Now in its second year, Neighboring Scenes is the Film Society’s showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema. Here's a couple highlights; see their website for the full lineup.

La larga noche de Francisco Sanctis (The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis), Argentina 2016
Adapted from Humberto Costantini’s novel, this view of Argentina’s Dirty War is told from the perspective of the country’s silent majority. When an old girlfriend contacts him about republishing a communist-themed poem he wrote years earlier, Francisco is more preoccupied with whether or not he will receive a promotion at work. But when they meet, she asks him to notify two of her friends that the junta is looking for them. Over the course of one night, Francisco travels through the city, wrestling with his conscience—but he might or might not be alone. The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis is a timely investigation of what it means to be silent under a despotic government.

Maquinaria Panamericana (Panamerican Machinery), Mexico 2016
Family businesses are hard to come by these days—and so are manufacturing plants. When the head of Panamerican Machinery dies on a Friday morning, his employees discover how rare their situation is: Don Alejandro had been paying them out of his own pocket, and that any severance or retirement funds are nonexistent. Rather than face the world that’s made them obsolete, the workers decide to lock themselves inside the plant until they reach a decision about how to proceed. Over the course of the weekend, everyone’s behavior grows increasingly strange. Shot on expired film stock, the film deftly moves between socioeconomic commentary and deadpan slapstick.

New York: Jan. 26 - 31 at Lincoln Center.