Jane Sloan Media Librarian jsloan@rci.rutgers.edu June 2006

Research Resources: Subject Research Guides: Media Collections:
Feature Films Spain, Portugal, Latin America

This guide is a browsing aid to selected titles in the video/DVD collections at Rutgers Libraries. The most up-to-date, accurate, and complete information regarding the libraries' holdings is available only through IRIS, our online catalog.

Alias, La Gringa 1994

This powerful political drama from Peru follows the adventures and escapades of La Gringa, a likeable criminal capable of escaping from any jail.

1 videocassette (100 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6057

Bitter sugar Azucar amarga 1996

A love story set against the political and economic tensions of contemporary Havana.

1 videocassette (102 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5188

Bolivia 2005

A man must work as an illegal alien in Argentina in order to support his family in Bolivia. The film paints a portrait of struggle in the modern economy of Argentina and the mistreatment of illegal workers.

1 videodisc (71 min.)

MEDIA 10-637

Bye bye Brazil 1981

Follows a magical caravan/circus across a Brazil caught up in a flood of social and technological change. Diegues in an exponent of the Cinema Novo movement.

1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA 2-68

Capitalismo selvagem Savage capitalism 1994

A romance between a reporter and a mining company executive. The romance crumbles when the executive's wife, long presumed dead, returns and drives the couple, the company and the country to the brink of a national disaster.

1 videocassette (86 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6059

La carnada The bait 1999

Lyrical and sensual story of a young woman living in a fishing community in the north of Peru.

1 videocassette (103 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5816

Central Station 1999

When a young boy witnesses his mother's accidental death, a lonely, retired school-teacher reluctantly takes the child under her wing.

1 videodisc (106 min.) :

MEDIA 10-54

La cifra impar The odd number 2003

"Based on Julio Cort zar's short story 'Letters From Mother,' the film tells the story of two brothers fighting for the love of the same woman. While one of them wins her affections, the other one gets sick and dies. Their mother keeps writing letters to both of them and refers to the dead one as if he were alive."--Latin American Video Archives Web site.

1 videocassette (90 min.)

MEDIA 2-6418

Circe 1964

This Argentine classic is a dark and foreboding vision of love and death. The plot centers on Delia and three men doomed to love her.

1 videocassette (90 min.)

MEDIA 2-7237

Confesión a Laura Confession to Laura 1994

Set during a violent civil war in Columbia, which occurred after the assassination of liberal leader Jorge Elieser Gaitain in 1948. Three people are trapped in Laura's house during a riot, setting the scene for an unforgettable night.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6058

Danzón 1992

"A surprising love story about a woman who finally discovers the passion that has been missing from her life."--Container.

1 videocassette (103 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3415

Dirty laundry a homemade telenovela 2000

Sandra, a 12-year old Mexican American girl living on the Texas/Mexico border, confronts puberty and Catholicism when she is forced to participate in her cousin's quinceañera (a Mexican debutante party with a Catholic mass).

1 videocassette (15 min.)

MEDIA 2-6702

Disparen a matar 1994

An innocent man is murdered during a police round-up while his mother watches. Refusing to accept the official version of the story, she launches a campaign for justice.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5935

Don Segundo Sombra 1995

Don Segundo Sombra narrates the story of Fabio Cáceres as he grows into adulthood. Don Segundo Sombra, an old "gaucho", is his mentor and model; he teaches him moral and human values through his behavior, stories, and example.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

DANA 638

Doña Bárbara de Rómulo Gallegos 1987

Doña Bárbara, feared for her witchcraft, becomes involved in a land dispute with Santos Luzardo, a lawyer who has come to take charge of his property. Both she and her daughter, fall in love with the lawyer in this film reflecting the conflict between civilization and primitivism.

1 videocassette (138 min.) :

DANA 642

Dona Flor e seus dois maridos Dona Flor and her two husbands 1994

When a passionate young widow marries a respectable but undemonstrative man, the naked ghost of her first husband returns to make her life more interesting.

1 videocassette (106 min.) :

DANA 712

El dia que me quieras The day you love me 1996

In 1935, the last year of Juan Vicente Gomez' dictatorship, Caracas, Venezuela was host to the great tango singer, Carlos Gardel. This is the story of those who came to greet him, as well as the Incisor family, at whose door he accidentally arrives.

1 videocassette (80 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3797

El Otro lado The Other side 1979

Deep in Mexico, two brothers, a father and friends leave for work. They ride a bus 1300 miles north and cross into the United States by walking through the desert. They call the U.S. el otro lado, or, the other side.

1 videocassette (60 min.) :

DANA 372

Eles não usam Black Tie They don't wear black tie 1989?

The story of a São Paulo working-class family that becomes deeply divided over a strike at the factory in which both father and son, along with the son's fiancée, work.

1 videocassette (120 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1803

Erendira 1985

A teenage girl is forced into prostitution by her greedy grandmother.

1 videocassette (103 min.) :

DANA MEDIA 5 2-367

Fábula de la bella palomera 1991

Set on a panoramic Brazilian beach, this film confronts the sexual and social tensions between classes in the romantic story of a wealthy aristocrat's obsessive desire for a married woman.

1 videocassette (73 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 630 2-2419

Golpes a mi puerta Knocks at my door 1998?

A deadly encounter between two nuns and the military police reflect the turbulent times in Latin American society.

1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6074

Guantanamera 2000

In this romantic comedy, Yoyita, a world-famous diva, returns to her home town of Guantanamo for an elegant reception and a surprise reunion with her once beloved, Candido. Overjoyed with the rekindled memories of her first love, Yoyita's elated heart fizzles while in Candido's embrace. Joining Yoyita's funeral procession back to Havana are her sexy niece Gina, a former professor blacklisted for political nonconformity, and her husband Adolfo, a tasteless government official in charge of the funeral proceedings. As the cortege wends westward across Cuba, its path keeps crossing that of Mariano, a gallant truck driver who once had a crush on Gina and whose recurring presence crystallizes her doubts about her marriage.

1 videodisc (104 min.) :

MEDIA DANA 10-169 1835

Hasta cierto punto Up to a certain point 1995

A clever self-reflexive satire about the battle of the sexes in contemporary Cuba.

1 videocassette (70 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6117

A Hora da estrela The Hour of the star 1985

A young woman in search of success moves from Brazil's arid Northeast to the teeming city of São Paulo, where only her fantasies can make the poverty she finds bearable.

1 videocassette (VHS) (96 min.) :

MEDIA DANA 2-346 1390

I don't want to talk about it De eso no se habla 1995

A sophisticated world traveller (Mastroianni) retires to a small town and is drawn to a much younger woman (Podesta). The smartest, most talented woman in town, she is in many ways a perfect match for him. But, because she is a dwarf, she has been sheltered by her overprotective mother from the realities of life.

1 videocassette (102 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-3413 2-3796

IA-Kuba I am Cuba 1995

A series of vignettes illustrates the extremes of wealth and poverty, the exploitation, and the passions that led to the Cuban Revolution.

1 videocassette (141 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2837

L'Homme sur les quais The man by the shore 1993

Set in Haiti in the 1960's, 8-year-old Sarah and her two sisters are victims of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier's reign of terror.

1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5150

The Last supper La Ultima Cena 199

Set in Havana at the end of the 18th century, a guilt-ridden count invites twelve of his plantation slaves to a "last supper" during which he attempts to teach them what he sees as the crucial elements of Christianity, namely, submissive obedience to their master and joy in suffering. When the count breaks his word, however, and forces the slaves to work the next day (Good Friday), they revolt and the count's punishment is swift and brutal.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

DANA. DANA. MEDIA 626 626 2-374

Like water for chocolate 1994

Tita and Pedro are passionately in love. But their love is forbidden by an ancient family tradition. To be near Tita, Pedro marries her sister. And Tita, as the family cook, expresses her passion for Pedro through preparing delectable dishes.

1 videocassette (102 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3190

Linda Sara 1995

When an affluent Puerto Rican sugar cane grower's family face an economic descent, a forbidden romance once despised by them is recalled.

1 videocassette (107 min.) :

ALEXANDER. MEDIA 2-5826 2-5826

Los niños invisibles Invisible children 2003

In a small town in Colombia in the 1950s three eight-year-olds attempt to make themselves invisible by following the directions in a book of black magic. Fifty years later one of these children tells the story of their adventures.

1 videocassette (92 min.)

MEDIA 2-7239

Los olvidados The Young and the damned 1983

Buñuel's study of street gangs set in the outskirts of Mexico City; a good boy is contaminated by young thugs in the slums, and both he and his tormentor die violently.

1 videocassette (79 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 1903 2-154

Lucia 198-

Set during three periods in Cuban history, the film portrays three different Lucias, emphasizing each Lucia's role as a woman in the social milieu of the period.

1 videocassette (VHS) (160 min.) :

MEDIA 2-360

Luzia Homem 1991

Set in the plains of central Brazil, Luzia is the story of a beautiful young woman, a cowgirl with extraordinary rodeo skills, who is caught in a clash between squatters and the powerful ranch owners.

1 videocassette (112 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5392

Macu the policeman's woman 1987

Based on a real-life, highly sensationalized murder case, this is the story of Ismael Ramírez, a middle-aged police captain, and his child bride, Macu. This story serves to highlight the injustice inherent in a system that assumes wives are the property of their husbands.

1 videocassette (90 min.)

MEDIA 2-7227

A Man, when he is a man 1982

Set in Costa Rica, illuminates the social climate and cultural traditions which nurture "machismo" and allow the domination of women to flourish in Latin America.

1 videocassette (66 min.) :

MEDIA 2-725

Martín Fierro 1996

Set in the Argentine interior in the nineteenth century, this film tells the story of a man who abandons his family to fight the Indians. He fails his test of courage, becomes a deserter, kills a man in self-defense, and retreats to live in an Indian village with his best friend.

1 videocassette (ca. 134 min.) :

DANA 1398

Maruja 199-

Maruja, the first box office success of puertorican cinema, is the story of a beautiful and sensual woman that awakes the lechery in several men with tragic effects.

1 videocassette (120 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6093

Memórias do cárcere Memoirs of prison 1986

Graciliano Ramos, under suspicion of extreme left-wing views, was imprisoned on a penal isle near Rio de Janeiro from 1936-1937 during a period of political repression in Brazil. The story is adapted from his vivid recollections of prison life.

1 videocassette (121 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3818

Miss Mary 1991

Set in Buenos Aires, this is the story of a cultured English governess whose display of compassion disrupts the tradition-bound existence of the wealthy Argentine household in which she works.

1 videocassette (101 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3301

La Muerte de un burocrata 198-

A hilarious account of the tyranny of red tape in Cuba. The comedy begins with a sculptor who is buried with his union card. The widow needs his card to get her pension. A nephew is sent to get permission to exhume the body. A social satire.

1 videocassette (85 min.) :

MEDIA 2-378

La mujer del puerto The woman of the port 2005

"Rosario becomes a prostitute after losing her father and discovering her boyfriend had a liaison with another woman. In Veracruz, Rosario lives above a sordid cabaret "selling her love to the men coming from the sea." One night, sailor Alberto rescues Rosario from the dirty hands of a drunken man. They get along and go to Rosario's room. After making love, they begin to talk and Rosario discovers they're siblings."--Container.

1 videodisc (ca. 76 min.)

MEDIA 10-626

Mujeres insumisas Untamed women 2000

Frustrated by their confined existences and being mistreated by their husbands, four housewives from a small Mexican town leave their husbands and children behind as they try to build new and more satisfying lives.

1 videocasette (116 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5309

La Muralla verde The green wall 1990

The story of a young settler who tries to escape the bureaucracy of life in Lima with his wife and son by starting a farm in the Peruvian jungle, only to experience more problems and setbacks.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1196

My family Mi familia 1995

Presents the three-generation saga of the Sanchez family as told by the eldest son. From the very beginnings of his father's adventurous journey from Mexico to California in the 1920s, to his brother Chucho's tragic rebellion of the 1950s, to the stark realities of modern day, the struggle to live the American dream is sometimes darkened but never diminished for Paco Sanchez and his family.

1 videocassette (121 min.) :

DANA 491

Natal Da Portela 1988

"The name 'Natal da Portela' is historically attached to the cultural identity of Brazil. Natal da Portela created the first scola de samba in Rio de Janeiro. The schools of samba--scolas de samba--are the soul of carnival....The principal role played by Milton Goncalves, one of the major black actors in Brazil, gives the film an authentic flavor rarely seen in films portraying the contemporary life of Black Brazilians."--Container.

1 videocassette (100 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5035

Nazarín 1989

A humble priest is forced to leave the priesthood because of his relationship with women.

1 videocassette (92 min.) :

DANA 1344

La negra Angustias 1996

Based on the award-winning work by Francisco Rojas González, depicts the racial problems encountered by a black woman who becomes a revolutionary leader of the Mexican campesinos struggling against rich landowners during the Mexican Revolution.

1 videocassette :

DANA 627

No habrá más penas ni olvido Funny dirty little war 1988?

A small town in Argentina finds itself in an unexpected revolution that turns into tragedy.

1 videocassette (80 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1185

Novia que te vea 1992

Two young Jewish women growing up amid the social turmoil of 1960s Mexico follow their separate paths toward marriage in defiance of tradition and their families' expectations.

1 videocassette (ca.115 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5667

Nueba Yol 1995

Relates the story of Balbuena, a Dominican immigrant to New York, and his daily struggles in a strange land, devoid of the comforts of his native customs, language and culture.

1 videocassette (102 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 1397 2-3798

O sertão das memórias Landscapes of memory 1997

Part religious allegory and part political commentary, this film follows the struggles of two elderly peasants as they undertake an enigmatic pilgrimage through the Sertao, the arid, desert-like region in northeast Brazil known for grinding poverty and political corruption.

1 videocassette (98 min.)

MEDIA 2-7232

The Official story 1986

Set in present day Argentina, the sheltered wife of a wealthy businessman begins to discover that her own daughter, adopted at birth, may have been stolen from a family. A true account of a woman choosing to either live a lie or risk tearing apart her own life and family.

1 videocassette (VHS) (112 min.) :

MEDIA DANA 2-366 453

Portrait of Teresa 1990

Perhaps the most controversial film yet from Cuba. Teresa, a housewife and mother, works in a textile factory. Her involvement in political and cultural groups incurs the displeasure of her husband. The resulting difficulty in their marriage is depicted with compassion and it is the bond of sexual and emotional empathy which gives the film its intensity and anguish.

1 videocassette (103 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1256

Quilombo 1991

In 17th-century Brazil, groups of runaway black slaves escaped to mountainous jungle strongholds, where they formed self-governing communities known as quilombos.

1 videocassette (114 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-1993 2-5228

Rodrigo D no futuro 1991

A shockingly accurate and timely portrayal of the reckless existence of youths in one of the most exciting and dangerous cities in Latin America--Medellín, Colombia, in 1988. Backed with a frenetic punk rock soundtrack, the film centers around Rodrigo, a would-be drummer, and his friends who are trapped in the violence and drugs which define their turbulent lifestyle.

1 videocassette (92 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2825

Romero 1990

Romero is a compelling and deeply moving look at the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who made the ultimate sacrifice in a passionate stand against social injustice and the oppression in his country. This film chronicles the transformation of Romero from an apolitical, complacent priest to a comitted leader of the Salvadoran people.

1 videocassette (105 min.)

MEDIA 2-7342

Strawberry and chocolate Fresa y chocolate 1995

A naive college kid, on his own for the first time, meets a writer and a passionate woman who teach him everything there is to know about the things that aren't taught in school.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 1394 2-2875

Tecnicas de duelo una cuestión de honor =Details of the duel: a question of honor 1991

At the end of the fifties, the habitual calm of a nameless town in the heart of the Andes is shaken by the news of an up-coming duel between the local school-teacher and the butcher--men who only yesterday were friends and political allies. Egged on by the clergy, the militia and the town's bureaucrats, a private affair becomes a gladiatorial spectacle.

1 videocassette (97 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1823

Tieta do agreste Tieta from the forest 1996

The story of a prodigal daughter who returns home to her small town 26 years after leaving.

1 videocassette (115 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5033

La tigra 199-

Three sisters - stereotypically the whore, the saint and the virgin - own a cafe in an isolated area of Ecuador. The Tigress (the whore) has supernatural powers which she will keep as long as her younger sister remains a virgin. The Tigress becomes increasingly "macho" until her sisters forsake her and the local police move in.

1 videocassette (60 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5443

Un Señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes A very old man with enormous wing[s] 1991

Amid the debris of a Columbian cyclone lands a man whose seemingly miraculous anatomy attracts the curious and devout from around the world. Silent and disheveled, this fantastical "creature" is housed in a chicken coop as onlookers wait for his heavenly message which turns out to be a very mixed blessing.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

DANA 635

Vamonos con Pancho Villa! Let's go with Pancho Villa 2005

This classic of Mexican cinema follows the adventures of six young men who leave their rural homes to join Pancho Villa's army. Together the men endure hardship, tragedy, and disillusionment for the cause of the Mexican Revolution.

1 videodisc (92 min.)

MEDIA 10-624

La vida es una sola You only live once 199-

Portrays a village in the Peruvian Andes that is caught between the tyrannies of the terrorist group, Sendero Luminoso, and the Peruvian military. Acted by indigenous people from the region.

1 videocassette (84 min.)

MEDIA 2-7229

Vidas secas 199

A family and their dog struggle to survive in drought-stricken Northeast Brazil.

1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA MEDIA 2-1771 10-625

Xica da Silva 1993

The story of the legendary Black Slave Xica da Silva. During an 18th century diamond rush, Brazil's interior becomes a scene of wealth and excess where Xica rises in power to become the unofficial Empress of Brazil, vividly fusing European and African culture.

1 videocassette (109 min.) :

DANA 1393

Yo, la peor de todos I, the worst of all 1990

This historical drama tells the story of Juana Inés de la Cruz, one of the greatest poets of the Spanish Siglo de Oro. In order to pursue her passion for writing, Juana enters the convent in Mexico. There, she develops an intimate relationship with the vicereine, who inspires her poetry. But when the forces of the Inquisition invade the convent, the women have only each other to turn to.

1 videocassette (107 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3412