Get ready for four unforgettable nights at the 2025 Des Moines Latino Film Festival, presented by the Latino Center of Iowa! This celebration of Latino culture brings powerful movies and art together under one roof. From award-winning documentaries to community conversations, it's a joyful, high-energy experience you won't want to miss. Join us April 15-18 at Varsity Cinema for a celebration of Latino culture, connection, and community in Des Moines!

Schedule of Events:

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

7:00 pm: Parvulos

Run Time: 120 min

Blending the emotional tension of Goodnight Mommy, the silence-driven terror of A Quiet Place, and the survivalist chaos of Lord of the Flies, Parvulos emerges as director Isaac Ezban's most gripping work yet. Inspired by his own childhood as one of three brothers and the haunting anxieties of fatherhood, the film is a brutal and tender reflection on family, caregiving, and the instinct to protect. Featuring unforgettable performances and some of the most chilling practical effects in recent memory, PaRVULOS is a genre-bending fable that cuts deep and lingers long after the credits roll.

Click here to Buy Tickets

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

7:00 pm: Lengua and Sujo

Run Time: 138 min

Recently arrived in the United States, a haunting anxiety troubles Daniel before his first day of school.

When a cartel gunman is killed, he leaves behind Sujo, his beloved 4-year-old son. The shadow of violence surrounds Sujo during each stage of his life in the isolated Mexican countryside. As he grows into a man, Sujo finds that fulfilling his father's destiny may be inescapable.

A breathtaking film and the second collaboration of filmmakers Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez (Identifying Features), Sujo recenters stories of cartel violence by exploring its aftermath, the collateral damage, and its orphans. With lyrical intensity and a penetrating humanity, it offers a moving, contemporary coming-of-age portrait of Sujo, a young man named after a strong-willed horse, and the way his identity, consciousness, and moral character are shaped through various episodes - by the women who protect him, the boys lured toward their fathers' fates, the mentorship of a teacher - as if they are seasons in his growth.

Click here to Buy Tickets

Thursday, April 17, 2025

7:00 pm: The Ballad of Tita and the Machines and Rita

When Tita, an elderly fieldworker, reluctantly hires an AI humanoid to fill in for her picking strawberries, she attracts the engineers' attention because their humanoids cannot do her back-breaking work.

After escaping an abusive home, thirteen-year-old Rita (Giuliana Santa Cruz) ends up in an overcrowded all-girls protective custody facility. There, she hears whispers of a prophecy - that a warrior angel will come to rescue them from a cycle of violence, exploitation, and confinement. When Rita is given a pair of symbolic wings like the other girls, she must decide if she's the one they've been waiting for - and how far she'll go to reveal the truth behind the walls.

With echoes of La Llorona, director Jayro Bustamante blends magical realism with raw emotional power, crafting a moving story inspired by the real-life tragedy of 41 girls in a Guatemalan orphanage in 2017. RITA weaves together myth and memory, innocence and resistance - grounded by a fearless performance from Giuliana Santa Cruz and a deep sense of female solidarity, rage, and resilience.

Click here to Buy Tickets

Friday, April 18, 2025

7:00 pm: La Cocina

Run Time: 139 min

Inside the chaos of a fast-paced Times Square kitchen, a group of immigrant workers chase their visions of a better life-each clinging to hope while navigating harsh realities. When cash disappears from the register, suspicion falls on Pedro (Raul Briones), a cook whose dreams are tangled in a complicated relationship with waitress Julia (Rooney Mara). As secrets surface and pressure mounts, the kitchen becomes a pressure cooker of ambition, betrayal, and survival.

LA COCINA is a raw and bitingly humorous look at the unseen labor behind New York's restaurant scene. Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, the film paints a vivid, immersive portrait of the immigrant experience, revealing both the heartbreak and resilience behind every plate served.

Click here to Buy Tickets

Date:
April 15 - 18, 2025

Location:
Varsity Cinema,
1207 25th St,
Des Moines, IA 50311

Click here for more information