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If you’re in the mood for an ethereal blank slate of a movie that’s more about mood than movement, Infinite Sea (Mar Infinito) might be your ticket. It’s set in a gray dystopian future or alternate reality. A handful of characters remain in a largely abandoned city. The lights are still on, but hardly anyone is at home. Most have been selected for space travel to colonize other worlds light-years away. Nuno Nolasco stars as a young man who was rejected by whoever is picking the pilgrims, and now spends his life trying to hack into that system to create a spot for himself. He meets a waiflike woman (Maria Leite) who may or may not help him achieve that goal.

Though only 78 minutes, the film seems longer, as eerie music and barren surroundings dominate over words and deeds. The film’s tone is more melancholy than Kirsten Dunst’s Melancholia.

The 16th annual San Antonio Film Festival, which runs June 23-27, is truly a great combination of celebrating local talent and international cinema, screening films produced in Texas to ones produced in Europe, South America and the Middle East.

There’s also a distinct flavor of socially aware fictional narratives and documentaries, including films about Tibetan refugees, migrant workers, the 2008 Presidential election, alcoholism and genocide. But, that’s not to say the fest is a totally serious affair as there’s also several genre films about the World Cup, sheep rustlers, dancers, crooks and other ne’er-do-wells. It looks like a fun mix.

The full lineup of films is below. The way the festival runs is that films screen in blocks in three different theaters. A “block” of films will generally contain a feature or two (feature = film that is 50 mins. or more), plus several shorts. In the lineup I have up,...