The beauty about a film festival is the opportunity it brings to see dozens of worthwhile movies in one same place and at one same time. Instead of themes about taming dragons or girls who ruin each other’s weddings, the films at a festival, such as the Latino one that was just held in San Diego, discuss immigration, culture, aging, and likewise subjects that are real and important to anyone who watches them. That is why quite a few people from Los Angeles have made the trip south to San Diego each year of the now seventeen that the San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF) has been held.
Beyond the content of the films, this event, as most film festivals do, facilitates a connection between the viewer and the film’s creator. Directors, actors, and producers make themselves available to answer audience’s questions. Such was the case this past Sunday, for example, when Colombia born actress and director Paola Mendoza attended the screening of her Entre Nos (Between Us) accompanied by her mother and brother (whom the movie is about) and their extended families. A beautiful story of tenacity and the achievement of the American dream, Entre Nos is touching and inspiring. It will soon be out in theaters in New York and Miami, while Los Angeles may have to wait until its HBO Latino release in the fall. (There is always the chance that it may be screened at the Los Angeles Latin Film Festival later on this year of course.)
Big names grace film festivals sometimes. The SDLFF this year counted with Benjamin Bratt for the screening of La Mision, directed by his brother Peter Bratt. And film festivals have opening and closing galas where movie lovers can move forward the elbow-to-elbow eating of popcorn to actually hanging out with each other. Orquesta Rumbankete, a Salsa-with-a-twist-of-Timba band from Los Angeles, traveled to San Diego this Saturday to entertain at the closing down celebration of the 17th annual SDLFF.
While those who attended this year’s festival learned about Cuban junior boxing institutes in Sons of Cuba, about the process of two generations eliminating the age gap in Stages, about how 9/11 affected Latino families at ground zero in Dont Let Me Drown, and so many other human stories, they are already looking forward to more film festivals, some closer to home in LA and again next year in San Diego.
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