Week Cuatro: Virtual Stories on Introspection and our Roots
PHLAFF 2025’s Week Cuatro is officially here—and it’s streaming directly to you, wherever you are. From June 15 through June 22, our fourth week brings a dynamic close to the festival with a full slate of virtual films that explore revolution, identity, personal reckoning, and cultural inheritance.
Under the banner of Los Features and Los Shorts, Week Cuatro offers a deeply reflective and politically urgent collection of cinema from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, the United States, and beyond.
THE FEATURES: PERSONAL ARCHIVES, PUBLIC STRUGGLES
Kicking off the lineup is Dico: Retrato de un patriota puertorriqueño—a rare and intimate portrait of Don Ricardo Díaz Díaz, one of the last living Puerto Rican Nationalists who participated in the 1950 uprising. His reflections on that pivotal historical moment offer both a testimony and a reckoning, reminding us how history lives inside the body.
In HERE WE ARE, a scrappy coalition of Dominican youth challenge the political establishment and actually win, securing seats in government while spending a fraction of their opponents’ budgets. The film follows their unconventional journey as they try to expand their impact while facing a conservative majority in power.
LAS RUINAS NUEVAS closes the feature slate with something totally different: a personal archive of sounds and images collected over a decade by a self-described amateur archaeologist. What begins as an exploration of e-waste transforms into an experimental excavation of memory, obsession, and meaning-making.
THE SHORTS: BETWEEN INTIMACY AND TRANSFORMATION
Three thematic shorts blocks anchor this week’s virtual programming, each offering a lens into a particular aspect of life—whether it’s the drama of day-to-day living, the quiet pulse of introspection, or the emotional dislocation of changing geographies.
In the Drama of Life Shorts Block, the film A Dios offers a touching portrait of an aging jazz diva struggling to maintain dignity and connection; Al son que me toquen bailo follows a young footballer on the edge of a life-altering choice; FOOLHARDY LOVE gives us a single night of romantic upheaval; and The Smell of the Flowers confronts the toll of artistic pressure on a young actress whose sense of reality starts to slip.
Al son que me toquen bailo
Experience & Introspection Shorts zoom inward. Lejos traces an artist’s journey to reconnect with his familial and cultural past. Coronas Negras reflects on Black identity in Mexico through the intimate lens of hair and memory. Casa y Comunidad documents the aftermath of Oregon’s 2020 Almeda Fire through the eyes of displaced Latino/a/x communities, spotlighting their resilience and urgent calls for systemic change.
Coronas Negras
Shifting Spaces Shorts explores migration, belonging, and diasporic identity. In Volador, a young man caught between two countries must decide where his future lies. AQUÍ Y ALLÁ features the legendary Winston Vargas as he reflects on decades of documenting the Dominican community in Washington Heights. RAÍCES follows a granddaughter's search to understand her family’s legacy. And Lost in the Barrio delves into the life of a former gang member who broke free from generational cycles of violence with the help of a mentor.
Lost in the Barrio
THE POWER OF VIRTUAL STORYTELLING
What makes Week Cuatro especially meaningful is its accessibility. From June 15 at 9:30 AM to June 22, you can stream all of these titles from home—or anywhere with a screen and an open heart. With stories this rich and varied, there’s something for everyone to discover.
PHLAFF’s virtual programming isn’t just a pivot—it’s a platform for those stories that thrive outside the confines of conventional venues. These films don’t just fill a screen—they expand it.
Tickets and access links are available now via the PHLAFF website .
