Each September, the Cine+Mas SF Latino Film Festival presents fine Latino films from the U.S. and abroad in various Bay Area venues. The diverse schedule offers something for everyone: documentaries, dramas, comedies, thrillers, and more.
Several music-themed films grace the festival this year, including the charming The Way to Andina, which tells the story of Arlen Parsa, a young man who discovers that his Colombian great-grandfather left behind an opera that has never been performed. Despite having no opera experience of any kind and no Spanish-language skills, Parsa promises his family that the 80-year-old Latin music will receive a world premiere. Sept. 16, 1:10 p.m. at the Opera Plaza Cinema.
Other musical highlights include The Third Root, about a talented guitarist from Mexico who ferrets out the musical roots of the Veracruz Son Jarocho tradition via trips to Spain and North Africa. If I Die First tracks the meteoric rise of Ecuadorian music idol Julio Jaramillo. Sept. 19, 5:15 p.m. at the Opera Plaza Cinema. Pachamanka- Singing for Freedom is a Chilean film about a band initially formed to challenge injustice under the Pinochet regime and now facing the pressures of commercialism and financial reality. Sept. 30, 7 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center.