Lejanía

Pablo Tamez Sierra / Documania! / Mexico / 2013 / Documentary / 69 mins

A crime of passion haunts a family across several generations. This documentary examines how the persistence of memory affects our ability to move beyond hardships; and what occurs when forced to reconnect with an individual who’s been the source of long-gestated internal turmoil.

Playing Lecuona

Pavel Giroud, Juan Manuel Villar Betancort / Documania! / Spain / 2015 / Documentary / 105 mins

A journey through the work and living spaces of pianist and composer Ernesto Lecuona, considered the most universally beloved of Latin America’s pianists. Three outstanding Latin Jazz piano players will guide us in this odyssey: Chucho Valdés, in Lecuona’s native Havana, who fuses jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms; Michel Camilo in New York, who creates elegant soundscapes; and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who fuses Latin Jazz with Flamenco.

Toñitas

Beyza Boyacioglu, Sebastian Diaz / Documania! / USA / 2014 / Documentary / 21 mins

The 40-year-old Caribbean Sports club has witnessed the transformation of South Williamsburg from a Latino neighborhood ravaged by gang violence and drugs, into one of the hippest and most luxurious places in New York. As harsh gentrification cleared the neighborhood of poverty and crime, it also washed away the majority of the Puerto Rican community; thus the local identity and culture. Today, Caribbean Sports Club is the last social club in the South Side, kept alive by its owner and the community matriarch, Maria Toñita.