Climate Change Hell, Military Coups, Big Industry Pollution, Fractured Families: Guadalajara Gives a Bracing Latin American Take on World Collapse

The Zeitgeist weighs heavily on this year’s Guadalajara Construye, the top Mexican fest’s pics-in-post showcase, one of the its industry centerpieces, now in its 19th edition.

“Here Be Dragons,” by the Sundance selected Iria Gómez Concheiro (“The Cinema Hold Up”) takes place after a military coup, confronts “a culture of fear,” she says. “Genesis” unspools during the Earth’s final days, “The Swimmers” during the hottest summer in the history of Buenos Aires, suffering mass exodus, “Girls Ground” is set in a coastal town poisoned by its heavy industry.

Other films portray characters turning to (“8 Ways to Die”) and preparing to abandon (“That Shadow Fading”) bedrock affective relationships. One keynote is a sense of disillusionment. Such themes will be given, however, a regional twist, their makers promise.

“‘Genesis’ forges a uniquely Latin American approach to science fiction, reclaiming futuristic storytelling from colonial perspectives and transforming our collective dreams of what’s possible.