by Rebecca Romani

March 14, 2024

With a full week coming up, attendance is rising at this year’s San Diego Latino Film Festival, taking place at Mission Valley and the Digital Gym, through March 24. You can purchase tickets and passes online or at the box office. This year’s line-up is strong on diversity and stories. The special guest is Cheech Marin, and the featured country is Argentina, known for its beautifully shot films and complex stories.

What To See (Monday-Friday):

NB: Films screen in Mission Valley and at the Digital Gym, so check the schedule.

This week brings some thought-provoking documentaries, celebrations, and short films that open a wide window on the Latino experience.

For the kids:

¡Tu Cine! is curated for middle and high school students as part of the student outreach screenings. The list is impressive and covers a number of subjects from art to dance. There is also a curated shorts program. Some of the films, like Black Rio! are probably better for high schoolers due to language and subject matter.

The shorts program, Youth Visions, has a number of films sure to be of interest. In La Jefe, a Hoover High media arts project, the subject is Latino punk rock artists. Several films deal with the loss of loved ones such as Her Name was Merina by Ricardo Chin. Others, like a project from High Tech High, De Aqui y De Alla looks at assimilation and belonging and how Latino youth deal with them.

Other programming suitable for kids is the animated film, The Book of Life, and the Latin American shorts program which includes a q and a with the filmmakers.

Features Not To Miss:

Black Rio! Black Power! – A fascinating documentary about a movement and time period in Brazil that is little known in the US. The Movement Black Rio came up during the 70’s with its love for soul and ties to the American Black Power Movement. It was an amazing time for Afro-Brazilians with the music and dance parties echoing the desire for equality and less oppressive governments. As the documentary points out, the Brazilian military dictatorship, egged on by the US, developed a deep-seated fear of the movement, fearing it would lead to civil unrest, among other things. That fear led to government surveillance and oppression of the movement’s leaders and of Afro-Brazilians in general. The dynamic documentary lays all this out in highly informative interviews and intimate explorations of the music scene at the time.

Incomplete Lovers feels like a Jorge Amado romp, but it’s a comedic Mexican film about what happens when a man discovers his deceased wife’s diary and finds she has cheated on him with not one, but several men. A friend suggests he asks the men what happened, and the aggrieved husband takes off to visit Baja, one man at a time.

One documentary not to miss has its roots in San Diego and its spirit runs all along the border. The Mexican American performance artist, Guillermo Gomez Peña, and his troupe, La Pocha Nostra are the subjects of 100 Ways to Cross the Border– an unconventional, and frequently experimental, look at Gomez-Peña and his take on the cultural, artistic, and political shadow the US-Mexico border casts over the border region. Gomez-Peña was one of the founding members of the Border Arts Workshop/ Taller de Arte Fronterizo and has presented his critical border and cultural installations and projects both nationally and internationally for over 34 years. Gomez-Peña will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening.

Several shorts programs are coming up this week. Shorts are a great way to see a wide variety of pieces, and many are very well done.

Frontera Filmmakers Shorts:

This is a collection of shorts from both sides of the border, which take a well-crafted look at life lived between two countries. Don’t miss local Catherine Alderete’s La Paloma—Post-war crime in Coronado! Farewell by Nicole Valencia ponders the photo galleries we curate, while Emily Lerer weighs in from the northern border with Carly, which asks, what price media fame?

Hecho en USA:

The Ballad of Tita and the Machines takes up where Alex Rivera’s Sleep Dealer leaves off and asks the important question, who or what can really do the back-breaking work of agricultural labor? When elderly fieldworker, Tita, hires an AI humanoid to replace her, the results surprise the engineers.  

Ritmo Latino Shorts:

Love music? Then this is the showcase for you. Don’t miss Javier Bátiz, The Iconic Musician of Tijuana, the documentary about the Tijuana-based, Javier Bátiz, who influenced the roots of Tijuana and Chicano rock and roll, including Santana. Ghostly Labor is a beautifully shot and edited short which explores labor along the border through music and dance such as Tap and Son Jarocho.

The ¡Somos! LGBTQIA program is back with thought-provoking, dynamic films. My Queerceañera, a documentary, follows Karyna, a transgender immigrant, who dreams of celebrating her quinceañera. Told with compassion and humor, the documentary explores what could be possible for a queer Latinx teen. Manos Ajenas looks at what happens when a young woman with a disability (cerebral palsy) hires a sex worker for her first sexual experience. However, it doesn’t quite turn out as expected.

How to festival:  

Festival goers are strongly advised to get their tickets early and come early for seating as some films such as The Book of Life or Born in East LA may sell out. Parking is readily available at Mission Valley. Parking for the Digital Gym is either on the street or the associated parking garage for $5.

Looking ahead:

Arte Latino continues to the end of the festival as does the artists’ Mercado at the Mission Valley Mall. The Sonido Latino performances on stage at the Mall also continue until the end of the festival.

The Sabor Latino festival- featuring food, beer, and spirits takes place Saturday, March 23. The event features Latino chefs and breweries from both sides of the border.

Cheech Marin is this year’s special guest. Festival director Ethan Van Thillo told Vanguard Culture in a phone interview that the festival “has long wanted to collaborate” with Marin. The festival is honoring Marin for his dedication and support of Latino arts and film, and for his accomplishments in front of and behind the camera. Marin will be on hand to greet fans and for a Q&A at the screening of his most recent film, The Long Game, based on the true story of five Mexican American teenage caddies barred from playing golf at the club where they worked in the 1950’s. This is the Festival closing film on 03/23.

SDLFF winners will be announced on 03/23, at the closing night party, to be held at the Digital Gym location. The last day of screenings is 03/24.