Logline: In a 1970s Mexican village, a boy’s first night out with his father at the local cantina forces him to face the dark truth of manhood in a place like Pueblo Viejo.

Synopsis: In 1970s rural Mexico, Pablo, a 12-year-old boy, joins his father at the village cantina for the first time. What begins as a night to prove himself a “man” becomes a test of loyalty when he discovers the men he idolizes belong to a dark, blood-soaked brotherhood. As Pablo faces the cost of manhood, he must decide whether to embrace a cursed legacy or break the cycle, even if it costs him his father’s love.

Produced by the Tyler Perry Studios Dream Collective

In Wonderland is deeply inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a classic tale about a child's struggle to make sense of the adult world. Like Alice venturing into an unknown place like Wonderland, our protagonist navigates an unfamiliar country, the United States, and struggles to make sense of her life as a new immigrant.

When Nina, a resilient, and tenacious 8-year-old Mexican girl is granted asylum in the U.S. and forced to stay in the custody of her estranged aunt, Carmen, she rejects her new family and escapes inside the fantasy world of her book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

As her imagination brings to life a magical rabbit hole, she follows it down in hopes of reuniting with her father on the other side. Will Nina come to terms with the truth of her past and finally embrace the adventure of a new home?

Produced by the AFI Conservatory

On the morning of her naturalization test, Itzel, a 25-year old Mexican indigenous woman starts to grow a foreign substance in her mouth, leaving her grasping for her words and reality.

LENGUA takes place, present day, in a low-income Latinx neighborhood, someplace in San Fernando Valley.

With elements of magical realism, this dream-logic, meditative, and surreal drama will give us an insight into the anxiety and melancholia that exists among immigrants working to survive in the United States.

As her citizenship interview approaches, Itzel must find a way to UNTANGLE the ROOT that is twisting inside of her — before she is left completely incomprehensible.

LENGUA explores the unspoken pressures of cultural assimilation and the repressed feelings surrounding the immigrant identity.

It poses the question: “At what length does one go to strip their identity in hopes of becoming "more American”?

Produced by the AFI Conservatory