Following the success of previous years, our Argentina: New Cinema series returns with some of the best films to emerge from Buenos Aires and beyond in 2018 and 2019. The annual event always draws large crowds from both the local Argentine community and foreign-language film fans, and the latest installment promises to be no different, with an impressive lineup of five Los Angeles premieres.

Among the highlights is Argentina’s official Oscar submission, HEROIC LOSERS, a crowd-pleasing heist comedy that follows a group of townspeople who, after losing all of their money during the country’s banking crisis, devise a plan to steal back what’s rightfully theirs. Peter Lanzani and Dady Brieva star in Mariano Cohn’s 4X4, an Argentine box office hit about a petty thief who finds himself trapped in a 4x4 truck with a high-tech security system.

Federico Marcello’s timely mockumentary FROM HERE TO CHINA handles Chinese-Argentine relations with humor and empathy. Another standout is Barbara Sarasola-Day’s sophomore feature, WHITE BLOOD, a father-daughter drama turned drug-trade thriller set at the Bolivia-Argentina border. The lineup closes with Juan José Campanella’s triumphant return to live-action feature filmmaking, THE WEASEL’S TALE, a wonderfully preposterous comedy about an aging actress’s encounter with two fans who have dark ulterior motives. Don’t miss the opportunity to see South America’s first homegrown film industry flourish on the big screen!

All films are in Spanish with English subtitles unless otherwise noted. Series compiled by Pablo Maseda and Gwen Deglise. Program notes by John Hagelston and Chris LeMaire.