By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Sep 11, 2018 at 5:01 PM

We're just a little over a month away from the Milwaukee Film Festival, celebrating a decade of bringing phenomenal films and unique, diverse voices from across the globe to Brew City's big screens. Over the past few years, a key part of that mission has been the festival's Cine Sin Fronteras ("Cinema Without Borders") program, shining a spotlight on stories and storytellers from the Latinx diaspora.

Today Milwaukee Film added another chapter to the program's already impressive history with its selections for the 2018 festival, including Colombia's official selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar – as well as Colombia's first animated film directed by a woman – a horror movie and several fascinating documentaries. 

"We continue to highlight those untold stories that are too often hidden, silenced or ignored," said Cine Sin Fronteras co-programmer Claudia Guzmán, in a press release. "From forgotten women revolutionaries, to the unsolved case of 43 missing Mexican students, to the resilience and ingenuity of children, these stories demand the attention of our audiences."

"Through themes of justice and history, celebration and hope, this year’s selections inform and inspire," added Cine Sin Fronteras co-programmer Jeanette Martín, in the release.

Before all of that, Milwaukee Film will host a Cine Sin Fronteras kickoff party – date and location to be determined – featuring food, music and, of course, previews of the upcoming Cine Sin Fronteras selections. 

Speaking of which, here are the program's picks for the 2018 Milwaukee Film Festival.

"Ayotzinapa, El Paso de la Torturga"

In this sobering documentary making its U.S. premiere at the Milwaukee Film Festival, 43 student activists from Ayozinapa were violently detained by the local Mexican police and disappeared in what became known as the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping. This film follows the case, the corruption throughout the police and the government, and the families seeking justice.

"Birds of Passage"

The directors of the 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival alum and 2016 Academy Award nominee "Embrace of the Serpent" return with "Birds of Passage," a crime drama about the earliest days of the Colombian drug trade of the '70s and its impact both on one family as well as on the indigenous culture once living in isolation. 

"¡Las Sandinistas!"

Almost 40 years ago, thousands of women helped bring down a totalitarian government and create social change for the country of Nicaragua. Now, the same revolutionaries are taking the streets once again to fight a government all too similar to the one they brought down all those decades ago.

"Lila's Book"

In this creative "Christopher Robin"-esque (or, if you want to go deeper in the kids movie vault, "The Neverending Story") animated film approved for all ages, a happy book character somehow falls out of her fantastical paper-bound world and into ours, needing the help of a now-jaded and wonder-devoid teen who once read her book as a child to return home. 

"Rubén Blades is Not My Name"

Director Abner Benaim's rock doc follows the iconic Panamanian renaissance man – a nine-time Grammy winner, a popular screen actor in TV ("Fear the Walking Dead") and film ("The Counselor"), a political activist as well as a politician – as he journeys on his final musical tour. And after the film's MFF premiere, join a musical tribute at Nomad Nacional, 625 S. 5th St., from 8 until 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. 

"They Call Us Warriors"

The Milwaukee Film Festival takes to the field in this sports documentary about the Venezuelan women's soccer team as they become inspirations to their country on their quest to bring home Venezuela's first World Cup. 

"Tigers Are Not Afraid"

In this modern horror-tinged fairy tale with more than a few notes of Guillermo del Toro, a young girl falls in with a band of orphans attempting to battle the violent drug cartel that's taken over their town with the help of the supernatural. 

"The Unafraid"

Anayansi Prado and Heather Courtney's documentary follows the four-year journey of three DACAmented immigrants attempting to gain access to higher education even in a system determined to keep them out. 

The Milwaukee Film Festival will run from Oct. 19 through Nov. 1. For more information on tickets and the festival, visit Milwaukee Film's website. And for more updates, stay tuned to OnMilwaukee. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.