Vancouver Latin American Film Festival kicks off with A Loose End on September 10
Uruguayan writer-director Daniel Hendler’s feature blends elements of noir and comedy to tell the tale of a mild-mannered cop on the run from corrupt colleagues
Pilar Gamboa and Sergio Prina in A Loose End
The Vancouver Latin American Film Festival opens with A Loose End at SFU Woodward’s on September 10 at 7 pm
IT HAS ALL THE makings of a Nordic Noir thriller: when an idealistic police officer discovers that two of his fellow cops are involved in criminal activity, he’s forced to flee across the border to escape reprisal from his corrupt colleagues.
A Loose End isn’t the latest big-screen adaptation of a Jo Nesbø novel, however; it’s a feature from writer-director Daniel Hendler, and, while it is indeed a thriller, in its own roundabout way, the tone is one of deadpan humour as mild-mannered fugitive Santiago (Sergio Prina) struggles to adjust to his new reality on the run.
Reviewing A Loose End for Screen Daily, critic Lee Marshall praised Hendler’s “fine, lean script” and “inventive vision of a fugitive who turns the dangerous frontier into a place in which to unburden, change and grow”.
Hendler is a Uruguayan who works primarily in Argentina, and this cross-border caper (titled Un Cabo Suelto in Spanish) is set in both countries. The movie was selected as the Uruguayan entry in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, and it opens the 2026 Vancouver Latin American Film Festival.
This year’s edition of VLAFF features films from 24 countries, including Canada, with spotlights on Colombia’s Oscar Ruiz Navia and Mexico’s Mayra Hermosillo. Screenings take place at the Cinematheque and Cineworks, SFU Woodward’s, and International Village Cineplex. The fest also includes live music in the Cinematheque courtyard, with performers including Tamboré, Paula Pazos, Linaldo Sans, Brendocha, Colectivo SUR, and Los Grandes. 
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