That cinema can connect people across cultures was evident in the diverse selection of short films screened at the 2009 debut of Tré-Ch(é) International Short Film Festival. Through the art of award-winning filmmakers and novices to the craft, audiences shared human experiences that slipped easily across continents and oceans as well as back and forth over the often politically charged U.S.-Mexican border.
"Disque Libre"'s border crossing is quite deliberate. The film opens with a series of scenes that set it in the metropolitan jungle of Los Angeles, establishing the main character's bona fides as a U.S. resident, and then takes off as an odyssey of an everyman-Latino's quest for his ethnic roots. "Sintonia," an original take on boy-meets-girl, effectively contains its action in the severely constricted environment of alternating automobile interiors and some strategic breaks to a radio station's on-air studio. Soccer is key to the action of "Porque hay cosas que no se olvidan" ("Because there are things you never forget").