Lost Treasures | 2026
Films participating in the Lost Treasures Section
Alhambra Pearls Section Presentation
Throughout its various editions, the Cines del Sur Festival has screened over a thousand films from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Central Asia. This vast cinematic map has allowed viewers to travel through diverse geographies and cultures without leaving their seats. However, the great stories that have shaped the festival's identity have, in reality, been profoundly human tales: a group of women's yearning for freedom, the Iraq War seen through a child's eyes, reflections on the art of acting beyond vanity and artifice, the harsh reality of displaced people, or the dreams of young people leaving their villages in search of a better future.
These narratives embody the very essence of Cines del Sur: a meeting place for cultures, a melting pot of voices and perspectives from the so-called "Global South." A place where differences engage in dialogue and where cinema becomes a tool to foster empathy, build bridges, and reflect on the creation of more just and sustainable societies.
To mark the festival's return to Granada, five films that left a special mark in previous editions and received various awards are being revisited. Five Alhambra Pearls that invite us to look back to understand the journey taken and remember the power of cinema as a vehicle for cultural exchange.
The section opens with Crossing the Dust (2006), by Iraqi director Shawkat Amin Korki. The story takes us to 2003, when much of the population celebrates the fall of Saddam Hussein. Two Kurdish soldiers receive a seemingly routine mission, but encountering an abandoned and crying Arab boy named, ironically, Saddam, by the roadside transforms the journey into a profound exploration of the social, ethnic, and human fractures that emerged in Iraq after the regime's collapse.
Next is Jogo de Cena (2007), one of Brazilian documentarian Eduardo Coutinho's most emblematic works. Halfway between documentary and meta-cinematic reflection, the film poses a fascinating question: how to represent a real person on screen without technique, exhibitionism, or manipulation ultimately devouring authenticity? With intelligence and humor, Coutinho crafts a work that is as innovative as it is moving.
From the Caucasus comes The Other Bank (2009), directed by George Ovashvili and co-produced by Georgia and Kazakhstan. Tedo, a twelve-year-old boy separated from his father after the outbreak of war between Georgia and Abkhazia, lives with his mother in precarious conditions. Tired of an existence marked by exile, he embarks on a search that highlights the drama of refugees and the risks many families are willing to take to regain hope.
The journey continues to Kenya with Nairobi Half Life (2012), David "Tosh" Gitonga's debut film, produced by German filmmaker Tom Tykwer. Its protagonist is a young man from a rural background who harbors a dream as ambitious as it is universal: to become an actor. Determined to pursue it, he leaves his family and heads to Nairobi, where he discovers that the city offers opportunities, but also challenges capable of testing his ideals and determination.
The selection concludes with Lipstick Under My Burkha, by Indian filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava, a film that sparked intense controversy with India's censorship bodies. The reason was as simple as it was revolutionary: giving voice to four women of different generations who refuse to accept the limits imposed by a society dominated by patriarchal structures. Through their stories, the film champions women's freedom, independence, and right to decide over their own lives.
Five films, five perspectives, and five ways of understanding the world. Together, they form a selection that encapsulates the spirit of Cines del Sur: cinema committed to people, attentive to invisible realities, and convinced that every story can become a bridge to others.
