Film: PeloMalo/Bad Hair

Watch an international film every first Friday of the month.

May 5 - La Negrada/Black Mexicans is the first Mexican feature film about the Afro-Mexican community, filmed entirely with people from different towns around the Costa Chica in Oaxaca.

NR, 103 mins., 2018. Closed captions (CC) in English.

June 2 - PeloMalo/Bad Hair: A nine-year-old boy’s preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother, in this tender but clear-eyed coming-of-age tale.

NR, 93 mins., 2013. Closed captions (CC) in English. 

July 7 - Dolares De Arena/Sand Dollars: An older European woman becomes enchanted with a young Dominican woman who must struggle to make ends meet. Love brings a flow of entanglements in a drama which unfolds like palm trees in an irresistible storm.

NR, 84 mins., 2014. Closed captions (CC) in English.

August 4 - Quilombo: This historical saga is a stirring fusion of folklore, political impact and dynamic story-telling, realized in vibrant tropical colors and set to the pulsing beat of Gilberto Gil's musical score. After the slave revolt of 1641, groups of enslaved black Brazilians escaped to mountainous jungle strongholds where they formed self-governing communities. This film is the chronicle of the most famous of these communities which flourished for several decades under the reign of the legendary chieftain Ganga Zumba.

NR, 120 mins., 1984. Closed captions (CC) in English.

September 1 - El Techo/On the Roof: In this feel-good ensemble dramedy, a flat rooftop in an old Havana neighborhood is the natural habitat for three friends who spend their days and nights dreaming about the future.

NR, 75 mins., 2017. Closed captions (CC) in English.

October 6 - El Acompañante/The Companion: Set in 1988 Cuba as the government dispatched HIV patients to AIDS centers under military rule. The Companion narrates the unlikely friendship between a boxing champion and a conflictive patient.

NR, 103 mins., 2015. Closed captions (CC) in English.

November 3 -  El Abrazo de la Serpiente/Embrace of the Serpent: Through parallel story threads set 40 years apart, this absorbing odyssey follows two Western scientists who travel deep into the Amazon jungle looking for a rare plant that possesses healing powers, with enigmatic shaman Karamakate as their guide.

NR, 124 mins., 2015. Closed Captions (CC) in English.

December 1 - Batoru rowaiaru/Battle Royale: In this uncensored and unrated Director's Cut of the cult classic, a group of ninth-grade students from a Japanese high school have been forced by legislation to compete in a Battle Royale.

NR, 122 mins., 2000. Closed captions (CC) in English.

These films are available for free streaming with your library card and a free Kanopy account.