Latinos are the villains, the drug dealers, the gangbangers and the maids in society — or that is how Hollywood would have audiences see them. But the Latino community is not going to take such depictions sitting down. Or will it? This year a projected 17,000 people will be filling the seats of Madstone Theaters for the 11th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival, March 11 through March 21. The longest-running Latino film festival in Southern California, this year’s festival will celebrate many aspects of Latino culture, from music and fine art to poetry and film.
Sex, money, class, murder, magic, goddesses, vampires and madness — this year’s films do not shy away from controversy and they are the products of collaborations between hundreds of people in numerous Latino countries around the world. Over 100 feature-length, shorts and animated pieces from countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Italy, Mexico and Spain will illustrate the diverse subject matter that affects the Latino community with talent that has, for the greater part, gone unnoticed.
Some of the films have never been shown in the United States before while others have gained their makers worldwide acclaim. The Bolivian coming-of-age film and social critique “Dependencia Sexual,” directed by Rodrigo Bellot, investigates the lives of several teenagers using cutting-edge digital filmmaking methods, while the Spanish film “Haz Conmigo lo que Quieras” (Kill Me Tender) is a black comedy about a dominatrix in Barcelona who tries to find the easy life but meets crazy plot twists instead. “Lugares Communes” (Common Dreams), a joint Spanish and Argentine project, enlisted the help of legendary Spanish-language actor Federico Luppi (“Tiempo de Revancha”) to tell the story of a man’s struggle to make the lessons of past great minds work in the modern world.
An official selection of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, “A Silent Love,” a joint Canadian and Mexican film, depicts a man, his wife he meets through an Internet agency and a mother-in-law caught in a battle of desire and fear.
Another joint project, this time hailing from Mexico, France and Germany, is the surreal fairy tale “Vera,” which tells the story of a Mayan miner who, while trapped in a cave, rouses an unearthly entity who becomes his wife. Merging Mayan cosmology and cyberpunk imagery, “Vera” is one of many films that defies the standards of a Hollywood film.
As just a handful of nearly 40 feature-length films, these few movies described above serve as a mere sampling of the wide array of cinema that will be presented at the film festival, and this is without factoring in documentaries and shorts (of which there are over 60, combined). With titles like “Pimpin’ Fruit,” “La Virgen Lupita” and “Remédios de Amor” (Remedies of Love), how can a moviegoer go wrong?
But the festival is not only about unknown films and unrecognized talents. Critically-acclaimed films, both recent and old, display the wide range of inspiration and achievement in film. One of the first films featured is the one that made a star of actor Gael García Bernal (“Y Tu Mama También”) and director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu (“21 Grams”). The Mexican drama “Amores Perros” tells the shocking story of unrelated people becoming entwined in a story full of murder and dogs. Even other foreign influences will be shown, including the 1960 Federico Fellini classic, “La Dolce Vita,” and Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 “The Seven Samurai.” With these classic films, which have been cited as major artistic influences by every film buff, the Latino Film Festival offers a complete cultural movie-going experience.
What has become synonymous with movies? Why, awards, of course. And the San Diego Latino Film Festival is not without its own, the Corazon Awards. This year’s panel of judges is composed of respected filmmakers, including director and producer Fernando Sariñana (“Todo el Poder” and “El Segundo Aire”), producer David Valdes (“Unforgiven” and “The Green Mile”), producing partner Julio Caro (“The Cell”), and documentarians Hector Galan of PBS, Luca Bentivoglio of Latino Public Broadcasting, and Paul Espinosa (“The Lemon Grove Incident”). Awards this year include recognition for best narrative feature, best documentary feature and short, best experimental work, and best student work among others. Winners of the awards will be announced at the festival.
In addition, prominent actors and filmmakers will be recognized, including the late Eduardo Palomo, the heartthrob of such telenovelas as “El Corazon Salvaje” and films like “El Misterio del Trinidad.” John Leguizamo will be present at the festival to receive an honor for his large body of work, which includes “Romeo and Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Summer of Sam.” Versatile and talented, Leguizamo has broken out of the typical roles allotted to Latinos and has earned the respect of the Hollywood community. And we must not forget director Iñárritu, who will be recognized for his astounding directorial work in “Amores Perros” and “21 Grams.” The Mexican director showed the world that even though he had previously been a director of commercials and music videos, he could fuse his artistic vision and skill to make a first-time feature-length film that could astonish the world.
The Latino community has definitely not taken the prevailing stereotypes of itself without a fight, and the San Diego Latino Film Festival is proof that dominant U.S. culture is not the only culture. With television, music, art and film, the Latino Film Festival proves that Latino culture in the United States is rich and thriving. All they need now is an audience.
For students, educators and those who are interested, the SDLFF is presenting ¡Tu Cine! Student Outreach Screenings, a free series of films meant to promote critical thinking. For a complete listing of films and ticketing information, including concerts, events and workshops, visit http://www.sdlatinofilm.com or call (619) 230-1938.
