On the official web site of the Brazilian Environmental Institute, the Brazilian wood pernambuco appears on the list of plant species threatened with extinction. Found only in the remnants of the devastated Atlantic Rainforest in the coast of Brazil, this tree has been vital in the manufacturing of fine violin bows and other instruments ever since Mozart was composing his masterpieces in Vienna. A Arvore da Música explores a path to saving the imperiled trees, along with the music that depends on them.

In 1999, two brothers were deported from the United States to Mexico. Within two weeks, one of them overdosed on heroin in a seedy Tijuana hotel room, his body left unclaimed for two months in a mass grave. These U.S.-raised men, military veterans, were deported from the only country they knew—and had sworn to protect—to forge new lives in Mexico. Against the backdrop of increased attention to the U.S.-Mexico border, filmmaker Monika Navarro draws on her family’s experience to explore national identity and ties, the lives of immigrants, and what happens after deportees are sent to a homeland they don’t consider home.

Arráncame la vida begins its journey during a transformative period in Mexican history. The Revolution of 1910 is over and the country’s rule is open to whatever politician had the audacity to grab it. Dominating men fight ruthlessly for control, manipulating and exploiting others to gain power. Growing up in 1930s Mexico, Catalina Guzmán knows little of the world beyond her father’s house, unaware of the political storm that looming over the whole country.

Casimiro tells the story of an illegal immigrant living in central Texas. As Casimiro tries to write a comforting letter to his family back home, we experience the truth about his days in America. The story follows him through his difficult routine, and demonstrates how a lonely man copes with hardships.

Before dying, Nora devises a plan to make José, her ex-husband, take care of her funeral during the height of Passover celebration. But despite her meticulousness she misses something—the only flaw in the plan, a mysterious photograph left under the bed, which leads to unexpected outcomes that remind us that sometimes the greatest love stories are hidden in the smallest places. A heartwarming story of love, doubt, faith, and the importance of family.

Conversations II offers an intimate look at the female universe; a journey in time through evocative images and the testimonies of women from the same family. Through the personal search of a daughter into the lives of her mother and grandmother, the film explores the evolution of the female role in a Latin American society and how the views of marriage and motherhood have changed with each generation, as well as the view that women have of themselves.

What do you do if the day your first child is to be born is also the same day your father is to be executed? If you are twenty-six-year old Manny, you use your father's impending execution as an excuse to flee the daunting responsibility of fatherhood. There's only one problem: Manny lives in Monterrey, Mexico and his father sits in on death row in Texas. Against his wife's wishes, Manny embarks on an ill-planned quest to cross the border to see his father, hoping that the trip will buy him time and insight into his upcoming responsibility.

Ten year old Lizzy and Raúl live next door to each other in a duplex. Through the wall, Raúl hears Lizzy’s parents argue night after night as they head toward divorce, prompting him to try to find a way to help his friend escape her traumatic situation. This is a story about two children and their strength to overcome the common tragedies of everyday life.

Exiled In America is a film that explores immigration issues in the United States related to detention and deportation from the point of view of those most affected: children. Over 1.5 million immigrants have been deported since 1996—a policy that has torn families apart and led to human rights violations. Exiled In America tells the story of five siblings who struggle to live in America after their mother was deported to Mexico.

Jonathan French, a little white orphan boy, was adopted as a baby by his Mexican Nanny and Gardener in Beverly Hills. On his 10th birthday, he was miraculously blessed by the Virgin of Guadalupe with the gift of music. While Juan rises from the half-empty soccer bars and Mexican restaurants of East L.A. to international stardom, he changes for the worse, under the influence of a wanna-be Puerto Rican movie star and Cuban talent manager. And when the dark truth about his history is revealed, he must choose between the American-Mexican man he feels he is in his heart, and the 33 year-old bald white guy he sees in the mirror. This irreverant musical mockumentary finds the humor in one man’s search for ethnic identity against the backdrop of a celebrity obesessed culture.

The movie documents a cross-cultural conquest dance, La Danza de la Pluma, which evolved from Zapotec dance rituals in Oaxaca under the influence of the Spanish colonizers. It incorporates the struggle between Moctezuma and Cortez, Christianity and paganism, with several variations as to the ultimate victor. It has deep cultural significance and importance, with dancers committing themselves for a three-year period, and involves much ritual preparation and community involvement. The movie focuses on the dancers' motivations, their three-year commitment, the sacrifices involved, and how this ancient tradition has survived.

For over 50 years, the Kahnawake Mohawks of Quebec, Canada occupied a 10 square-block hub in the North Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which became known as Little Caughnawaga. The men, skilled ironworkers, came to New York in search of work and brought their wives, children and, often, extended family with them. Little Caughnawaga tells the personal story of Mohawk filmmaker Reaghan Tarbell from Kahnawake, Quebec, as she explores her roots and traces the connections of her family to the once legendary Mohawk community through the stories of the women who lived there.

Los ojos de Javier is a short narrative written and shot in two days for the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. It tells the story of Javier, who wakes up one day to find that his eyes have walked out on him. They did not bother trying to explain the reasons why, they just packed up their stuff and left. The film deals in a light, comedic way with the serious issues of soul disability and loss of identity.

Nashville, Tennessee, the “buckle of the Bible Belt” and the country music capital of the world, has become one of the most popular destinations for Latino immigrants. Despite the recent growth of this community, until December of 2007 Hispanic Catholics in Nashville did not have a place of worship they could call their own. This film follows the story of Nashville’s first 100% Hispanic Catholic church from the idea of its creation through its inauguration six months later. The film depicts a community that is proud and grateful, having finally found its own place for its members to let go of their minds, let go of their spirits, and truly be free.

Tito Juan Vera used to work as film projectionist, unveiling the magic of the movies to people in the Paraguayan interior. In Profesión cinero, Tito tells of his experiences and commemorates the golden days of cinema, through the thousands of film reels, posters, and equipment conserved from his job.

Carmilla is a journalism student at the university whose romantic interest in a mysterious classmate named “M” leads her to join a group of role game players who are obsessed with a game named “Sangre eterna” (Eternal Blood). What begins as a harmless game quickly turns into a nightmare when, during a party at an abandoned house, the group meets Dahmer, who initiates them into the rites of vampirism. Now, M must face his darkest fears and obliterate this evil before it’s too late.

A ten-year-old girl awakes alone in the middle of a ravaged and abandoned territory. She begins to wander around the contaminated land in search of food and people, but she discovers that she is caught in the middle of a war where military officials, patrolling the land covered in gas masks, execute people in horrible ways. The girl realizes that the only people who survive the mass executions show severe infections on their bodies so she finds her only company in other small children who share with her the recurrent dream of going to the ocean. In search of their common objective the group of children embarks on a journey to the ocean, crossing a city in ruins followed by the dangerous armed military.

On May 20th, 1997, the team leader of a four-man US Marine unit conducting a counter-narcotics mission near border-town of Redford, Texas shot and killed 18-year-old Esequiel Hernández, Jr. within sight of the Hernández home. It was the first time an American citizen had been killed on US soil by the military or National Guard since 1970. None of the marines was ever charged with a crime. Compelled by the current political climate on the US-Mexico Border, the marines agreed to be interviewed for the first time for The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández. The film contrasts their frustration and guilt at having killed one of the citizens they were pledged to protect, with the anger and grief of a family whose son died at the hands of their own military. Narrated by Texas’ own Tommy Lee Jones.

As part of its new policy to end the “catch and release” of undocumented immigrants, the U.S. government opened the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in May 2006 as a prototype family detention facility. The facility is a former medium-security prison in central Texas operated by the Corrections Corporation of America, the largest private prison operator in the country. The facility houses immigrant children and their parents from all over the world who are awaiting asylum hearings or deportation proceedings. As information about troubling conditions at the facility leaks out, three activist attorneys seek to investigate and address the issues.

This is the story of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, a Native American tribe indigenous to the state. Though they have been present in Texas and the surrounding areas for hundreds of years, their story is hardly taught and their existence is not recognized. In October 2008, members of the Lipan Apache Tribe opened the first museum for the continuation and preservation of their culture. This documentary aims to bring awareness to one Native American group that has become endangered through centuries of oppression and assimilation. As Lipan Tom Castillo expressed, “Hopefully now we can tell our story. Without fear.”

The Other Side of Immigration examines the causes and effects of international migration from the perspective of rural Mexican communities where large numbers of people leave to work in the United States. The film explores how NAFTA, Mexican agricultural policies, and Mexican politics have stimulated emigration over the past two decades; the extent to which households in rural Mexico directly and indirectly depend on money that undocumented immigrants send home; and the effects of emigration on families and children left behind in rural Mexico.

Unidad 25 is the only jail-church in Latin America. There, in an environment that functions according to its unique set of rules, two hundred and fifty prisoners and thirty guards share their passion for Evangelism. This documentary film follows a prisoner from his arrival to the jail, his initial fear and distrust of the people around him, through his eventual indoctrination and transformation into an Evangelical prisoner.