Calgary Latin Wave runs today to Sunday at the Uptown Stage and Screen

Ten years ago, you would never have seen an Argentine film in a Brazilian theatre. The countries’ respective film industries, as small as they were, tended to operate in complete isolation from each other, like estranged cousins.

Such divisions did not make for a unified front when it came to promoting the colourful world of Latin American cinema.

But a decade later, the ever-decreasing costs involved in filmmaking and ever-increasing connectivity of the world has made for a much more fluid movement. And the world is beginning to notice. Projects are being bankrolled around the world by film funds linked to major festivals, such as Berlin and Rotterdam. At the Cannes Film Festival this year, there were more than a dozen films competing from that part of the world. Two of the five movies nominated for the Best Foreign Film at this year’s Oscars were from Latin America.