Best Mexican documentary movies

After the death of her daughter at the hand of her boyfriend, Marisela Escobedo began to fight for justice not only against the murderer but also against the corrupt Mexican judicial system.

To a growing number of Mexicans and Latinos in the Americas, narco-traffickers have become iconic outlaws and the new models of fame and success. They represent a pathway out of the ghetto, nurturing a new American dream fueled by the war on drugs. Narco Cultura looks at this explosive phenomenon from within, exposing cycles of addiction to money, drugs, and violence that are rapidly gaining strength on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border

In Mexico City's wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a for-profit ambulance, competing with other unlicensed EMTs for patients in need of urgent care. In this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care.

Between 1998 and 2005, a wave of murders targeting elderly women hit Mexico City, triggering the hunt for — and capture — of a most unlikely suspect.

A documentary about today's young adult hookup culture and the stories in pop-culture that influence it.

This documentary walks the line between fact and fiction, delving into corruption in the Mexican police through the experiences of two officers.

Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.

An intimate portrait of Spanish singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina without his signature bowler hat, at night and with malice aforethought. Rugged, direct, and unflinching, director Fernando León de Aranoa captures Sabina’s hidden side over 13 years of filming, where the artist steps off the stage to reveal stories of misfortune, comedy, inspiration, and of pain.

Before leaving for Rome with his mother, five year old Natan is taken by his father, Jorge, on an epic journey to the pristine Chinchorro reef off the coast of Mexico. As they fish, swim, and sail the turquoise waters of the open sea, Natan discovers the beauty of his Mayan heritage and learns to live in harmony with life above and below the surface, as the bond between father and son grows stronger before their inevitable farewell.

For the first time, complainants against La Luz del Mundo megachurch leaders expose the abuses they suffered through exclusive interviews.

Director Alfonso Cuarón reflects on the childhood memories, period details and creative choices that shaped his Academy Award-winning film 'ROMA.'

A young woman of the Tarahumara, well-known for their extraordinary long distance running abilities, wins ultramarathons seemingly out of nowhere despite running in sandals.

The forests of Michoacán are home to millions of monarch butterflies. Activist Homero Gómez was highly vocal about its preservation – and then he vanished.

The parents of two young men assassinated in the drug trafficking war, looking to clean the names of their sons accused of being hired assassins armed to the teeth.

Reflects a depressing and hopeless reality by following some of the members of "la dieciocho", the so-called 18th Street gang in a poor San Salvador neighborhood.

In June of this year we were fortunate enough to return to Mexico City for three sold out shows at Foro Sol Stadium and with 155,000 of you there over the three nights, we knew it would be extra special. So we asked our friend Wayne Isham to join us with a film crew and the results of that crazy, magical, most memorable long weekend are shown here on this single disc pressing.

The Spanish national soccer team will change forever thanks to Madrid's Iker Casillas and Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez. Both, along with the best players of their generation, will turn a historically losing side into the best team in history.

A woman is recruited to a prison controlled by organized crime while another woman searches for her missing daughter. Through images that submerges us in a journey from north to south Mexico, both testimonies collide and take us to the center of a storm: a country where violence has taken control of our lives, our desires and our dreams.

A walk through the golden age of Spanish exploitation cinema, from the sixties to the eighties; a low-budget cinema and great popular acceptance that exploited cinematographic fashions: westerns, horror movies, erotic comedies and thrillers about petty criminals.

Two young Mexican attorneys attempt to exonerate a wrongly convicted man by making a documentary. In the process, they expose the contradictions of a judicial system that presumes suspects guilty until proven innocent.

This documentary unveils evidence of corruption in the investigation into the murder of five people in the Narvarte neighborhood of Mexico City in 2015.

The life of Jeremiah Tower, one of the most controversial, outrageous, and influential figures in the history of American gastronomy.

Mexico, 2016. In some of the world's most dangerous cities life is not worth much. Looking into the eyes of the protagonists of violence, victims as well as executioners, helps to understand how fear inserted itself in the subconscious of our society. Through a network of concrete stories, we are facing the most obscure traits of the human psyche, the frail balance between humanity and evil.

Paco Ignacio Taibo II brings his book trilogy to life, highlighting Mexico's history in 1854-1867, a period he considers foundational to the country.

A film featuring performances of several stars of the Latin Jazz music scene.

The Mexican defender recounts wins and losses in the world of football and beyond, revealing an intimate look into his dreams, detours and determination.

What happened to those vedettes who represented the mexican cabaret’s exotic beauty in the ‘70s and ‘80s? Four decades after the end of their roles, they tell their stories with dignity.

As daylight breaks between the border cities of El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, undocumented migrants and their relatives, divided by a wall, prepare to participate in an activist event. For three minutes, they’ll embrace in no man’s land for the briefest and sweetest of reunions.

In the early nineties, Dr. Jacobo Grinberg’s career was blooming and he gained lots of international credit as a researcher in the fields of telepathy and neurophysiology at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. When Dr. Grinberg mysteriously disappears in 1994, the police find no trace of him. The only thing that is clear, is that all his research material, including his computers, disappeared along with him.

A documentary following the inspiring journey of 25 yr old, 58 pound Lizzie from cyber-bullying victim to anti-bullying activist

“Tour Generación En Vivo” is the first live DVD by the Mexican pop music group RBD. It was recorded on May 21, 2005 at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City. The show is part of the band's first tour, the Tour Generación. Includes songs from the album Rebelde (2004) and three new tracks, namely "Una Canción", "Liso Sensual" and "A Rabiar". The live and video album, sold together, about 1 million copies around the world, giving the band gold, platinum and diamond certificates. The album was a great success in Brazil, ranking #1 among the best sellers for weeks and being one of the best selling DVDs of 2006.

Examines the history and legacy of the photo Guerrillero Heroico taken by famous Cuban photographer Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez. This image has thrived for the decades since Che Guevara's death and has evolved into an iconic image, which represents a multitude of ideals. The documentary film explores the story of how the photo came to be, its adoption of multiple interpretations and meanings, as well as the commercialization of the image of Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Femicide is a growing phenomenon in Mexico. Since 1993, more than 450 women have been brutally murdered in Ciudad Juarez.

Facing the prospect of circumcision when he is 23, Tito tells us about his uncircumcised life and the reasons that may lead him to such a decision. His story is intercut with the testimony of a urologist, a pediatrician, his parents, friends, and relatives.

This is a story about the families of those that once were our witnesses, our eyes and our voice, but were threatened, had to leave Mexico and forced to live in exile, seeking for political asylum. It is not about powerful journalists, it is about invisible reporters that represent the weakest links of the news network’s chain and now are living in an immigration limbo.

Women who live in Ciudad Juarez organize safe havens for children in some of the most violent neighborhoods in Mexico. There, Diana, Joseph and Gael seek out the freedom that they once had on the streets, and try to heal the wounds that the violence of organized crime has caused them.

Millenary and figsty, the Yaqui tribe defends its existence. Since 2010, Sonora's government diverts illegally 75 million cubic meters of water from the Yaqui River each year. This situation has sparked struggles and resistances. In parallel, the Yaqui people have seen flooded their territory by methamphetamines. Now they search for answers to these external aggressions in the depths of their cultural identity.

"Take my love" is a documentary film about "Las Patronas", a group of women who daily cook, pack and throw food to the migrants riding the "Beast" train.

A feature-length documentary that delves into the life of an old spinster who, by convention, must be called señorita. Bound by rigid moral and family precepts, well-born ladies do not usually tell intimacies. However, the virgin - as the people of Xalapa have always called her - has agreed to confess and show her personal refuge, marked by solitude and the daily fulfillment of a sacrificial ritual.

Benny is a man who has decided to live alone in a one-bedroom place, alone with his memory, where time fades away. A free spirit and a passionate musician, his life was filled with excesses, but Benny believes that music is philosophy, and that thought makes him leave everything to become the man he wants to be, without any regard for the consequences of his autonomy.

Immersive documentary which takes us n an intimate journey to the inner life of public baths through the voices of three characters: Felipe, the main clerk since 1984; Juana, a street sweeper in Mexico City's downtown; and Jose, a frequent client of more than forty years. Bath of Life becomes a confessionary for those who gather around the same place: the sauna.

An account of the life and work of the famous Mexican journalist Manuel Buendía (1926-84) that seeks to unravel his murder and the links between Mexican politics and drug trafficking.

The Rastreadoras de El Fuerte are a group of mothers of disappeared persons in northern Sinaloa who, in the absence of the authorities, twice a week go out with picks and shovels in search of the remains of their children; a testimony of the abandonment of the State, the aggressions of the drug traffickers, the indifference of society and the pain, but also of the strength and courage that keep these women together, and of their empowerment to mobilize society in community organization.

Is the story of a generation of thieves who achieved their greatest victories in the sixties; their distinctive code of ethics, the various categories of delinquents inhabiting the city’s streets, their alliances with high ranking police officials that allowed them to operate, the betrayals that followed, and the price they ended up paying.

The amazing and inspiring journey of Mexican guitarists ‘Rodrigo y Gabriela’ who at a very young age decided to do only what they loved the most: music.

Filmmaker Liam Le Guillou seeks out an occult curse to an answer to the question "is magic real?", forcing him to question the nature of reality and belief in this dangerous, never-before-seen, dark social experiment.

Comic Alex Fernández performs his familiar autobiographical stories but goes a little deeper this time with a tender tale about one of his six siblings.

The most successful Mexican pop group in decades returns after a successful tour of the United States, Colombia and Brazil to share not only their greatest hits, but an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at what the RBD reunion means to them.

Highlighting the unique culture of the Zapotec people of Oaxaca, Mexico, this groundbreaking documentary chronicles the lives of those who identify as muxes, a widely recognized third gender.

Years after the Salvadoran military destroyed the village of Cinquera in that country’s civil war, survivors have returned to rebuild their community. Soulful, beautifully rendered, this amazing debut is an evocative testament to place, memory and the power of life to rebound from tragedy.

A film about the 43 students from Ayotzinapa who disappeared.

A sport like football is primarily a passionate celebration, but one that is so massive (economically, politically and socially) that it, of course, also brings many problems. Olallo Rubio's third documentary (and fourth film in total), Ilusión Nacional, is a take on how the world's most popular sport relates to Mexican society and politics.

Can a región of 22 million people become water sustainable? Mexico City was not built near water, but in the middle of a lake. To supply it with fresh water, it is necessary to bring it from other states. In addition, once sewage water leaves the city, it ends up in the state of Hidalgo to be used in agriculture. This is an environmental case study of the Valley of Mexico and its struggles to save itself as the population grows.

Documentary about a lodging house, owned by Rosa Carbajal, at the corner of Shakespare and Víctor Hugo streets.

A compelling look at the dangerous, continuing risks committed journalists face in Mexico, where reporting on their country’s corruption and “narco politics” has led to the silencing and killing of some of their peers.

I was about seven years old the first time someone called me \"black\" on the street. I turned around to see who they were talking to, until I realized they were talking to me.

In 1979 José Efraín Ríos Montt became a reborn Christian. He was offering a sermon when a group of soldiers burst into his Christian school, and asked him to lead a military coup in 1982. Francisco Chavez Raymundo and his sister were small children when Rios' political actions annihilated their community. In March, 2013 the lives of Francisco Chavez and Rios Montt converge in the same space. Rios is called upon to testify before Guatemalan justice and is confronted by a group of Mayan Ixiles, orphans and widows of the war, Francisco is one of them.

Chavela Vargas and Federico García Lorca are the main characters of this story. Poetry and music are the places of their meetings. Chavela explains when he lived in the same room where Federico García Lorca lived decades ago, was visited by a bird that contained the soul of the Spanish poet. In her last year of life, Chavela fulfills her last wish: to make a tribute to Spanish poet and finally meet him in the ranks of death. The Nightingale and the Night is a documentary that chronicles the transition from Chavela life to death, her union with Federico, dissolving the borders between reality and dreams.