Virtual Festival on September 25th – 26th
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) will co-host a virtual edition of the annual NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) Film Festival InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Festival, on Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26, 2020, powered by Seed&Spark. The line-up consists of two shorts programs and a presentation of Varda Bar-Kar’s feature documentary Fandango at the Wall, Executive Produced by Quincy Jones and Carlos Santana, which recently sold to HBO.
The two-day festival features local and international films by world-class emerging filmmakers from the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Spain, Chile, and the Dominican Republic and presents three world premieres, Alberto Belli’s After Life Vacation, Kate Romero’s Chronology, and Alyssa Toledo’s Lift Off, which stars Rudy Pankow, of Netflix’s Outer Banks (OBX) series.
The entertainment focused panels will take place on Friday, September 25th with film screenings and Q&As taking place on Saturday, September 26th. The film programs kick off with Shorts Program I – Figments, Fictions, and Fantasies, a collection of films that play on narratives, both real and surreal, that we create for ourselves and the things that we choose to believe when confronted with uncertainty.
For list of films and schedule CHECK HERE
The West Coast premiere of Fandango at the Wall, the inspiring story of a son jarocho concert that takes place simultaneously on both sides of the US/Mexico border, and the talented musicians who made it happen. The film is directed by Award-winning director and activist filmmaker Varda Bar-Kar, who has participated in Ryan Murphy’s HALF Director Mentorship Program and directed FOX’s hit show 9-1-1. Her documentary Big Voice was picked up by Netflix and broadcast on PBS winning a Bronze Telly Award.
The program includes DGA Student Grand Prize for Latino Directors prize winner Día De Las Carpas by João Dall’Stella, as well as new work by Cannes Lions Young Director Award winner Alberto Belli and previous Student Academy Awards semi-finalist Thais Drassinower. Belli is also one of the co-founders of LatinxDirectors.com, the first public database directory of Latinx episodic and film directors. In the spirit of NFMLA’s celebration of Latinx voices in entertainment, the event is also proud to be welcoming the pioneering organization as a partner.
NFMLA and AMPAS have formed many industry-wide alliances and partnerships to support this initiative. Panelist from various entertainment entities. For a full list of participating companies and panelist please CHECK HERE
“It has been amazing working with the Academy to showcase Latinx and Hispanic voices and they’ve really helped to elevate these storytellers,” says NFMLA Executive Director and Co-Founder Larry Laboe.
Another component of the Festival includes Academic delegations of film students from various schools around the country. “It is an honor to have these incredible institutions, their students and faculty represented at such an important NFMLA program. It’s powerful to see the community celebrating next-gen filmmakers in this way,” says NFMLA Outreach and Events Director Andrew Acedo.
The festival program concludes with Shorts Program II – Generational Echoes, a selection of narrative and documentary films centered on the relationships between generations and the meaningful effects that they have on one another.
A full list of official selections is available below.
Shorts
? Acuitzeramo (Dir. & Writ. Miguel Angel Caballero)
? After Life Vacation (Dir. Alberto Belli & Writ. Maria Brasero)
? Being In (Dir. & Writ. Victor M. Rocha)
? Chronology (Dir. Kate Romero & Writ. Valerie Hurt)
? Día de Las Carpas (Dir. João Dall’Stella & Writ. Marika Kato Hoag) ? Lift Off (Dir. & Writ. Alyssa Toledo)
? Manzanal (Dir. Jon Ayon)
? Nahjum (Dir. Sebastian Torres Greene, Manuel Del Valle & Writ. Sebastian Torres Greene, Manuel Del Valle, Erik Hirschhorn)
? Napo (Dir. Gustavo Ribeiro & Writ. Gustavo Ribeiro , Gabriela Antonia Rosa)
? Papi (Dir. & Writ. Gabriela Ortega)
? The Catch (Dir. Thais Drassinower & Writ. Camila Zavala)
? The Little Thief (Dir. Nicole Vanden Broeck & Writ. András Roder)
? Undocumented (Dir. & Writ. Fernanda Belmar)
? Water Dreams (Dir. & Writ. Domingo Pablo Ortiz)
Feature
? Fandango at the Wall (Dir. Varda Bar-Kar & Writ. Varda Bar-Kar, Kabir Sehgal)
Additional Festival details, tickets and passes are available at www.nfmla.org/Latinx2020
