Manuel Tsingaris

Movies

The Last Mambo
Editor
San Francisco Bay Area salsa and Latin jazz performers and audiences struggle to maintain culture, creativity and community in the face of powerful socioeconomic and demographic changes. This fascinating history of the Bay Area Latin music scene explores the post-WWII growth of California’s multi-ethnic music community, the 1950s Mambo craze, the 70s heyday of Salsa, and subsequent expansions of the art form. In today’s fast-changing environment, despite decreasing audiences and venues, Bay Area performers are transforming the future of the Afro-Latin music and dance through education and outreach.
Visitor's Day
Producer
16 year-old Juan Carlos was homeless on the streets of Mexico City for years before landing at IPODERAC, a social enterprise that houses runaway boys and supports them through the production and sale of artisanal cheese. It is here, among goats, cheese and 71 new brothers that Juan Carlos transforms from a victim to a leader, shattering everyone's expectations of him and proving the power of forgiveness.
Visitor's Day
Editor
16 year-old Juan Carlos was homeless on the streets of Mexico City for years before landing at IPODERAC, a social enterprise that houses runaway boys and supports them through the production and sale of artisanal cheese. It is here, among goats, cheese and 71 new brothers that Juan Carlos transforms from a victim to a leader, shattering everyone's expectations of him and proving the power of forgiveness.
Company Town
Editor
The once free-spirited city of San Francisco is now a 'Company Town,' a playground for tech moguls of the 'sharing economy' and social media. Billionaire venture capitalists virtually control the city's government. Skyrocketing rents and evictions have driven out ethic and middle class communities. But a grassroots backlash threatens the power of tech. The feature-length documentary, 'Company Town,' is the story of an intense election campaign that will determine the fate of the city at the epicenter of the digital revolution. The whole world is watching as similar revolts against Uber, Airbnb, and other multi-billion dollar companies erupt around the world.
War for Guam
Editor
The story of the native people of Guam, the Chamorros, who remained loyal to the U.S. under a brutal Japanese occupation only to be stripped of much of their ancestral lands to build military facilities after World War II. Through rarely seen archival footage, as well as testimonies of survivors and their descendants, War for Guam explores the experience and enduring legacy of World War II on the island.
Alive Inside
Editor
Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease and dementia—many of them alone in nursing homes. A man with a simple idea discovers that songs embedded deep in memory can ease pain and awaken these fading minds. Joy and life are resuscitated, and our cultural fears over aging are confronted.
Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border
Editor
A deeply human portrait of the chaotic reality of the US - Mexico border. Full of stunnig images and crafted like a classic city-symphony where the sum of the pieces add up to a larger whole, Purgatorio, a Journey Into the Heart of the Border brings together a universe of small stories to create a compelling and visceral cinematic experience that takes audiences into the very soul of life on the border.
The Storm That Swept Mexico
Editor