Cinema Tropical, the non-profit media arts organization that is leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States, has announced its annual list of Best Latin American Films of the Year, comprised of 25 Latin American titles from eight different countries, plus seven US Latinx productions, that the New York-based organization has selected as the best of the year.
Featuring productions from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United States, the films selected in this list will compete for the 14th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards.
The winners for Best Film, Best Director, Best First Film, Best Documentary, and Best U.S. Latinx Film, will be announced in an in-person event on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, at Film at Lincoln Center in New York City.
A jury composed of Mónica Castillo, Senior Film Programer Curator at the Jacob Burns Film Center; Mara Fortes, Senior Curator at the Telluride Film Festival; María Paula Lorgia, Artistic Director of the San Diego Latino Film Festival; Marian Luntz, Film Curator at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Manuel Santini, Senior Manager, Programming at Film at Lincoln Center; will choose the winners of the 14th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards in the Latin American cinema category.
Scholar Arlene Dávila, Founding Director of the Latinx Project at New York University; Marángeli Mejia-Rabell, Director of the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival (PHLAFF); and film programmer Ernie Quiroz, will select the winner in the U.S. Latinx category.
Please note that all the films under consideration had a minimum of 60 minutes in length and premiered between May 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023.
Cinema Tropical’s List of Best Latin American Films of 2023:
(Listed alphabetically by title)
Anhell69 by Theo Montoya, Colombia/Romania/France/Germany
Argentina, 1985 by Santiago Mitre, Argentina/USA
Blanquita by Fernando Guzzoni, Chile/Mexico/Luxembourg/France/Poland
Calls from Moscow / Llamadas desde Moscú by Luis Alejandro Yero, Cuba/Germany/Norway
Chile ‘76 / 1976 by Manuela Martelli, Chile/Argentina/Qatar
The Castle / El castillo by Martín Benchimol, Argentina/France
The Echo / El eco by Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/Germany
The Eternal Memory / La memoria infinita by Maite Alberdi, Chile
The Face of Jellyfish / El rostro de la medusa by Melisa Liebenthal, Argentina
Herbaria by Leandro Listorti, Argentina/Germany
Home Is Somewhere Else by Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos, Mexico/USA
Huesera: The Bone Woman / Huesera by Michelle Garza Cervera, Mexico/Peru
I Have Electric Dreams / Tengo sueños eléctricos by Valentina Maurel, Costa Rica/Belgium/France
The Kings of The World / Los reyes del mundo by Laura Mora, Colombia/Norway/Luxembourg/Mexico/France
The Klezmer Project / Adentro mío estoy bailando by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann, Argentina/Austria
My Imaginary Country / Mi país imaginario by Patricio Guzmán, Chile/France
Notes for a Film / Notas para una película by
Ignacio Agüero, Chile/France
Our Movie / Nuestra película by Diana Bustamante, Colombia/France
The Punishment / El castigo by Matías Bize, Chile/Argentina
Ramona by Victoria Linares Villegas by Dominican Republic
Rule 34 / Regra 34 by Júlia Murat, Brazil/France
Silent Witnesses / Mudos testigos by Luis Ospina and Jerónimo Aterhortúa, Colombia
Trenque Lauquen by Laura Citarella, Argentina
The Trial / El juicio by Ulises de la Orden, Argentina/Italy/France/Norway.
Tótem by Lila Avilés, Mexico/Denmark/France
Cinema Tropical’s List of Best US Latinx Films of 2023:
(Listed alphabetically by title)
El Equipo by Bernardo Ruiz
Going Varsity in Mariachi by Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn
Hummingbirds by Silvia del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
Mutt by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz
Sansón and Me by Rodrigo Reyes
Story Ave by Aristotle Torres
You Were My First Boyfriend by Cecilia Aldarondo
