No vacation days left? This fall, $200 and a sprinkle of imagination can buy you an after-hours trip around Latin America, Portugal, and Spain. From Sept. 22 to Oct. 12, the Latin American Film Festival will be back at AFI Silver Theatre for its 33rd edition. The robust lineup features 41 movies from 21 countries, including six U.S. premieres and five official Oscar selections. One standout, 15 Ways to Kill Your Neighbor, finds an Argentine expat residing in France as he begins to have a midlife crisis, and takes a darkly funny turn when he befriends his exuberant neighbor. From Venezuela comes the politically charged Me and the Beasts, which follows a young man after he’s kicked out of a band and decides to go solo, only to find help in the form of mysterious masked beings. Utama, a Bolivian film that follows an elderly Quechua couple as their grandson urges them to move to the city, screens on Oct. 10 in recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. There are also films on the lineup that will transport you to another place in time, like Argentina, 1985 and Chile’s 1976, each of which delves into the brutal dictatorships that marred those countries. There are also films that are literally from another time: 1968’s The Batwoman, Mexican director René Cardona’s fusion of Bruce Wayne and lucha libre wrestling, gets a special screening, as does 1923’s The Spanish Dancer, which screens on Sept. 29 to celebrate silent movie day. LAFF runs from Sept. 22 through Oct. 12 at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. afisilver.afi.com. $15 per screening; $200 for a festival pass.
For more film recommendations, check out our calendar.