The Return of Lencho

LENCHO, a 30-year-old artist and graffiti writer, is back in Guatemala after living a decade in New York. Eager to bring artistic expression to his home country silenced by over 30 years of terror, Lencho assembles a collective of artists to produce public art projects of social impact. As its first activity, the group organizes an art festival in Rabinal, a small, indigenous village in the Guatemalan highlands. The group's work comes of interest to the director of a secret "social cleansing" program of the national police designed to quash dissension and organizing among the youth. As Lencho labors to coordinate the music, poetry and muralism components of the festival, he finds himself increasingly haunted by memories of the death of his father, a journalist during the civil war. "El Regreso de Lencho" portrays one man's journey to self-knowledge and action: can Guatemala do the same?

Directed by Mario Rosales, The Return of Lencho leans on a strong ensemble — Mario Lanz, Miriam Arenas, Tatiana Palomo — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2010.