The Latin Boys is a new collection of short films, out now from NQV Media. With six diverse films from across Latin America, we see a Mennonite community, two experimenting best friends, a young drag queen, an armed robbery that goes wrong, a boy escaping from an Amazon village and a pair of quarreling artist lovers.
UNICORN (Bolivia) Starring: Doug Porter, Eric Robles, Arturo Lora, Lorena Sugier. Director: Rodrigo Bellott A young man is found locked in a cage in a remote Mennonite community in Bolivia. In the week that follows he manages to escape his community and go to the big city, where he meets a man he falls in love with. Silent and suffering, he battles between his need for freedom and the brutal reality of the sect he was born into, who are hot on his heels to bring him home. Moving, nuanced and beautiful, this is a powerful short based on a true story that will get you trapped in a Wikipedia loop as you become flabbergasted that this community is real. EL AMIGO (Peru) Starring: Óscar Meza, Sebastián Rubio. Director: Erick Salas In this Peruvian short we meet two best friends on a night at home drinking together. When one admits to the other his girlfriend no longer excites him, their friendship is taken to the next level. Sensual, sexy and crammed with tension, this is an erotically charged depiction of sexual exploration and the rollercoaster of feelings that come after. MILA CAOS (CUBA) Starring: Yaniel Castillo, Rebecca Rodriguez Aragón, Paula Ali. Director: Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau In Havana, a young man transforms himself at night into his fabulous drag alter-ego Mila Caos and dreams that his mother will one day come and see his show. But she remains wholly indifferent, wholly apathetic to her son’s talent and consumed by her own artistic failure as an artist whose paintings don’t sell. The story of a strained relationship, this is subtle piece - despite the glitz and glamour - about what happens when communication breaks down. PRAY FOR US (Costa Rica) Starring: Sandra Ribas, Saúl Espinazo, Leo Ocampo, David Elizondo. Director: Andrés Madrigal Alvarado Three young punks barricade themselves into a supermarket having stolen a treasured statue of the Virgin Mary. Armed with knives, they keep the shopkeeper hostage but her devotion to the Virgin is stronger than they anticipate. In this Costa Rican thriller, tensions run high even if the pace isn’t sustained consistently.
CARLITO LEAVES FOREVER (Peru) Starring: Carlito Tirira Meshi. Director: Quentin Lazzarotto In a remote river village in the Peruvian interior, a boy decides to leave his community, stealing a boat to be reunited with the reason for his departure. A fascinating insight into an insular community, this brief short is a perfect illustration of the universality of the need for LGBT understanding worldwide. I AM YET TO MAKE YOU A LOVE SONG (Brazil) Starring: Arlindo Bezerra, Pedro Fasanaro. Director: Henrique Arruda A photographer and a musician lie in bed together. They are present in that moment, but away from here there are pictures they’ve never taken and songs they’ve never written. This is a film about the things not done and the yearning for it to be different. Artistic in its scope, it only partially succeeds in making us care for its over-earnest characters.