Return to El Salvador(2010)

Maria's Story(en)

It is El Salvador, 1989, three years before the end of a brutal civil war that took 75,000 lives. Maria Serrano, wife, mother, and guerrilla leader is on the front lines of the battle for her people and her country. With unprecedented access to FMLN guerrilla camps, the filmmakers dramatically chronicle Maria's daily life in the war.

Salvador : vivre sous Bukele(fr)

One, the Story of a Goal(es)

In the early 1980s, at the beginning of what would become a 12-year-long civil war, El Salvador's talented football team was one national institution upon which both the left and the right could agree. When the team pulled off a stunning 1-0 upset against Mexico and qualified to compete in the 1982 World Cup, it was a high point for the tiny country's national pride. Unfortunately, the team's Cinderella story devolved into a nightmarish farce.

The Tiger and the Deer(es)

In El Salvador, Chelino tells about the indigenous massacre of 1932, of which he survived, while he teaches the melodies of traditional Salvadoran dances.

Seeing El Salvador(en)

This Traveltalk series short starts in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital, emphasizing the Spanish architectural heritage. We then go to the Izalco Volcano, which was created in 1770 by an eruption of the Santa Ana Volcano. The focus then shifts to the country's agriculture. The two main products are coffee and henequen, a plant with tough, fibrous leaves used to make rope, baskets, and other products.

Topiltzin(es)

An experimental short film about a day in the life of a barefoot boy who sells newspapers in San Salvador.

The Crazy Life(es)

Reflects a depressing and hopeless reality by following some of the members of "la dieciocho", the so-called 18th Street gang in a poor San Salvador neighborhood.

The Houses Are Full of Smoke(en)

A powerful three-part documentary studying the US involvement in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The differing factions - Sandinista leaders, Guatemalan campesinos, CIA operatives, Contras and US government apologists - are interviewed and, in the absence of a controlling narration, the audience is encouraged to draw its own conclusions.

Cuerpos juzgados(es)

The Tiniest Place(es)

Years after the Salvadoran military destroyed the village of Cinquera in that country’s civil war, survivors have returned to rebuild their community. Soulful, beautifully rendered, this amazing debut is an evocative testament to place, memory and the power of life to rebound from tragedy.

Be A Patriot, Kill A Priest(en)

The war in El Salvador was the most cruel and bloody Latin America has ever seen. During that time of turmoil Latin American bishops created the famous preferential option for the poor, demanding justice, food and education in the name of the gospel. Using interviews and old footage, the film follows the civil war and the role of the Church in it. In 1977, after the murder of Father Rutilio Grande, the Archbishop Oscar Romero took a strong anti government position, broadcasting sermons over Radio Luz demanding that the government stop the repression. He could not understand why he was thought to be a follower of Karl Marx, when he knew "he followed only Jesus Christ." An inspiring film about people of faith who stood up against injustice.

Little Birds(es)

Through dances and games, migrant boys and girls who live in a shelter in Reynosa, on the US-Mexico border, shared their dreams and stories of hope with us.

Borderlands(en)

Fleeing the 1980 Civil War in El Salvador, Dora Rodriguez, among a group of twenty-five asylum seekers, were abandoned by their guide and left to fend for themselves in the relentless Sonoran desert of Arizona.

Tiempo de Audacia(en)

This documentary juxtaposes scenes of El Salvador's opposition factions, including U.S. government advisors and government troops, and guerrillas and their sympathizers.

1932: Scars of Memory(es)

January 22, 1932. An unprecedented peasant uprising erupts in western El Salvador, as a group of Latino and indigenous peasants cut army supply lines, attack a military garrison, and take control over several towns. Retribution is swift. After three days, the army and militias move in and, in some villages, slaughter all males over age 12. Elsewhere, they summarily execute anyone suspected of having a link to the Communists. Over the next few weeks, 10,000 people are massacred.

El Salvador: The People Will Win(es)

The battle of El Salvador and its revolutionary history, from the time of the Spanish conquest and colonization, to the insurgency of the 80s, approached by a Puerto Rican filmmaker immersed in the conflict. Depicts a host of F.M.L.N. guerrillas marching forth from Monte Alzaco, the spiritual home of Salvadoran resistance.

Innocent Voices(es)

A young boy, attempting to have a normal childhood in 1980s El Salvador, is caught up in a dramatic fight for his life when he desperately tries to avoid the war that is raging all around him.

Saturday Fuego Diablo(es)

In 1981 Montreal, four Salvadoran siblings, new to Canada, seek distance from the uprisings occurring in their home country by hitting a night club, but it does not go as planned.

Salvador(en)

In 1980, an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children.

A Fish Out of Water(es)

Olivia is a disturbed woman who shows some signs of amnesia and madness. Accompanied only by Esther, she fantasizes that some day her beloved Julio will return, but he only writes her letters. Esther, however, keeps a terrible secret from her.