Hispanic Film Festival

Hispanic Film Festival (6th edition)

October 2025, Wednesdays at 6 p.m., Lindsay Young Auditorium—Hodges Library

Betsabé Navarro, Film Festival Organizer

Join us for the sixth edition of the Hispanic Film Festival on the UT campus, featuring independent award-winning films in Spanish with English subtitles, and introductory talks by UT professors.

October 2025, every Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Free admission

Film Schedule

4 films will be screened in person at the Lindsay Young Auditorium (Hodges Library), and 1 film will be streamed online.

1. Machuca (Chile, 2004)

a film by Andrés Wood

October 1at 6 p.m. (in person)

Picture courtesy of Pragda

The story takes place in Santiago in 1973 in the days leading up to the military coup, and is based on a real experiment carried out during the socialist government of Salvador Allende at Saint George’s College (Saint Patrick’s College in the film). The college scenes were shot at the East Campus of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and at the Barros Arana National Boarding School.

Gonzalo Infante (Matías Quer), an eleven-year-old boy, studies at Saint Patrick’s, a reputable religious school whose students come from the upper middle class of Santiago.

The headmaster, Father McEnroe (inspired by the rector of Saint George Gerardo Whelan and played by Ernesto Malbrán), brings a new group of children to the establishment, all of them from the popular class, in order to educate them without discrimination, in an attempt to promote mutual respect among students from different social classes.

2. La suprema (Colombia, 2023)

a film by Felipe Holguín Caro

Available online from October 2-14

View film online

Username: SFC@UniversityofTennesseeKnoxville

Password: UniofTennesseeSFC2025!

Picture courtesy of Pragda

Teeming with irrepressible energy, La Suprema takes us back to 2001 Colombia and to a tiny and remote village in the Caribbean region far from any beach and seemingly lost in time.

Laureana is a strong-willed teenager who’s not about to conform to what society or her abuela have in store for her. When she finds out via the newspaper that her estranged uncle is days away from fighting in a boxing world championship in Venezuela, she ignites a spark that will quickly get the whole town on board with watching the match live on national television. The problem? It may be the 21st century, but the village has no electricity and no one has a TV set.

3. La vida era eso (That Was Life) (Spain, 2020)

a film by David Martín de los Santos

October 15 at 6 p.m. (in person)

Picture courtesy of Pragda

Two Spanish women of different generations coincide in a hospital room in Belgium. Maria (Petra Martinez) has lived there for decades after emigrating in her youth, and Veronica (Anna Castillo) is a young newcomer in search of opportunities she never found in Spain.

A peculiar friendship is forged between them that will lead María to undertake a trip back to the south of Spain with an unusual mission. What begins as a journey in search of Veronica’s roots, will become an opportunity to question certain principles on which she based her life.

4. La Hembrita (Babygirl) (Dominican Republic, 2023)

a film by Laura Amlia Guzmán

October 22 at 6 p.m. (in person)

Picture courtesy of Pragda

Set in an upper-class neighborhood of the Dominican Republic, Babygirl is an unsettling portrait of a middle-aged woman, Dominique, and her relations with family, servants, and entourage.

From the very first scene, the film manages to astutely depict her privilege and buried longings. As a woman whose identity is deeply attached to her role, Dominique finds herself alone after the departure of her children. One day, the maid brings home her granddaughter and, shortly after, inexplicably disappears. The little girl re-awakens Dominique’s maternal instinct – but neither her relatives nor her friends seem to think it a good decision to keep her.

5. What Remains on the Way (Brazil, 2019)

a film by Danilo Do Carmo

October 29 at 6 p.m. (in person)

Picture courtesy of Pragda

Documentary. What Remains on the Way offers a critical exploration of forced migration through the lens of Lilian, a Guatemalan single mother, and her four children as they traverse a perilous 3,000-mile journey to the Mexico-US border.

Warning: Films may contain adult content and some degree of violence.

Pictures courtesy of Pragda. The Spanish Film Club series was made possible with the support of Pragda, SPAIN Arts & Culture, and the Secretary of State for Culture of Spain.