Time after time

THANKS IN PART to Linda Blackaby's strong programming for the San Francisco International Film Film Festival, the Bay Area has no shortage of great Latin American cinema to choose from each year. So why is it that Whisky, by Uruguayan directors Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll (whose debut, 25 Watts, was a big hit at the SFIFF a few years back) hasn't had a good local showcase? While the ninth International Latino Film Festival doesn't include Rebella and Stoll's sophomore effort – one of the best films of the last few years – it does have Fernando Eimbcke's equally terrific Duck Season, and it will unveil some strong music documentaries over the next three weekends at theaters from SF to San Jose.

One half of this year's opening-night double feature, Cazuza – O Tempo Não Pára, chooses drama over documentary to tell the story of the Brazilian poetic pop star Cazuza, whose hymns to lusty life were cut short when he died of AIDS, in 1990. Though the Mom-sanctioned official narrative has the icon leaping and skipping lightly from one debauched musical sequence to another before tragedy strikes, Daniel de Oliveira gives a strong performance as Cazuza, conveying the energy of his early years and the AZT-damaged fatigue of his final days. For a deep look into the Cazuza phenomenon – which seems interesting in terms of sexuality and class – you'd have to do your own outside research, but this is one place to start.

Phantom presence Jay Rosenblatt is one of the few short-filmmakers today who has managed to land a theatrical run: For the second time in a few years, the Roxie Cinema is showcasing his work. At the heart of 'Matters of Life and Death: Recent Films by Jay Rosenblatt' is Phantom Limb, an emotional exploration of a past tragedy in Rosenblatt's family history – the death of his younger brother while he was still in elementary school. Rosenblatt always makes superb use of found footage, but in this case some of the most striking imagery stems from his family's old home movies; he also brings in interviews with a cemetery worker and a phantom-limb patient while exploring stages of grief. The use of mournful music here and the suitelike structure calls to mind Rosenblatt's King of the Jews. (Johnny Ray Huston)

'The International Latino Film Festival' runs Nov. 4-20 throughout the Bay Area. Cazuza – O Tempo Não Pára plays Fri/4, 9:30 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, SF. Most shows $6-$10. (415) 392-4400, www.latinofilmfestival.org.

'Matters of Life and Death: Recent Films by Jay Rosenblatt' runs Nov. 11-17, 7 and 8:45 p.m. (also Sat., Sun., and Wed., 2 and 4 p.m.), Roxie Cinema, 3117 16th St., SF. $4-$8. (415) 863-1087, www.jayrosenblattfilms.com.