Historias de Lavapiés

My Own Private Idaho

February 1991 •English

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

Monster

December 2003 •English

In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.

Young Fugitives

June 1938 •English

A young man befriends the last surviving Civil War veteran, intending to rob him of $50,000.

Cinema Libertad

March 2010 •Spanish

A boy living in an abandoned cinema meets a young girl. As their friendship develops, the boy entertains the other cinema residents with stories and shadow puppets.

Black Pete – No, You're It

October 1980 •Danish

A drama-documentary film about the fatal effect of poor living conditions on health – the so-called "social inheritance." The principal characters in the film are two fourteen or fifteen-year-old children, Carl and Hanne. Covering a hundred-year period and drawing on case stories recorded by actual hospital staff, the film illustrates a number of variations of "the same old story."

Lady Joker

December 2004 •Japanese

Men and women caught up in a downward spiral of corruption, discrimination, poverty and death are the focus of this detective-thriller/social-drama inspired by the unsolved 1984 kidnapping of a Japanese candy company president.

Mall Girls

September 2009 •Polish

Shopping malls - today's place of creating desires. Best jewelry, clothes, shoes. Unaffordable by young girls, but they "work" to get themselves sponsors for new items.

Strapped

September 2010 •English

A routine trick propels a tall, dark, cynical hustler into a series of life-changing encounters in this drama. But this amicable and sexually efficient rent boy begins to look at himself differently when he finds himself lost in a maze-like apartment building. As he wanders through the building, he tricks with a variety of johns; sex is the commonality, but out of that commodity comes raw, unguarded emotions for all.

Switchblade Sisters

January 1975 •English

The leader of an inner city girl gang is challenged when a new girl moves into the neighborhood.

The Beggar's Christmas

January 1910 •French

Queen of Underworld

November 1991 •

Popular Hong Kong actress Amy Yip plays Sister Har -- a seminal figure in 1960s and '70s Hong Kong nightlife -- in this biographical film that follows the scenester's rise and fall from the upper echelons of society to the glamour and excess of Hong Kong's teeming underworld. A truly fascinating portrait of the allure and excess that were part of the fabric of Asia's favorite playground.

Christiane F.

April 1981 •German

This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the 'Sound', a new disco with most modern equipment. Although she's legally too young, she asks a friend to take her. There she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.

Risky Business

August 1983 •English

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.

Synoikia to Oneiro

October 1961 •Greek

A poor neighborhood of Athens, Asyrmatos, is the center of the world for the people who live there and try in every way to escape from poverty and destitution. A handsome released youth, Ricos (Alekos Alexandrakis), is trying to make money, at the same time that his lover, Stefi (Aliki Georgoulis), is seeing other men and her father, Nekrophoras (Manos Katrakis), is trying to contribute in family finances. Rico will set up a job, but will spend the money raised before he can put it into action. As a result, one of his "partners" (Alekos Petsos) will commit suicide, leaving his pregnant wife, Eleni (Aleka Paizis), to her fate. Rikos, his beloved and her father, defeated and disappointed because of the expectations that were never fulfilled, will be forced to come to terms with the harsh reality.

Greed

December 1924 •English

A lottery win of $5,000 forever changes the lives of a miner turned dentist and his wife.

Beef Cattle

January 1979 •Dutch

Thomas, in his forties, holds an important post in a slaughterhouse. He is engaged to Marie-Rose, the daughter of the director, whom he hopes to follow later. In a routine examination in the hospital, however, he finds out that he has cancer and his days are counted. The upheaval that he suffers as a result, however, does not take long, his decision is certain: he will use the short time to clean up some bad guys. What else can he do now?

Lowlife

July 2017 •English

The sordid lives of an addict, an ex-con, and a luchador collide when an organ harvesting caper goes very, very wrong.

Wendy and Lucy

December 2008 •English

A near-penniless drifter's journey to Alaska in search of work is interrupted when she loses her dog while attempting to shoplift food for it.

Or (My Treasure)

September 2004 •Hebrew

Or shoulders a lot: she's 17 or 18, a student, works evenings at a restaurant, recycles cans and bottles for cash, and tries to keep her mother Ruthie from returning to streetwalking in Tel Aviv. Ruthie calls Or "my treasure," but Ruthie is a burden. She's just out of hospital, weak, and Or has found her a job as a house cleaner. The call of the quick money on the street is tough for Ruthie to ignore. Or's emotions roil further when the mother of the youth she's in love with comes to the flat to warn her off. With love fading and Ruthie perhaps beyond help, Or's choices narrow.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

June 1992 •English

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.