Los desafíos presents three separate stories that are linked by an American presence in Spain in the 1960s, with Dean Selmier playing the role of the American male in all three.
Social & External
Bill/Allan/Charley
Carlos
Floricita
Fernanda
Cuqui
Germán
Lola
Bonnie
Benito
Julián
María
When longtime friends Joey Fortone and Lenny Kaminski get together, the race is on to get one up on the other. Their fantasies abound and their results lag far behind.
Young-eun, who works at a water purifier company, is hypocritical and totally selfish. For some reason Yong-hee, a dim-witted and over-friendly piano turner who works on the first floor, makes her uncomfortable and she tries to avoid him. But one day she tags along with Yong-hee when he makes house calls, and even manages to sell water purifiers to his clients. She continues to accompany him and take advantage of his help even though she finds him exasperating.
This enticing period melodrama depicts a long-suffering woman's relationship with her brilliant but self-destructive writer husband in postwar Tokyo. Based on a semi-autobiographical 1947 novel by Osamu Dazai, the story centers less on the womanizing, heavy-drinking, suicidal hero than on the wife who loves him. Written by Palm Springs International Film Festival
Storyteller and Conceptual Magician Derek DelGaudio attempts to understand the illusory nature of identity and answer the deceptively simple question 'Who am I?'
Yamashita Takako works in the food section of a department store. She pays frequent visits to a reputable local Chinese restaurant about opening an in-store branch. The owner of the restaurant, Wang Qingkuo from Shanghai, who does all the cooking by himself, gives Takako the brush-off. One day, however, Wang collapses due to overwork, and is left with partial paralysis. Hearing the rumor of the restaurant’s closure, Takako resigns from the department store and becomes an apprentice to Wang.
Steven Sullivan, a lonely office worker in an Australian metropolis longs to escape his feelings of self-loathing. Forcing himself into a life of hedonism, degeneracy and high-risk situations with a complete disregard for self-preservation, Steven begins his descent from a banal but normal life into a place with no return.
A couple leave Kathmandu to go the village where a lot of conflict happens.
A woman challenges her husband on his decision to have a female friend stay over.
In this dreamlike film, a nameless father and his son, Aleksei, live together in an apartment in St. Petersburg. Aleksei's mother has died and consequently the two have a very close relationship. When Aleksei acquires a girlfriend, she refuses to take a back seat to his bond with his dad, and breaks up with him. Aleksei is also experiencing nightmares, dreading separation from his father to be a part of the military as his father was.
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas.
Laiila’s journey that looking for an answer to the questions that plagued her mind. In the middle of her journey, Ale comes to help Laiila to define what happiness truly is.
The friendship between a widower and a married woman is misunderstood.
The Drummer and the Keeper tells the story of the unlikely friendship formed between two young men: Gabriel, a reckless young drummer who revels in rejecting society’s rules and Christopher, a 17-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome, who yearns to fit in. This heartwarming story shows the strength of the human bond in the face of adversity.
A couple decides to adopt a child. At the orphanage, they hear three different stories about the children who have arrived there and their fates.
Ten years ago, the paths of Abou, Laura, Cadiatou and Jacques have crossed Emmanuelle’s. She was their French teacher at a high school in Marseille. Together they took part in a film, Children of the Princess of Cleves, in which, while analyzing the classic text, they expressed their hopes, dreams, and fears. In En Nous, the director re-connects with the protagonists : memories blend with stories of their lives and the daily obstacles they must overcome whilst trying not to lose hope. Now, the sentence of the Princess of Cleves rings poignantly true: “I know nothing can be more difficult than what I undertake”.
Recently divorced, aspiring filmmaker Helen (Jennifer Rubin) enters into a love triangle fueled by sexual hunger and manipulation. But as she attempts to define herself and fulfill her wants and needs, she must choose between her independence and her men. As Helen's exploits with controlling lover Paul (Michael Cerveris), casual beau Randy (Grant Show) and friend Donald (Lance Edwards) become fodder for her script, her choice becomes clear.
Anthology film made as an act of protest against Hungarian government of Viktor Orban.
An empathetic stripper plays therapist to the many damaged clientele and co-workers who frequent the popular Anywhere Bar.
Three surreal depictions of failures of communication that occur on all levels of human society.
A quintet of cabbies in five cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Recently escaped from reformatory, Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yunisleidy, survivors like himself. In one or the other's arms, he will try to escape the material and moral misery surrounding him, living love, passion, tenderness and uninhibited sex to the limit.
After her girlfriend is imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality. Driving for the first time in years, she begins to provide a local taxi service to a group of elderly wealthy ladies. As Chela settles into her new life, she encounters the much younger Angy, forging a fresh and invigorating new connection.
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Mariana and Julian are a couple that have been happily married for many years. They have two kids: Juan Maria and Bibiana. They are in love and are very successful in their professional lives. They have a wonderful sex life and in the foreplay that they enjoy in privacy, he tells her that she can have sex with other man if she tells him everything in detail.
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.
Tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico.
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
After being falsely accused of a terrible crime, Hector, a man with a neurological disability, goes to a secret prison. His goodness conquers the prisoners, who plan to prove their innocence.
When fifteen-year-old Tyson attends public school for the first time, his life is changed forever. While helping his father clean up after the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu. Never letting his autism hold him back, Tyson becomes determined to run his first marathon in hopes of winning his father's approval. With the help of an unlikely friend and his parents, Tyson learns that with faith in yourself and the courage to take the first step, anything is possible.
A woman who works in a meat packing plant is continuously preyed upon by lecherous men.
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
After five failed attempts to go to the United States, 18-year-old Ramón decides to look for a friend’s aunt in Germany, but never finds her. With no papers or money, and without knowing the language, he barely survives living on the street until he meets Ruth, an old retired nurse who doesn’t speak Spanish. Beyond language barriers and prejudices, they discover that solidarity and humanity make life bearable.