Sergio de León

Nieves is my oldest neighbor, in every way. She has just turned 90 and for a long time we have lived next to each other, balcony to balcony, in the Old City of Montevideo. I thought I knew her. During the confinement of 2020, filming her with my cell phone and trying to keep a distance of two meters, I discovered a woman undone in light and blooming in stars.

Nieves is my oldest neighbor, in every way. She has just turned 90 and for a long time we have lived next to each other, balcony to balcony, in the Old City of Montevideo. I thought I knew her. During the confinement of 2020, filming her with my cell phone and trying to keep a distance of two meters, I discovered a woman undone in light and blooming in stars.

Nieves is my oldest neighbor, in every way. She has just turned 90 and for a long time we have lived next to each other, balcony to balcony, in the Old City of Montevideo. I thought I knew her. During the confinement of 2020, filming her with my cell phone and trying to keep a distance of two meters, I discovered a woman undone in light and blooming in stars.

Aurelio Saravia is a powerful politician who holds office in Uruguay in the mid-1960's. When Aurelio's mistress kills herself, he adopts their illegitimate daughter Masangeles despite the stern objections of his wife Aurora. Masangeles finds herself growing up in a home ruled by a corrupt and self-centered tyrant and his manic colleagues while Uruguay teeters on the brink of civil war as bands of revolutionaries battle government militias. When she turns fourteen, Masangeles discovers a secret passageway in their home that leads to sanctuary in a nearby church which also serves as a storehouse for guns and ill-gotten cash. Teenage Masangeles falls in love with Santiago, her stepbrother who has joined the rebels fighting against the state, and she persuades him to take her virginity.

After being fired from his job, Norberto tries his luck as a real estate agent, but he doesn't tell his wife right away. His new boss advises him to take an assertiveness course to overcome his shyness, and Norberto starts taking classes in an acting workshop for beginners. While he works toward the quarterly festival, Norberto fails to get his wife and clients to believe anything he says, but he finds out he is very good at lying to himself.

Four stories of normal Montevideans like you and me, but with one thing in common: bad luck. One figure, the master of the ceremony, ties stories together commenting on the failures of those four people, as he tries to make his fortune on a slot-machine.

Ruben, a street vendor, and Lila, a domestic worker, are a poor Montevidean couple. One day, during the carnival season, they win the lottery, and start believing in the possibility of living with dignity.

Alcira Soust Scaffo is a Uruguayan poet who became a legend by hiding in a bathroom for the 12 days that the Mexican army occupied a university in 1968. A woman whose life oscillated between delirium and sanity, between rooftops, trees and houses. A forgotten and unforgettable poet.

Montevideo, Uruguay. In this comedic drama, Elisa, 27, dreams of opening her own hairdressing salon in one of the rich districts of the Uruguayan capital. A bit of a rebel, one day Elisa moves out of her mother's house with her two children and breaks up with Garcia, her boss and lover who has infuriated her by not wanting to get married. So, in the space of twenty-four hours, Elisa finds herself without a roof over her head, without a man, without a job and without money. Her best friend Loulou finds her a job - in the brothel run by Dona Jacqueline. And without really being aware of it, Elisa slides into prostitution, which leads her to Barcelona. She falls in love, she is exploited, she gets involved in transvestite gang wars, and meanwhile just dreams of earning enough money for her little beauty salon back home.

Gilda is a 22-year-old girl, an employee of a direct sales company, which sells superfluous products. She is exploited by her boss, but one day she rebels and has her own "Day of Fury".

Montevideo, Uruguay. In this comedic drama, Elisa, 27, dreams of opening her own hairdressing salon in one of the rich districts of the Uruguayan capital. A bit of a rebel, one day Elisa moves out of her mother's house with her two children and breaks up with Garcia, her boss and lover who has infuriated her by not wanting to get married. So, in the space of twenty-four hours, Elisa finds herself without a roof over her head, without a man, without a job and without money. Her best friend Loulou finds her a job - in the brothel run by Dona Jacqueline. And without really being aware of it, Elisa slides into prostitution, which leads her to Barcelona. She falls in love, she is exploited, she gets involved in transvestite gang wars, and meanwhile just dreams of earning enough money for her little beauty salon back home.

A story set in Uruguay in 1993. It revolves around an investigation by a law court lawyer, Julia. She's looking into the possibility that a chemist named Eugenio Barrios is being secretly sheltered in Uruguay by right-wing political powers.

The employer is a young man who apparently has everything going on for him except one pressing concern: his baby’s health. The employee is looking for a job to support his newborn too, so does not hesitate when the first decides to hire him to work in his lands. Both will meet their needs by helping each other. But one day an accident happens. This unexpected event will strain the ties between them, endangering the fate of the two families.

Jacob Kaplan lives an ordinary life in Uruguay. Like many of his other Jewish friends, Jacob fled Europe for South America because of World War II. But now turning 76, he is grumpy and in need of adventure. An unexpected opportunity to achieve greatness comes in the form of a quiet, elderly German, who Mr Kaplan believes to be a runaway Nazi. Determined to capture this Nazi, as Eichmann was captured before him, Mr Kaplan surprises everyone when he takes up this challenge.

In 1884, the famous painter Juan Manuel Blanes, from Uruguay, is asked to create a portrait of José Artigas. There is only one drawing of his face, done in his old age so Blanes must imagine what he looked like by reading up on his ideas and learning about his life.

Christian is a raising star in world football. He lives isolated, in a luxurious and lonely environment, besieged by fans, under pressure from the media and forced to honour commitments made by his father who acts as his manager. For the first time Christian feels the need to escape.

Jacob van Oppen, the former strongest man on earth, and his manager Orsini, who calls himself "the Prince", make a good living by traveling around small South American towns and organizing wrestling exhibitions. Arriving in Santa Maria, they are met with uncommon enthusiasm, the local newspaper wants to sponsor the fight, helping hands placard the town with posters, and an open call is made for a worthy adversary. Ever so resourceful, Orsini knows how to find the right combatant, but fishing in Santa Maria could lead to a bigger catch than he'd hoped for.

In 1998, a small South American village is in a flurry over the Pope's upcoming visit for the business opportunities that it will provide. While most of the residents plan to sell food at the parade, a smuggler family man decides to build a pay toilet.

In the Argentinian city of Tucumán, Miguel is making a living as a “motochorro”, a thief who snatches people’s belongings fromhis motorbike. When he steals the purse of Elena, an old woman, he ends up hurting her badly. After the brutal incident, Miguel is plagued by guilt and unable to forget about his victim. In an attempt to make things right, he conceals his true identity from the old woman and starts to take care of the injured and unsuspecting Elena. The closer he gets to her the more he becomes entangled in his own lies. Afraid of telling Elena the truth, Miguel continues to be haunted by his past and is unable to find true redemption.

The story, told by the survivors, of a group of young men, members of a Uruguayan rugby team, who managed to survive for 72 days, at an altitude of almost 4,000 meters, in the heart of the Andes Mountains, after their plane, en route to Chile, crashed there on October 13, 1972.

Juan tries to rescue Ulises from oblivion by showing his latest paintings, which have been hidden for 20 years. A documentary that is also a love story between two free men and that marks the debut as a director of Sergio de León.

The tale of five Uruguayan villagers who embark on a journey to see the ocean for the first time. They depart in a broken down freight truck, property of Rodríguez, a taciturn man who loves the sea. Their point of departure is a local bar, and at the last minute, an unknown man from the bar joins their adventure.

Miguel Ángel García Mazziotti, a Río de la Plata's decadent showbiz gay figure, receives the visit of his daughter Virginia, of whom he has been distanced for years. "The Fat", as everybody calls him in Punta del Este, openly rejects her visit, but when realizes will become a grandfather he can't help getting thrilled and celebrate Virginia's happiness. As a result they share a real familiar weekend that, as many families, to be happy it has to be fake.

After the death of his mother, Emilio is not prepared to manage a cursed inheritance, the promiscuity of his desires and the discovery of a love. At 18 years old, he will be puzzled when he realises that fate sometimes hangs on something as fragile as the flight of a dove.

After the death of his mother, Emilio is not prepared to manage a cursed inheritance, the promiscuity of his desires and the discovery of a love. At 18 years old, he will be puzzled when he realises that fate sometimes hangs on something as fragile as the flight of a dove.