Tomas Perez Turrent Movies

Guerilla wars against the major powers have been a factor in Central American politics for a long time. This biographical drama is based on the life of Nicaragua's prototypical 20th century guerilla, Augusto C. Sandino (born as Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino). His name and life were the inspiration for the anti-U.S. forces in that country fifty years after his death: they called themselves the Sandanistas. It is helpful to remember, and this movie demonstrates, that the U.S. military has been actively involved with the domestic politics of Nicaragua many times in this century, most notably during the 1912 invasion which resulted in over twenty continuous years of U.S. military intervention. In the story, Sandino loves two women: his wife, who remains at home, and his warlike mistress, a guerilla who accompanies him into the jungle. He has a tendency (common at the time) of wanting to trust politicians. As a result, he was betrayed by Anastasio Somoza in 1933, and vanished from sight. Somoza soon became the sole ruler of Nicaragua (from 1936 to 1956). The free-thinking rebel, who renamed himself Augusto César Sandino in the late 1920s, identified strongly with the indios or indigenous people of the region, and proposed a political agenda under which the countries of the Central America would unite against European exploitation. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Alsino & the Condor is a multinational production, utilizing financing from Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba and Costa Rica. The film is related from the point of view of Alsino (Alan Esquivel), an impoverished Nicaraguan lad. While his country and its rotting buildings crumble all around him, the idealistic Alsino imagines himself to be a condor, flying far above his deprivations. It is during one of his hallucinations that Alsino jumps from a tree; the fall cripples him, turning him into a hunchback. He will only straighten out to his full proud height upon joining a guerilla band, fighting the corrupt government armies. Significantly, Alsino & the Condor was the first production to be filmed in Nicaragua after the Sandinista revolution and the overthrow of Somoza ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This social-themed drama is set in 1950's Mexico, where three sisters known as the "Poquianchis" run a prostitution ring protected by the municpal and state authorities. In 1964, the discovery of several young people who had been assassinated and buried on the sisters' order led to a scrutiny surrounding the corruption involved in the controversial Mexican justice system. Las Poquianchis is directed by Felipe Cazals. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

An explorer in the New World braves the wrath of man and the fury of nature to transcend time and become legend in an epic adventure detailing the remarkable achievements of Eusebio Francisco Kino, better known to history scholars as Padre Kino. Despite the many obstacles in his way, Padre Kino's passion for exploration drove him to accomplish what few dared to even attempt in the New World. With Native Americans, Spanish soldiers, the Catholic Church, and even nature itself challenging him, Padre Kino's remarkable endurance and unbreakable will would eventually earn him a place in the history books and inspire future generations of explorers to take their fate into their own hands no matter what the cost. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi