The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival offers several films of interest to fans of Latino cinema, including:

El Cordero, Chile
Domingo is a devoted family man and Christian missionary gliding through a dutifully modest if unexceptional life. He’d happily keep it that way, too, but for the fact that a fatal accident leaves him, disturbingly, without a sense of guilt. Shot through with a subtle, sardonic humor and beautifully acted, this exceptional feature debut is an engrossing dramatic thriller reverberating with deeper questions about our innermost natures and our ties to one another.  

Campo de Jogo (Sunday Ball), Brazil
This mesmerizing film captures the spirit of a championship soccer game between rival teams from Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished Sampaio neighborhood. More like a work of poetry than a traditional sports documentary, the film uses footage from various games to create an intimate portrait of favela football culture. Composed with luminous cinematography and exquisite sound design, the film takes us inside the match along with the players, and we experience something more like a deep spiritual quest than a game.

Western, USA/Mexico
This intimate, observational documentary portrait of the U.S.-Mexico border focuses on two Eagle Pass, TX, residents—cattleman Martin Wall and Mayor Chad Foster—and follows the strains in the border town’s relationship to its sister city, Piedras Negras, Mexico. As drug cartel violence moves into the region and threatens to spin out of control, U.S. Federal policies made a thousand miles away shut down commerce and further test an already delicate balance.  

The Wolfpack, USA
This Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner intimately focuses on the charming and insightful Angulo brothers who range in age from 16 to 24. Kept isolated within their family’s apartment, homeschooling, DVDs and fear of the outside world—epitomized by their bizarre reenactments of famous films—inform the brothers’ reality. When one brother sneaks away from home and eventually convinces his siblings to join him, their shared truth is threatened with endlessly surprising results.

San Francisco: April 23 - May 7. Full details on the festival's website.