE A COVERT WAR

This video reveals what the CIA's clandestine action looks like, not from the Washington offices of policy circles but from the ground, where words like 'covert action' are translated into suffering, dislocation and death.


TEEN MOTHERS

A stark and honest look at the explosion of teen pregnancy in Brazil, Teen Mothers is an award-winning documentary that follows four young girls, aged 13 to 15, through the course of their pregnancies and into the early days of motherhood.


THIS OTHER HAITI

In contrast to the predominant media image of an oppressed and powerless Haitian populace, this documentary examines the activities of a nationwide peasant movement for social change in Haiti.


TIERRA Y CULTURA

Examines the recuperacion movement among the Indian communities in Colombia where an Indian rebel army is engaged in guerrilla warfare with a Colombian Army counterinsurgency force.


THE TIME BOMB

Examines the debt crisis in Latin America which has left the international economic system in a state of shock and created a volatile political situation threatening fragile democratic governments through-out the continent.


TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITY

A profile of Fernando Birri, 'Father' of the New Latin American Cinema.


TWENTY YEARS LATER

In the early Sixties, the Brazilian peasant leader, Joao Pedro Teixeira, was assasinated by two gunmen hired by local landowners.


THE UNCOMPROMISING REVOLUTION

Profiles the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro at political middle age. The Cuban leader reflects on his life and Cuba--past, present and future--and declares his continuing faith in communism. In numerous other interviews, including encounters with people on the streets, Cuban citizens voice their pro and con feelings about the revolution and Cuban society.


VERSO NEGRO

Featuring poetry performances that often resemble contemporary rap, this film examines an important aspect of Afro-Caribbean cultural heritage.


VIEQUES: AN ISLAND FORGING FUTURES

This video documents the peaceful resistance and protest movement against U.S. Navy bombing practices on Vieques, a sister island of Puerto Rico, a movement which dramatically escalated after two bombs killed David Sanes, a Viequense civilian employee, in April 1999.


VILLA EL SALVADOR: A DESERT DREAM

Tells the remarkable story of Peru's Villa El Salvador, one of Latin America's best organized squatter settlements, with 300,000 inhabitants, dozens of schools, markets and recreation areas. Interviews with residents are combined with scenes of daily life in the community.


VOICES FROM THE FIELDS

This documentary follows farmworkers from California's Salinas Valley back to their roots in the fields of rural Mexico, where they recount their everyday struggle to cope in the midst of the globalization of agriculture and the impact of NAFTA.


VOODOO KINGDOM

In Haiti and many African countries today, voodoo is an integral part of daily life. Filmed in the Republic of Benin, this video examines the reality of voodoo as a polytheistic religion, including more than 260 gods, the beliefs of which include ancestral worship and direct dealing with supernatural forces.


VOYAGE OF DREAMS

Tells the story of the Haitian boat people and the reasons for their exile--injustice and political repression, widespread economic stagnation, a lack of educational opportunity, and the absence of free speech.


WE DON'T PLAY GOLF HERE - and other stories of globalization

What can the construction of a golf course in Mexico teach us about globalization? This disarmingly engaging documentary offers a primer on how 'free market' economics can distort both culture and the environment.


WHEN THE PEOPLE AWAKE

Documents the peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism attempted byAllende's Popular Unity Government in Chile in 1970-73, tracing its historical background, developments and impending tragedy.


WITHOUT FEAR OF BEING HAPPY

Profiles the Workers Party (PT) in Brazil, the largest left-wing political party in the world today, and the most important political opposition to emerge in Brazil since the formal return to democratic rule in 1985.


WOMEN OF VIEQUES

This video shows the involvement of Puerto Rican women in the continuing protest movement against U.S. Navy use of the island of Vieques as a military training site.