To aid in the selection of videos for your class and research needs, we've created a large number of filmographies on many subject areas.
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This is a selective list of video holdings in the American University Library. Filmographies are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible.
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See also World Cinema Collection, filter=Latin American Cinema – Mexican Cinema
Ahi esta el detalle! !Vive Mexico! : cine en 35 mm. 2003. 1 videodisc (112 min.). Hilarious situations develop when Cantinflas must impersonate the brother of his girlfriend in order for her to claim an inheritance, complicated when the brother's girlfriend shows up with eight children she claims are his. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1469
Allá en el Rancho Grande = Over at the big ranch. Classic Mexican cinema: Classic Mexican cinema. 2007. 1 videodisc (100 min.). Orphaned siblings José Francisco and his sister Eulalia came to Rancho Grande to be watched over by their godmother Ángela. So did the unfortunate Cruz, their late mother's godchild, when she was orphaned as well. They grow up together with Felipe, the patron's son, who becomes José Francisco's best friend. Now Felipe has become the Patron, and has made José Francisco the manager. José Francisco is secretly in love with Cruz, but when Ángela notices that Felipe likes Cruz as well, a series of misunderstandings put their friendship to the test. This signature film marks the beginning of a new and distinctly Mexican genre, the comedia ranchera, which continues to be exploited in Mexican cinema. The classical hacienda (ranch) setting and its folkloric, romanticized nostalgia struck a chord with the Mexican middle class in the 1930s, doing much to establish mariachi as a national musical form. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7066
American visa. 2008. 1 videodisc (90 min.). "Mario Alvarez, is an English professor seeking to reunite with his son, years after having sent him to the United States to seek a higher education. Mario's plans are seemingly ruined when his visa application is rejected due to the stricter policies implemented in the post 9/11 aftermath. Desperate to reunite with his son, Mario resorts to questionable measures to overcome the bureaucracy and corruption that stands between him and the visa. Along the way he befriends, Blanca, a beautiful exotic dancer that will make him question whether the road to true happiness lies in following your heart or in fulfilling the American Dream"--Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6385
Amores perros = Love's a bitch. 2001. 1 videodisc (153 min.). Three different people are catapulted into dramatic and unforeseen circumstances in the wake of a terrible car crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's designer pooch disappears into the apartment's floorboards; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a gunshot Rotweiler. Three different people are catapulted into dramatic and unforeseen circumstances in the wake of a terrible car crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's designer pooch disappears into the apartment's floorboards; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a Rotweiler with a gunshot wound. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 262
Batalla en el cielo = Battle in heaven. 2006. 1 videodisc (95 min.). A working-class man named Marcos and his wife kidnap a baby for ransom money, but it goes tragically wrong when the infant dies. In another world is Ana, the daughter of the general for whom he drives, who does sexual acts to any man for pleasure. Marcos confesses his guilt to her in his troubled search for relief, and then finds himself on his knees amid the multitude of believers moving slowly toward the Basilica in honor of the Lady of Guadalupe. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3818
Canoa. Latin cinema collection. 2002. 1 videodisc (115 min.). Based on actual events that occurred on Sept. 14, 1968, in the mountainous town of San Miguel de Canoa, Mexico. A group of employees from the Puebla University, out on a hiking excursion, were mistaken for radical communist agitators by a domineering local priest. A mob of townspeople are incited to riot, resulting in the brutal murders of several of the young men. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 8020
Como agua para chocolate = Like water for chocolate. 2000. 1 videodisc (105 min.). Tita and Pedro are in love, but cannot marry because of a family tradition. To be near Tita, Pedro marries her sister and Tita, as the family cook, expresses her passion through preparing delectable dishes. DVD 1164
Danzón. 2007. 1 videodisc (120 min.). A surprising love story about a woman who finally discovers the passion that has been missing from her life. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5797
De nadie = Border crossing. 2007. 1 videodisc (80 min.). Prepárese para dejarlo todo atrás desde Sur y Centro America viajando solo con un vago sentido de dirección y el eco de su familia aún en sus oídos. Prepárese para enfrentarse a la intimidación, corrupción y el peligro en México que eventualmente encontrará en 1,300 millas al norte al tratar de cruzar la frontera y llegar a Estados Unidos. Follow one man as he leaves behind everything in Central America. With little sense of direction and only his family's memories as company, he faces the dangers in Mexico and tries to cross into freedom and the United States. DVD 7177
El compadre Mendoza = My friend Mendoza. Classic Mexican cinema: Revolution trilogy. 2009. 1 videodisc (82 min.). Mendoza, a landowner, tries to maintain friendships with both the leader of the government forces and the general of the Zapatista rebels during the Mexican Revolution. This film is part of a trilogy along with El prisionero trese (1933) and Vâmonos con Pancho Villa (1935). DVD 7552
El crimen del Padre Amaro = The crime of Padre Amaro. 2003. 1 videodisc (119 min.). A recently ordained priest is sent to a small parish church in rural Mexico to help an aging priest. Upon arriving at his new post, he meets a beautiful young woman with a religious passion that borders on obsession. Quickly her passion for her faith becomes entangled in a growing attraction to the new priest. When the priest crosses the line that separates temptation from sin, he finds himself torn between the divine and the carnal, the righteous and the unjust. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1076
El inmigrante. 2007. 1 videodisc (90 min.). Examines the Mexican and American border crisis through the story of Eusebio de Haro, a young Mexican migrant who was shot and killed during one of his journeys north. DVD 3325
El inmortal. 2005? 1 videodisc (77 min.). This film ventures into Nicaraguan territory to extract the story of two brothers who led the war to fight on opposite sides without having chosen it. When they try to confront the memory of the war, the wounds, deaths that load into memory. DVD 6870
El jardín del Edén = The garden of Eden. 2001. 1 videodisc (104 min.). Three border-crossing stories are intertwined on the contemporary U.S.-Mexican border at Tijuana: those of a young Mexican mother with three children, seeking to start a new life after her husband's death; of a gringa adventurer looking for her whale-watching brother and for a Chicana friend in search of her roots; and of a campesino seeking to cross the border for better living conditions. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 416
El lugar sin limites = place without limits. 2001. 1 videodisc (110 min.). La Manuela, a transvestite, lives in a brothel run by his daughter. When his daughter is threatened, La Manuela steps in to protect her with tragic consequences. DVD 6033
El prisionero 13 = Prisoner 13. Classic Mexican cinema: Revolution trilogy: Classic Mexican cinema. 2006. 1 videodisc (76 min.). "Two gripping stories are interwoven in Prisoner 13; a son pays for his father's faults, and a desperate mother tries to save her son's life at any cost. Destiny and corruption play a trick on Carrasco when he is bribed to free a revolutionary and arrest someone in his place. Unbeknownst to him he ends up arresting his own son"--Container. DVD 7551
El violin. Film Movement series. 2008. 1 videodisc (98 min.). In rural Mexico, during the peasant revolts of the 1970s, Plutarco, his son Genaro and grandson Lucio lead double lives. On the one hand, they are simple country musicians, and on the other they actively support the peasant guerrilla movement against the oppressor government. When the army occupies the village, the rebels are forced to flee and leave their ammunition behind. Making the most of the fact that he looks like an inoffensive violinist, Plutarco has a plan: to recover the munitions hidden in his cornfield. His music enraptures the captain, but he still has to get his hands on the ammunition. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4082
The films of Alejandro Jodorowsky. 2007. 4 videodiscs (ca. 353 min.). Fando and his partially paralyzed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar; el Topo searches the desert to defeat four master gunmen and to find enlightenment; an alchemist assembles a group of people from all walks of life to prepare them for the trip to Lotus Island where they will ascend the holy mountain to displace the gods who rule the universe. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3041 - 3044
Frida, naturaleza viva. 2003. 1 videodisc (108 min.). On her deathbed, artist Frida Kahlo conjures up images and memories of her life as a painter, revolutionary and woman of the world. DVD 1090
Japon. 2002. 1 videodisc (126 min.). Mexican director Carlos Reygadas' first film is a poetic, existential drama that explores life, death, truth and redemption on a journey through the rugged and unforgiving Mexican landscape. The film follows an unnamed, middle-aged artist (Alejandro Ferretis), who is tired and disillusioned with life in Mexico City. He travels to the countryside where he plans to kill himself. Here, he meets Ascen (Magdalena Flores), an old widow who lives by herself in the mountains, and he takes up lodging with her. Ascen is uneducated, but has a profound understanding of life's problems. Her ability to transcend them is far superior to that of the intellectual Ferretis; her limitless generosity and kindness help him find the will to live. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3819
La joven = The young one. 2007. 1 videodisc (95 min.). A game warden and an orphaned thirteen-year-old girl are the only inhabitants of an isolated island off the Carolina coast. The warden is obsessed by the girl, and when a black musician on the run from a lynch mob arrives on the island, the warden wants him out of the way. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3181
Los olvidados = The Young and the damned. Collection Auteurs: Collection Ciné-club: Collection Auteurs (Films sans frontières (Firm)). 2001. 1 videodisc (80 min.). Buñuel's study of street gangs set in the outskirts of Mexico City; a good boy is contaminated by young thugs in the slums, and both he and his tormentor die violently. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7008
La misma luna = Under the same moon. 2008. 1 videodisc (110 min.). 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 Rosario's mother cares for Carlitos in Mexico. Mother and son face daunting challenges and obstacles to reunite, but are sustained by their constant hope of finally being together again. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6388
La otra conquista = The other conquest. 2007. 1 videodisc (105 min.). Mexico, 1521. The Spanish army of Hernando Cortes has swept through the New World forcing their religious beliefs on the brave Aztec people. A skillful Aztec scribe, who survived the Massacre of the Temple in 1520, spends years trying to preserve the rites and customs of his people. The Spanish army would conquer their land, but not the soul of the Aztec people. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5755
La perdicion de los hombres = The ruination of men. 2006. 1 videodisc (106 min.). The title of the film references a Mexican folk song that declares "bad women are the ruination of men." A baseball player is murdered by two ranchers, but disposing of his corpse proves difficult when the two wives of the deceased arrive to claim the body. Cuenta un famoso corrido mexicano que "la perdicion de los hombres son las malditas mujeres..." La perdicion del protagonista de nuestra historia son, efectivamente, dos mujeres y el beisbol. Dos mujeres que se pelean por el cadaver del hombre que compartieron en vida y partido de consecuencias imprevisibles. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7216
Quemar las naves = Burn the bridges. 2008. 1 videodisc (105 min.). Sebastián and Helena are two teenagers who live with their dying mother. On the death of their mother and the arrival of Juan, a lower class teenager, a painful clash is unleashed between the brother and sister about life, love and family. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7223
The revolution trilogy: 3 films. Classic Mexican cinema. 2007. 3 videodiscs (253 min.). A trilogy of dramas set during the Mexican Revolution. The 1st film tells the story of a son who pays for his father's faults and a desperate mother who tries to save her son. The 2nd examines the corrupted ideals of the Revolution by way of an opportunistic landowner who must choose between remaining loyal to a general in Zapata's army--and facing financial ruin--or saving his own skin. The 3rd follows the adventures of six young men who leave their rural homes to join Pancho Villa's army, enduring hardship, loss, and disillusionment over the Revolution in the process. DVD 7551-7553
Robinson Crusoe. 2004. 1 videodisc (90 min.). The year is 1659 and after a shipwreck, the sole survivor, Robinson Crusoe, is washed ashore on a deserted tropical island. Suddenly faced with a hostile and unknown wilderness, he carves out a life for himself with his bare hands. Remarkably, he learns how to survive the maddening absence of human companionship and intense loneliness. An amazing story about the human spirit's ability to endure what seems like insurmountable challenges. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5570
Salon Mexico. Alter's collection: Vive Mexico! cine en 35 mm. 2003. 1 videodisc (ca. 91 min.). Mercedes trabaja como cabaretera en el Salâon Mâexico, para sostener los estudios de su hermanita Beatriz en un exclusivo internado para seänoritas, Lupe Lâopez el encargado de seguridad del cabaret estâa enamorado de Mercedes y ha descubierto su doble vida. Haciendo pareja con el rufiâan Paco, Mercedes gana un concurso de baile, pero Paco se niega a compartir el premio. En un ataque de desesperaciâon, ella le roba el dinero del premio. Paco harâa todo lo posible por vengarse, pero tendrâa que enfrentar el amor y la protecciâon incondicional que Lupe le ha jurado a Mercedes. Mercedes works as a Cabaret entertainer at the Salâon Mâexico in order to support her younger sister Beatrriz at an exclusive girls' school. Lupe Lâopez, the head of security at the Cabaret, is in love with Mercedes and has discovered her double life. With her ruffian dance partner Paco, Mercedes wins a dance competition, but Paco refuses to share the prize money. In an act of desperation, Mercedes steals the prize money. Paco will do whatever is necessary to seek vengence, but he will have to deal with the unconditional love and protection sworn to Mercedes by Lupe. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1468
Sangre de mi sangre = Blood of my blood. 2008. 1 videodisc (111 min.). A young man travelling to New York City from Mexico to search for his father is robbed of his identity by another man that travelled with him, in the hopes of claiming the man's wealthy father as his own. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5568
Santo en el tesoro de Dracula. The Santo collection. 2003. 1 videodisc (90 min.). El Santo time-travels to 19th century Transylvania in search of the infamous vampire's lost treasure. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3536
Santo y blue demon contra Dracula y el hombre lobo = Santo and Blue Demon versus Dracula and the Wolfman. The Santo collection. 2003. 1 videodisc (90 min.). "Despues de ser derrotado por el mago, Cristaldi, Dracula regresa para vengarse en Santo y Blue Demon Contra Dracula y el Hombre Lobo. Con la ayuda del Hombre Lobo y sus seguidores, las victoria es inminente. Un descendiente del mago Cristaldi es advertido de los planes de Dracula, y pide la ayuda de El Santo y Blue Demon"--Container. After facing defeat at the hands of Cristaldi the magician, Dracula is back to seek revenge and rule the world. With the help of the Wolfman and his legion of followers, victory seems eminent. Professor Cristaldi, a descendant of the magician, is warned about Dracula's plans and calls upon El Santo and Blue Demon in the hopes that they can put the infamous count and the werewolf down for good."--Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3538
Santo y Mantequilla Nâapoles en la venganza de la llorona Santo and Mantequilla Napoles = In the vengeance of the crying woman. The Santo collection. 2003. 1 videodisc (90 min.). When Eugenia finds out that her lover, whom she has three children with, is going to marry someone else, she curses his family. She will come back from the dead and kill every first born child of her lover's descendants. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3539
Simón del desierto = Simon of the desert. The criterion collection: Criterion collection (DVD videodiscs). 2008. 1 videodisc (45 min.). In order to prove he is devoted to God, a 4th century saint stays on the top of a pillar for over six years while he is tempted by the devil in the form of a beautiful woman. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5578
Sin nombre. 2009. 1 videodisc (96 min.). Sayra is a beautiful young Honduran woman who joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American countryside en route to the United States. Along the way she crosses paths with El Casper, a teenage Mexican gang member, who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past and elude his unforgiving former associates. HOME USE COLLECTIN DVD 6188
Sólo con tu pareja. The Criterion collection: Criterion collection (DVD videodiscs) . 2006. 1 videodisc (ca. 94 min.). Don Juan-ish yuppie Tomás Tomás spends his nights juggling so many beautiful women that he can't keep their names straight. That is until one spurned nurse gives him a taste of his own medicine. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2222
Stellet licht = Silent light. 2009. 1 videodisc (136 min.). In a Mennonite community in Mexico, a man betrays his family by having an affair with another woman, which changes the course of events with both his wife and his mistress. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 8102
Temporada de patos. 2006. 1 videodisc (91 min.). This film takes you into one particular Sunday morning in the lives of two fourteen-year-old boys, Flama and Moko. With their neighbor Rita and pizza delivery boy Ulises, they create their own adventures to overcome their boredom. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2114
Todo el poder. Cinema latino. 2003. 1 videodisc (ca. 102 min.). A comedy about crime in Mexico City and its effects on the city's inhabitants. A filmmaker finds himself the victim of crime and violence as frequently as three times a day. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1216
Who the hell is Juliette? 2000. 1 videodisc (91 min.). A look at the lives and thoughts of some young people in Havana in the 1990's as seen through the making of a film,"The story of Yuliet Ortega & Fabiola Quiroz as filmed by Carlos Marcovich.". Sigue las vidas de la gente joven en Cuba. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 291
Y tu mamá también = And your mother too. 2002. 1 videodisc (105 min.). Two teens set off on a wild cross-country trip with seductive, 28-year-old Luisa. Lisa schools them in the finer points of passion, but will their mutual desire for her destroy their friendship forever? HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 454