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Taking Stock of LALIFF 2018 as We Set Sights on the 2019 Edition

With an expanded vision aimed at highlighting even more Latinx and Latin American talent than ever before in multiple artistic fields, 2018 marked the stellar return of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF)—an indispensable platform for the appreciation, exhibition, and development of our community’s artistic ambitions at a time when positive representation is truly imperative.

Enhancing the highly-curated film program, new sections including LALIFF Music, featuring emerging acts performing in an intimate setting, and LALIFF Art, which provided a space for creators in other visual disciples to showcase their works, helped the festival evolve into an even more inclusive event with a fresh voice.

Calling LALIFF the Home of Latinx content is no overstatement as it brings together an array of diverse experiences under one roof: from undocumented youth, to local directors, as well as celebrated auteurs from across Ibero-America. Looking at the trajectories of LALIFF 2018 alumni, it’s clear that what the festival is investing in is talent with the potential to reshape the global cinematic landscape, but perhaps more importantly, the way Hollywood represents the Latino identity here at home.

Since last year’s festival, U.S. Latino creators who shared their work with LALIFF’s audiences have gone on to receive incredible recognitions and to participate in even more prominent projects.

Rudy Valdez’s deeply moving documentary The Sentence went on to have a theatrical release in October and later premiered on HBO. This portrait of a family enduring separation because of excessive punishment is at once hopeful and devastating. The Sentence won the Cinema Tropical Award for Best U.S. Latino Film back in January.

Actress and filmmaker Rosa Salazar screened her short film Good Crazy at LALIFF following success at Sundance. Earlier this year she graced screens around the world as the star of Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel, a sci-fi fantasy that has defied box office expectations stateside and has become a significant success in China. Salazar is a trailblazing Latina lead setting an example for the industry

Young filmmaker Chris Carmona, a proud Southeast LA native, stunned festival attendees with his debut feature, Bad Labor, a genre story about a day laborer in peril, which he produced for $7000 in the spirit of Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi. Carmona just completed a romcom web series for Mitú titled Instant Crush. Its six episodes will debut online  

Lastly, writer-director Gigi Saul Guerrero was recently named one of Variety’s 10 Latinxs to Watch in 2019. Guerrero premiered the feature-length version of her web series La Quinceañera at LALIFF. The gritty revenge story proved her outstanding directorial abilities ready to take on even more ambitious ventures.

Additionally, several Latin American titles that played at LALIFF last year found a home at HBO Latino reaching a mass audience in the U.S. Uruguayan soccer story Home Team, Colombia revenge drama Killing Jesus, Paraguayan adventure tale The Gold Seekers, Dominican biopic Veneno, The First Fall, and the Salvadoran short film My Treasure, are now available on HBO’s Spanish-language channel. Lastly, the Spanish documentary Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle by Gustavo Salmerón had a theatrical release stateside in the fall of 2018 and went on to win the Spotlight Award at the Cinema Eye Honors Awards, which recognize excellence in documentary filmmaking.

While LALIFF will continue to celebrate outstanding features and shorts from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, a significant focus going forward is to provide even more spaces and opportunities to U.S. Latinos, those born stateside with Latin American heritage, who still terribly underrepresented in the entertainment industry. U.S. Latinos are often lumped together with their Latin American counterparts creating a deceiving perception that progress has been made.

Whereas filmmakers in Latin America have access to government subsidies and incentives to finance their projects, U.S. Latinos struggle to break into an industry that doesn’t understand the subtitles of their experiences and how these are distinct from those of Cuarón, del Toro, Iñárritu, and other major names that have emerged from the region.  

To that end, LALIFF will continue to support the Youth Cinema Project (YCP) through its LALIFF Legacy section. YCP brings filmmaking into Southern California schools presenting the craft as a plausible and exciting career path for kids in the Latino community and beyond who may have otherwise never contemplated the possibility of working in entertainment. Their work then finds a home at LALIFF Legacy in a special screening event that demonstrate the relevance of the LALIFF ecosystem for filmmakers working professionally today and those that are coming behind them.

LALIFF 2019 will build on the foundations set into place last year to continue to become not only the epicenter for our creative endeavors to shine and be shared, but a key participant in the year-round conversations around meaningful inclusion and access.  

LALIFF’s Short Films Tell Hugely Relevant Stories in Bite-Size Form

Audiences seeking to explore bold and inspiring content created by Latinx filmmakers beyond the great selection of features at LALIFF, will find a treasure chest of stories and idiosyncratic visions in the festival’s Short Programs. Experimental works, hard-hitting dramas from rarely seen regions, and even animated narratives, comprise a curated compilation of the best short films created by or about Latinx talents in the last few years.

Through this selection of standout bite-size creations with hugely relevant stories, LALIFF is bridging the gap between its last edition and its return. Many of the short films included were made during LALIFF’s hiatus, thus this programs allows the festival to share them with audience and showcase some the best work Latinx filmmakers completed in this intermission.

One of the festival’s invaluable partners to bring incredible short form content to this year’s festivities is the Borscht Corporation, a non-profit redefining the way cinema is produced in a Miami. Borscht also puts together its own film festival every couple of years, an even that has garnered a cult following for their audacious programming and creative approach to production. For LALIFF, having Borscht be part of this new journey was a perfect match.

“It was so important to include Borscht Corp in LALIFF’s comeback year as they continuously represent Latinx creators and Latinx perspectives in prestigious film festivals throughout the world,” says LALIFF’s Senior Programmer, Dilcia Barrera.” Their ingenuity and approach is admirable and I hope their journey inspires other Latinx filmmakers to take chances, be bold and created art true to their own stories.”

Borscht is represented at the festival with a stunning lineup in a program titled Borscht Diez: 10 Year Anniversary Program. Apart from including Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins’ hypnotic short Chlorophyl, this look at a decade of Borscht-produced works also presents two animated gems by Brazilian-born Miami-based director Bernardo Britto. Both Yearbook and Glove premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and have cemented Britto as a singular force in multiple mediums.

Outside of the Borscht Diez package of wonders, one of the most anticipated directorial debuts playing at LALIFF is the short Good Crazy directed Rosa Salazar. The actress who’s had an immensely successful career in both film and television takes her first stab at writing and directing in a complex piece. Later this year Salazar will star in the title role of Robert Rodriguez’s new feature Alita: Battle Angel.

Distinct areas of Latin America are also present at LALIFF via award-winning shorts like Michael Flores’ My Treasure (Mi Tesoro), a touching tale about the aftermath of war from El Salvador; Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz’s Hombre, sharp take on masculinity from Chile; Carlos Morales’ Symphony of a Sad Sea (Sinfonía de un Mar Triste), centered on a young Mexican man escaping violence in his homeland; and João Paulo Miranda Maria’s Ant Killer (Feminas Formicida), a provocative look at a teenage girl’s personal battles.

Similarly, shorts from a Latinx points of view include the Boyle Heights-set The Town I Live In directed by Guadalupe Rosales & Matt Wolf; two documentaries on issues around immigration, Anna Barsan’s Libre and Lorena Manriquez & Marlene McCurtis’ Here I’ll Stay; and a hilarious comedy Diet & Exercise by Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez.

Undoubtedly, shorts at LALIFF are a sample platter of ides, techniques, and perspectives that complete an already balanced program.

Latinx Bands and DJs to Score the Festival as Part of LALIFF Music Series

Picture Credit: JC Olivera (Instagram: @jcolivera)

For the first time in its long history of championing emerging talent, LALIFF will include a new section focused on Latinx musical acts that are pushing boundaries and reinventing traditional genres with modern sensibilities.

Each night during the festival, the Hollywood Roosevelt will transform into the perfect stage for an eclectic collection of bands and DJs to share their culturally complex creations with eager attendees. This new addition to LALIFF’s rich program encourages discovery and aims to connect artists with potential audiences in order to build a supportive community for them to thrive.  

“Our vision for LALIFF Music is to advocate and celebrate brilliant Latinx Musicians, DJs and Artists,” says Alexis de la Rocha, LALIFF Music Programmer. “It is important for us to highlight diverse independent acts who are not only creating spectacular sounds, but who are changing the way  the world views Latinx performers.”

Opening Night guests will dance to the rhythm of psychedelic Cumbia courtesy of the East L.A.’s whimsical Tropa Magica, as well as the bilingual and comedic tunes of The Mexican Standoff and Eastside Luv’s resident DJ: Bsyde. To call it an unmissable lineup would be an understatement.

With film screenings now in full swing, Thursday night’s performances by Grammy-nominated Dominican singer-songwriter Alih Jey, accompanied by South American-inspired folk group Cuñao, and globally-minded Cumbia fusion band We the Folk will set the tone for the rest of the festival.

Weekend vibes kick off on Friday thanks to Sin Color, an ambitious South L.A. duo crafting electronic beats grounded on old school Latin musical styles, and Salvadoran-American DJ and singer Linda Nuves of Chulita Vinyl Club.

Prominent DJ José Galván, who is currently an on-air DJ at radio station KCRW, will be spinning Saturday night delighting listeners with his distinct brand of mixes. The utterly idiosyncratic Soul Jazz band Brainstory and Chicago Batman’s multinstrumentalist É Arenas will also join the party.

Straight from Mexico City, the Closing Night act, El Conjunto Nueva Ola is sure to bring dance-inducing tracks to cap off the LALIFF’s return with revitalized interpretations of classic songs on Sunday night.

As part of LALIFF’s evolution into the epicenter of Latinx entertainment, the new musical component is a revolutionary idea to open the platform beyond cinematic works. It’s a bold move on the organizers part, but one that wholeheartedly aligns with the inclusive mantra the festival preaches. The LALIFF Music Series will provide a soundtrack to the five-day celebration of the multitude of Latinx identities, interests, and influences.