Given the current situation that requires us to maintain healthy social distancing, CortoCircuito Latino Shortfest of NY and the Instituto Cervantes of NY will celebrate the Virtual Short Film Spring Minifestival with films coming from Spain, Latin America, and Latinos in the U.S. on June 4 and 11. Each program will bring unique stories that can be attended from home and accessible to individuals in the tristate area (NY, NJ, CT). In order to access Corto Circuito’s Virtual Cinema, people must register for each program in advance at www.cortocircuito.us
Each program will be made available for 12 hours (12 pm-11:59 pm) on June 4 and June 11 respectively. All foreign-language films are subtitled in English. Following aesthetic criteria more than commercial, our selection is comprised of films that are unavailable on traditional platforms and have participated and/or received awards from some of the most important festivals in the world.

Corto Circuito was formed to showcase short films made by filmmakers from and about Latin America, Spain, and the United States. The festival is unique in its mission to promote a wider and deeper understanding of the roots, life, and diverse cultures of the Spanish and Portuguese speaking communities.

PROGRAM #1 – THURSDAY, JUNE 4 from 12 pm to 11:30 pm

NIÑOS DE MI TIERRA / THE KIDS FROM MY LAND
María Fernanda Jiménez | Colombia | Documentary | 2018 | 11 min
Lady (11) is a young indigenous expert in the cultivation of the papachina, who belongs to the Wounaan Docordó Reserve, Unión Balsalito. Her father is a teacher at the community school and her mother weaves baskets with Palma de Werrengue. Children of the Colombian Pacific have the chance to engage with Lady and ask her questions, learning through the exchange of their culture, ancestral knowledge, and games.

ASÍ SON LAS COSAS/ THE WAY THINGS ARE
Juan Pablo Zaramella / Argentina / Animation / 2018 / 7 min
Everyday elements have life and personality; They open to the viewer a new universe that is very similar to the one they know.

11:40
Claudia Ruiz | Argentina | Fiction | 2018 | 12 min
Damián (10) and his little brother Matias (7) begin to attend a school located next to a jail. Damián looks at the watch he just received for his birthday and waits, anxiously, for it to strike 11:40.

UN MINUTITO / A MINUTE
Javier Macipe| Spain | Fiction | 2016 | 8 min
Maria spends her days trying to collect signatures against a law she considers unfair, but nobody has time to listen to her. When she starts getting desperate, she meets Alejandro, who has a present for her.

PROGRAM #2 – JUNE 11 from 12 pm to 10:30 pm

PORQUE ME QUIEREN / BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME
Poll Andrium Landazuri | Colombia | Documentary | 2019 | 9 min
Poll, who feels neither male nor female, and who has expressed their lesbianism openly from an early age, gathers their large family, residents of the Siloé neighborhood in Cali, to ask them a simple and at the same time profound question: Why do you love me?

THE FOURTH KINGDOM / EL CUARTO REINO
Alex Lora, Adán Aliaga | U.S.A-Spain | Documentary | 2016 | 13 min
The Fourth Kingdom is the kingdom of plastics, a redemption center in NY for immigrants and underdogs where the American Dream becomes a possibility. Through the stories of Mexican immigrant Rene, African-American Pier, disabled Eugene and the mysterious Walter from El Salvador we revisit this particular planet and their inner worlds.

IRMA
Alejo Schettini – Germán Tejeira | Uruguay | Animation | 2017 | 6 min
In a city besieged by the wind and the cold, Irma, an old dressmaker living in a building where the heating has broken, will take the initiative to do something for all her neighbors.

EL ESCARABAJO AL FINAL DE LA CALLE / THE BEETLE AT THE END OF THE STREET
Joan Vives | Spain | Fiction | 2017 | 18 min
Amadeo is a good person. He lives in a small village of Valencia, and since his wife died, he sacrifices himself in taking care of his father-in-law, Agustín, who is disabled. Due to this, he doesn’t participate much in social life in the village. One day Lolín, the fishmonger, has a magic foresight while decapitating an eel: Amadeo has only seven days to live. This fact will develop a series of events that will change his life completely.

LOS ÁNGELES 1991
Zacarias & Macgregor | U.S | Fiction | 2015 | 10 min
Los Angeles, 1991. The streets have become a hotbed of racial tension and hate about to burst… Today is an important day for Eladio: he is going to avenge the death of his older brother. Within minutes he will find out that he is not the only one who has reasons to kill someone.

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