Inaugural FilmScene festival celebrates the evolving multicultural landscape of Latinidad through cinema, conversation and community
Iowa City, IA – FilmScene will present the inaugural Aquí y Allá Latin American Film Festival from May 1–3, bringing a weekend of Latin American cinema, in-person guests, conversations, gatherings and community celebration to Iowa City.
The festival’s name is inspired by the song “No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá,” written by Argentine composer Facundo Cabral and popularized by Mexican icon Chavela Vargas, who was born in Costa Rica and famously said, “Mexicans are born wherever the hell we want.” Rooted in the spirit of that song and its history, Aquí y Allá speaks to the experience of living between geographies, cultures and communities. The festival honors the many identities, migrations and cultural intersections that shape Latinidad across the global diaspora and within local communities.
Years in the making, the new initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, dedicated community members and local institutions. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, ensuring that friends, neighbors and community members can take part in the celebration.
The festival lineup includes new and landmark works by Latin American filmmakers, with films from Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico and beyond.
Festival Lineup
UN TECHO SIN CIELO (A SKYLESS ROOF)
May 1 and May 2
2025, Mexico | Directed by Diego Hernández
Director in person
After opening a shoebox, Diego begins to experience a severe exhaustion that keeps him from completing everyday tasks and leaves him confined to bed. At the same time, his friend Liz suffers from a mysterious insomnia while developing a stage production.
AMOR, MUJERES Y FLORES (LOVE, WOMEN, AND FLOWERS)
May 1
1988, Colombia | Directed by Marta Rodríguez and Jorge Silva
Urgent and intimate, this film gathers the testimonies of women workers in Colombia’s floral industry and documents their organizing efforts in the 1980s. As workers continue to fight for labor protections, this powerful documentary remains essential viewing for those interested in globalization, environmental justice, labor movements and social struggle.
EL LUGAR DE AUSENCIA (A PLACE OF ABSENCE)
May 2
2025, Bolivia, United States | Directed by Marialuisa Ernst
Decades after her uncle disappeared during Argentina’s dictatorship, a filmmaker joins the Caravan of Mothers, a group of courageous Central American women who travel through Mexico each year in a desperate search for the children they lost while their children were attempting to reach the United States.
NUESTRA TIERRA (OUR LAND)
May 2 and May 3
2025, Argentina, United States, Mexico, France, Netherlands, Denmark | Directed by Lucrecia Martel
In her first documentary, acclaimed Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel (La Ciénaga) turns her camera toward the case of Javier Chocobar, who was shot and killed while defending himself and his community during an attempted eviction from their land by a local landowner and two former police officers.
HANGAR ROJO (THE RED HANGAR) + BAISANOS
May 2
2025, Chile, Italy, Argentina | Directed by Juan Pablo Sallato
Santiago, Chile, Sept. 11, 1973. As the military coup unfolds across the country, Captain Jorge Silva, former head of Air Force Intelligence, receives an order that will change his life forever: to turn the Aviation School, where he now teaches young cadets, into a detention and torture center. Paired with Baisanos, the program follows supporters of CD Palestino and opens a dialogue about identity and return, connecting distant territories through celebration and dreams.
THEYDREAM
May 3
2026, United States | Directed by William D. Caballero
After 20 years of chronicling his Puerto Rican family, a filmmaker and his mother confront devastating losses. Through tears, humor and animation, they bring their loved ones back to life and discover that every act of creation can also become an act of letting go.
OCA
May 3
2025, Mexico, Argentina | Directed by Karla Badillo
Rafaela, a young nun from a precarious and nearly extinct congregation, is sent to a nearby town in search of the new archbishop. Along the way, she encounters others making the same journey and experiences a series of extraordinary meetings.
Event Details
Aquí y Allá Latin American Film Festival
May 1–3
FilmScene
404 E. College St., Iowa City
Pay-what-you-can tickets
More information: aquiyallafestival.org
Aquí y Allá invites audiences of all backgrounds to experience a weekend of films that cross borders, languages and histories. Through cinema and conversation, the festival offers Iowa City a new space to celebrate Latin American storytelling, community connection and the evolving meaning of belonging both here and there.
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