Pablo Alvarez Mesa

A doomed love triangle between intrepid French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft, and their beloved volcanoes.

Anonymous voices follow one another, leaving messages on an answering machine, creating a purely auditive experience. The messages are destined for various recipients, some identified and some not. From one voice to the next, the tone shifts from recognition and joy to boredom and anger. The degree of familiarity varies; the messages range from banal matters to the serious illness of a relative. All these voices have the goal of being heard on the other end of the line and eventually receiving an answer. Infinite Distances explores how we communicate, evoking recent nostalgia for the landline and pointing to our fundamental need to connect, share, and be heard.

Exactly 200 years after Simón Bolívar’s Colombian war of independence, a campaign that ran from late May to early August 1819, filmmaker Pablo Alvarez-Mesa follows the iconic Libertador’s route through the country. At each historic battleground, he calls on a medium to summon the general’s spirit, helping Alvarez-Mesa reveal Bolívar’s permanent and more or less visible presence in an array of social rituals and state structures. This historic legacy, after two centuries transfigured into a blend of political mysticism and unchallenged military doctrine, remains an integral part of Colombia’s collective unconscious. It keeps finding new expression in an endless cycle of violence, which this intriguing medium-length film seeks to exorcise. (Charlotte Selb)

Exactly 200 years after Simón Bolívar’s Colombian war of independence, a campaign that ran from late May to early August 1819, filmmaker Pablo Alvarez-Mesa follows the iconic Libertador’s route through the country. At each historic battleground, he calls on a medium to summon the general’s spirit, helping Alvarez-Mesa reveal Bolívar’s permanent and more or less visible presence in an array of social rituals and state structures. This historic legacy, after two centuries transfigured into a blend of political mysticism and unchallenged military doctrine, remains an integral part of Colombia’s collective unconscious. It keeps finding new expression in an endless cycle of violence, which this intriguing medium-length film seeks to exorcise. (Charlotte Selb)

Hurricane María abated, the news crews packed up and left Puerto Rico, and the interest of the international community turned elsewhere. What happened next?

'La Pesca' portrays a day in the life of a family of fishermen in Colombia. With poetry and sensorial richness, the film captures the gestures of these men as they weave nets, cook, and play dominoes, all the while waiting for the fish to come so that they can recommence anew.

Frank and the Wondercat is a creative personal documentary that follows Frank Furko, an 80-year old eccentric living in the Pittsburgh suburb of Plum, and explores the themes of memory, loss, friendship and mortality. Taking stock of his life, Frank tries to reconcile with the forty years working on the family farm with his domineering father, the end of his 20 year marriage and his role as a celebrity derived from an unusual but deeply felt friendship with Pudgie Wudgie, his twenty pound performing house-cat. Supported by Frank's twenty years of VHS video archives, mesmerizing footage that is strange, oddly beautiful, and often hilarious - this is an intimate and thoughtful portrait of an older man struggling to reconcile with his past.

Colombian teenagers study the traditional art of bullfighting in the sleepy town of Choachi. They live and train in an oasis of teen aged camaraderie and dreams for the future. But when bullfighting becomes banned in Bogota, the boys' sanctuary slowly becomes susceptible to society's larger struggles of class and conflict. Inspired by the watchful eye of retired bullfighter Nicolas, the bullfighting students strive to succeed first as Matadors, then as role models themselves. Interpreting bullfighting as a living metaphor for personal, social and historical struggles, the film focuses on the individual experiences of these boys and their mentor as they try to break free of the bleak future being dictated to them by Colombian society.

Colombian teenagers study the traditional art of bullfighting in the sleepy town of Choachi. They live and train in an oasis of teen aged camaraderie and dreams for the future. But when bullfighting becomes banned in Bogota, the boys' sanctuary slowly becomes susceptible to society's larger struggles of class and conflict. Inspired by the watchful eye of retired bullfighter Nicolas, the bullfighting students strive to succeed first as Matadors, then as role models themselves. Interpreting bullfighting as a living metaphor for personal, social and historical struggles, the film focuses on the individual experiences of these boys and their mentor as they try to break free of the bleak future being dictated to them by Colombian society.

Colombian teenagers study the traditional art of bullfighting in the sleepy town of Choachi. They live and train in an oasis of teen aged camaraderie and dreams for the future. But when bullfighting becomes banned in Bogota, the boys' sanctuary slowly becomes susceptible to society's larger struggles of class and conflict. Inspired by the watchful eye of retired bullfighter Nicolas, the bullfighting students strive to succeed first as Matadors, then as role models themselves. Interpreting bullfighting as a living metaphor for personal, social and historical struggles, the film focuses on the individual experiences of these boys and their mentor as they try to break free of the bleak future being dictated to them by Colombian society.

Colombian teenagers study the traditional art of bullfighting in the sleepy town of Choachi. They live and train in an oasis of teen aged camaraderie and dreams for the future. But when bullfighting becomes banned in Bogota, the boys' sanctuary slowly becomes susceptible to society's larger struggles of class and conflict. Inspired by the watchful eye of retired bullfighter Nicolas, the bullfighting students strive to succeed first as Matadors, then as role models themselves. Interpreting bullfighting as a living metaphor for personal, social and historical struggles, the film focuses on the individual experiences of these boys and their mentor as they try to break free of the bleak future being dictated to them by Colombian society.

Colombian teenagers study the traditional art of bullfighting in the sleepy town of Choachi. They live and train in an oasis of teen aged camaraderie and dreams for the future. But when bullfighting becomes banned in Bogota, the boys' sanctuary slowly becomes susceptible to society's larger struggles of class and conflict. Inspired by the watchful eye of retired bullfighter Nicolas, the bullfighting students strive to succeed first as Matadors, then as role models themselves. Interpreting bullfighting as a living metaphor for personal, social and historical struggles, the film focuses on the individual experiences of these boys and their mentor as they try to break free of the bleak future being dictated to them by Colombian society.

Juanicas is an intimate portrait of a Mexican immigrant family in Quebec affected by mental illness. Using material shot over almost 10 years, the filmmaker documents her complex relationship with her mother and brother, both suffering from bipolar disorder.

“In this meditative essay on the infamous Cuban prison of Panopticon design, the walls in the prison crumble revealing a past that has been covered by layers of thick yellow paint. Exquisite photography and lyric narration reveal a world where pain left unvisited turns into amnesia; history cannot absolve everything.” – BIG SKY FILM FESTIVAL

In this short lyrical film, haunting childhood memories, photographs and family stories form the heart of a woman's search for transformation. A descent into the labyrinths of memory, the film documents Jelena's recollections of her childhood in both Croatia and Canada, resulting in a fragmentary reconstruction of her past. With candour and sensitivity, Jelena reclaims her own identity, disarming us with her courage and will.

In this short lyrical film, haunting childhood memories, photographs and family stories form the heart of a woman's search for transformation. A descent into the labyrinths of memory, the film documents Jelena's recollections of her childhood in both Croatia and Canada, resulting in a fragmentary reconstruction of her past. With candour and sensitivity, Jelena reclaims her own identity, disarming us with her courage and will.