The San Diego Traveler

San Diego Latino Film Festival

by Carole A. Lane on March 10th, 2007

The 14th Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival started this week, with the Thursday night Red Carpet premiere of Argentina’s hit comedy “Rolling Family“ or “Familia Rodante,” followed by a party at Luna Lounge.

This is Southern California’s longest running and most prestigious Latino film festival, expecting to draw over 20,000 guests this year. 

Garnering Oscar and Golden Globes nominations, Latino films have never been more popular internationally, and this festival is an absolute celebration of Spanish-language films from all over the world.  Countries represented by films in this year’s series (numbering somewhere between 140 and 185 films) include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Ecuador, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Venezuela and the U.S.

New this year

For the first time, the Latino Film Festival will cross the border into Tijuana, Mexico, showing Borders on Film, a celebration of current films confronting and crossing physical, cultural, spiritual and creative borders.  The films include a variety of feature narratives, feature documentaries, and short films. Click Borders on Film,  for the complete schedule of films.

Latino Animation will also be showcased for the first time, in a special exhibit called Cine’Mation.

Hecho en Chile, a retrospective of Chilean Films (1957-2006) will be presented by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  According to Media Arts Center San Diego,

This will be the first time the SDLFF will have a far-reaching celebration of new and classic Chilean Cinema that will include classic feature films, guest filmmakers, short films, a reception, and classic documentaries.

The Latino Film Festival will also honor and celebrate the launch of V-Me, the first national public television network designed to entertain, educate and inspire San Diego’s Latino families.

Returning by Popular Demand

Honoring its roots as a student film festival, the Latino Film Festival will again offer workshops for independent filmmakers interested in gaining first-hand experience in the art of film and video production from top professionals.  The youth series, Youth Visions will also return with a series of films written, directed, and produced by youth from across the country.

This is the second year of the Cine Gay Showcase, featuring Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender films.

For the fourth year, the festival will include an exhibition of Latino artistry entitled Arte Latino.

Celebs

Expect special guest appearances by Chilean director Miguel Littin, Mexican-born film actor Jacob Vargas (”Selena,” “Traffic,” “Get Shorty” and “Bobby”) and Argentinian actor Gaston Pauls, star of “Illuminados por El Fuego” (”Blessed by Fire”) and “Una Estrella y Dos Cafes” (”One Star and Two Coffees”).

The star of “Ugly Betty,” America Ferrera,  is also appearing at this year’s festival to promote “Muertas,” a film exploring the ongoing murders of young women in Juarez, Mexico.

The festival will continue through March 18 at the UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center.

A complete schedule of films to be shown can be downloaded in several formats from Media Arts Center San Diego.

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