Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. Mise-en-Scène, a Seemingly International Staging -- Part 1. A Neonoir Skew to the Action-Image -- 1. A Shimmering Suture: Fabián Bielinsky's Epileptic El aura -- 2. Slippery Criminal Pleasures: Intermediality and Voyeurism in Jorge Furtado's O homem que copiava -- 3. Endless Quest: Chasing Sex, Lies, and Money at the Gates of Hell in Heitor Dhalia's O cheiro do ralo -- Part 2. Road Movies -- 4. The Paradoxical Effect of the Documentary: Walter Salles's Central do Brasil -- 5. Twin Piques: The Double Discourse of Carlos Sorín's El camino de San Diego -- 6. Orphans' Solidarity: María Victoria Menis's El cielito -- Part 3. Drama -- 7. Sculpting Time: Inés de Oliveira Cézar's Como pasan las horas -- 8. The Past Engulfs the Present: Josué Méndez's Días de Santiago -- Part 4. Experimental Auteurism -- 9. Whether or Not to End One's Life: Carlos Reygadas's Japón -- 10. Crime and Self-Inflicted Punishment: Carlos Reygadas's Batalla en el cielo -- Part 5. Experimental Auteurism and Intertextuality -- 11. The Miracle of Female Bonding in Patriarchal Society: Carlos Reygadas's Stellet licht (2008) -- 12. Cyclical Scapegoating: Inés de Oliveira Cézar's Extranjera -- 13. The Irrevocable Nature of Curses: Inés de Oliveira Cézar's El recuento de los daños -- 14. Splintered Mirrors, Echoes, and Reverberations: Fernando Pérez Valdés's Madrigal -- Part 6. Experimental Pseudo-Documentary -- 15. Room with a View: Fernando Pérez Valdés's Suite Habana -- 16. Life Is and Is Not: Paz Encina's Hamaca paraguaya -- Conclusion: Possible Futures -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.