Café Chairel

Phantom Pain

September 2023 •Spanish

Daniel seeks catharsis by recalling with Sofía his past relationship.

The Border

January 1982 •English

A corrupted border agent decides to clean up his act when an impoverished woman's baby is put up for sale on the black market.

Mr. Yanagi’s Aliens

October 2024 •English

Two public broadcast employees, tired of their dead-end jobs, set out to make a documentary proving aliens exist in a small Minnesotan farming community.

Lo dejo cuando quiera

September 2023 •Spanish

Werckmeister Harmonies

February 2001 •Hungarian

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

Backyard

February 2009 •Spanish

Officer Blanca Bravo arrives in Juarez, Mexico — a grim nexus of corporate colonialism and sexual tourism — to investigate a rash of killings targeting female migrant workers. But with no help from the locals, bringing the responsible parties to justice becomes a frustrating exercise. As Bravo rails against indifference and local corruption, she finds herself on a collision course with Mickey Santos, a Mexican mogul with a taste for young prostitutes.

Mobsters and Mormons

September 2005 •English

When Carmine “The Beans” Pasquale is nabbed by the FBI, he decides to testify against his mafia boss and go into the Witness Relocation Program with his wife Gina and son Vincent. Now known as George, Linda and Patrick Cheeseman, the Pasquale family is sent to suburban Utah to begin their new life. But can the “Cheesemans” survive in a world where everyone is Mormon, all coffee is bad and scrapbooking reigns supreme?

The Falcon and the Snowman

January 1985 •English

The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.

Satantango

February 1994 •Hungarian

Inhabitants of a small village in Hungary deal with the effects of the fall of Communism. The town's source of revenue, a factory, has closed, and the locals, who include a doctor and three couples, await a cash payment offered in the wake of the shuttering. Irimias, a villager thought to be dead, returns and, unbeknownst to the locals, is a police informant. In a scheme, he persuades the villagers to form a commune with him.

Captain Thunder

December 1930 •English

A notorious Mexican bandit goes all soft and mushy when he falls for a beautiful senorita. Warner Bros.' Captain Thunder contains some of the darndest Mexican accents you've ever heard in your life. The star is Hungarian-born Victor Varconi, portraying a legendary south of the border outlaw who tries to force Canadian senorita Fay Wray to marry a rival rustler whom she despises. She pleads with the bandito so pathetically that he is moved to grant her a single wish. Without hesitation she chooses her poor but true love. The bandit king, being a somewhat honorable fellow grants the wish and without a twitch, guns down the wicked cattle thief. Fortunately the film was played for comedy, a wise decision since it probably would have garnered laughs as a straight drama anyway.

Secret Beyond the Door

December 1947 •English

After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home full of his strange relations, and macabre rooms that are replicas of famous murder sites. One locked room contains the secret to her husband's obsession, and the truth about what happened to his first wife.

The Science of Sleep

June 2006 •French

A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.

Charro!

March 1969 •English

Vince Hackett's gang steals a prized victory canon from Mexico and blames the deed on ex-member Jess Wade, who wants to go straight.

Espace détente

February 2005 •French

In the middle of the Veule, imaginary French province, the Geugène Electro Stim, a medium-sized company, which survives thanks to the manufacture and sale of the C14, an old but inexpensive electrical stimulation device.

Double Take

January 2001 •English

A man on the run takes another man's passport, only to find himself stuck with the identity of a street hustler.

Reclusorio III

January 1999 •Spanish

3 real life stories taken from the Mexican police archive.

8 Heads in a Duffel Bag

April 1997 •English

Mafia hitman Tommy Spinelli is flying to San Diego with a bag that holds eight severed heads, which he's bringing to his superiors to prove that some troublesome rival mobsters are permanently out of the picture. When his bag gets accidentally switched at the airport, Tommy must track down his duffel bag and the 8 heads it contains.

The Night of the Iguana

August 1964 •English

A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.

I Demand Payment

December 1938 •English

A just-married young woman attempts suicide after her husband tells her he really doesn't love her because he has become involved in an extortion racket, then finds herself becoming involved with the doctor who has saved her life and become attracted to her.

Reseda Blvd

Invalid date •English

In the heart of the San Fernando Valley, along the bustling Reseda Boulevard, a diverse tapestry of strangers crossing paths in unexpected ways.