By Mina Briseño
The 3rd Annual Mexican Film & Television Festival (MAFTF) is doing something that is long overdue “Celebrating the Mexican-Amerian/Chicana Filmmaker”. The celebration will be the culmination of their two day film festival that which takes place on Saturday 20 and the 21 at Harmony Gold in Hollywood with the Illustrious Awards closing the festival the evening of April 21.
“Mexican-American woman have always been in the forefront of the progress of our community, including film,” said Dr. Jose Luis Ruiz, President of the Mexican American Cultural Education Foundation, the entity that produces the MAFTF. “I felt it was time to thank and recognize this effort”.
Noted filmmaker Lourdes Portillo, a documentarian originally form Chihuahua, Mexico is epitome of the Chicana Filmmaker. Although her first films were focused on the experience of a Nicaraguan refugee of the 1972 Managua earthquake and the Argentinian story of The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, her work has been dedicated to documenting the stories of the Chicano/Mexican-American experience. Her projects have won Oscar and Emmy nominations and Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival among other accolades. A true pioneer in filmmaking and someone whose work cannot be forgotten for lack of attention.
Not many film festival dedicate space to Chicano filmmakers. The two that come to mind are the Chicano International Film Festival which has been around for 20 years in Los Angeles and the Xicano Independent Filmmakers Festival in Denver. However, neither have dedicated a whole festival to the Mexican-American filmmakers and in particular Chicana filmmakers.
Indeed, MAFTF decided it was time to shine a bright light on Mexican-American filmmakers and the stories they tell, to document their excellence and inform and showcase their work that will live on through generations.
It was with this in mind that MAFTF selected their 2024 Mexican-American/Chicana filmmaker honorees to recognize their artistry with the Illustrious Award. The Honorees are, Academy Award winning producer Yvette Merino for her work as a producer for Disney’s hit film Encanto, Patricia Riggen (Miracles From Heaven, Under the Same Moon)who started her career by winning a student Academy Award, has two major box office hit movies and just wrapped her film G20 in South Africa. Real Women Have Curves playwright and screenwriter Josefina Lopez, whose play is on the way to Broadway as I write this. Esperanza Esparza will receive the Pioneer award in recognition of her film work in the 70’s, and Academy Award nominated short documentary, Agueda Martinez: Our People, Our Country. The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Bel Hernandez Castillo (Latin Heat Magazine) for providing media coverage and documenting the expansion of Latinos in Hollywood for over 30 years.
Looking towards the future, there is a wave of upcoming Latina storytellers, directors, producers and writers. One of those new directors is Academy Award nominee America Ferrera who is currently in pre-production to direct her first film, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Eva Longoria’s first time out directing resulted in last year’s hit film Flamin’ Hot. Gigi Saul Guerrero another Mexican American via Canada, is fast becoming a talent in the horror genre. Selected as a filmmaker to watch by Variety Magazine, she directed the film Bingo Hell and various episodes of TV shows The Purge and Into the Dark. Linda Yvette Chavez’s writing career is on the fast track. Having co-written and produced the hit TV show Gentefied, she then went on to co-write the hit film Flamin’ Hot and just finished penning Ferrera’s directorial film.
The group of Latina filmmakers continues to grow and this year, over a dozen Latina directors, producers, writers whose projects are screening at this year at MAFTF. Among them, we are sure, are the filmmaking start of tomorrow.
MAFTF’s celebration of the Chicana/Mexican-American filmmaker, was long overdue. It’s an exciting time for women filmmakers, Latina filmmakers, Chicana/Mexican-American filmmakers…!Que Viva La Mujer!