Submission Deadline: Until January 15

The Mexican-American Cultural Foundation, a U.S. based non-profit organization dedicated to uplifting the Latino image in film and and television, will hold the 4th Edition of the Mexican-American Film and Television Festival  & Awards (MAFTF)  Saturday, April 19th and Sunday 20th, 2025, returning to its homebase at the Harmony Gold Theater in the heart of Hollywood. 

Filmmakers wishing to showcase their work at MAFTF are invited to submit now through our website  (www.MAFTF.org) where they can also find submission requirements. The final deadline for  submission is January 15^th , 2025. 

This year MAFTF continues its mission of amplifying the voices of Chicano/Mexican-American filmmakers with its theme Bridging Generations By Our Shared Roots: Somos De  Aquí Y Somos De Allá, which furthers their mission. The aim is to bridge the diverse experiences of Mexican born filmmakers and the Mexican-American/Chicano-born filmmakers, in an effort to showcase the nuanced difference and similarities which will foster communication, cultural awareness, and  shared identity through their projects.

The reality is, being Mexican-American fosters an opportunity to benefit from two rich cultures, shared experiences, and access to more perspectives that differ from one single  culture mindset. We are united, fierce, and resilient. 

MAFTF is a two day event with screenings of short films, features, and television content, culminating with the yearly Illustrious Award ceremony on April 20, 2025.  

“As we proudly announce the 2025 edition of the Mexican-American Film and Television Festival, I am reminded of the incredible success of our past three editions,” said MAFTF Director Dr. Jose-Luis Ruiz. “However, I am  also aware that despite our shared heritage, filmmakers from Mexico and  Chicano/Mexican-American filmmakers have not always collaborated as closely as we could. This year’s festival theme is a call to action – a reminder that by working together,  we can amplify our voices, share our stories, and celebrate our rich cultural diversity.

Dr. Ruiz, adds, “I am  excited to see the amazing work that will emerge from this collaboration and I invite all  filmmakers to join us on this journey.” 

MAFTF enlists a panel of judges consisting of Hollywood industry professionals who will be judging the submissions in the following categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Short Film, Best TV Series, Best Male Actor, Best  Female Actress, Best Screenplay For Film, and Best Screenplay For TV.  

Our Illustrious awards honor Industry leaders and honor those in the industry pushing to change the narrative and how they go  above and beyond. Our past honorees have included producer Yvett Merino (Encanto), directors Patricia Riggen (G20, Miracles from Heaven), Writer/Director Luis Valdez (La Bamba/Zoot Suit), Frank Rodriguez, Head of Distribution at Amazon (MGM), and Producer Moctesuma Esparza (Selena).

Tickets will be available for purchase in early 2025.  Check our website at www.MAFTF.org

The post 4th Edition of The Mexican-American Film and Television Festival & Awards April 26 – 27, 2025 at Harmony Gold first appeared on .

The three winning selections are Omni Loop, directed by Bernardo Britto; Sisters, written, produced, and performed by Marta Mendez, Valeria Maldonado, and Virginia Novello; and Papa Melissa, directed by Sophia Stieglitz and produced by Constanza Castro and Dominica Castro.

Over 78 Individual directors and independent production companies submitted a picture-locked cut in the final stages of production for consideration, and the top three were selected based on their unique directorial voice, cultural significance, and commercial viability. The funds will be divided based on each project’s post-production needs. Additionally, Amazon Studios will offer additional support to the filmmakers through mentoring and in-kind resources.

“We are very proud of the winners of our first ever LALIFF Works in Progress competition. We are grateful for Amazon Studios’ support and excited to see these filmmakers complete their feature films” shared LALIFF Artistic Director Diana Cadavid.

“At Amazon Studios we are committed to removing barriers to success at all points in the creative process,” said Jerome Core, Head of US & WW DEIA Content for Amazon Studios. “We are thrilled to join LALIFF in helping these talented creatives achieve their filmmaking goals.”

LALIFF Works In Progress finishing fund-winning films are:

Omni Loop – Diagnosed with a black hole growing inside her chest and stuck in a loop reliving the last five days of her life, a 55-year-old wife and mother from Miami, Florida decides to solve time travel in order to go back and be the person she always intended to be. Omni Loop stars Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) and Ayo Edebiri (Bottoms, The Bear). It is directed by Britto and produced by David Hinojosa and Benjamin Cohen. The film was part of the Sundance screenwriters and creative producer labs.

Sisters – Following in the footsteps of their beloved grandmother, three estranged Mexican-American sisters take an adventure through rural Mexico to complete a pilgrimage. Maria, having recently discovered she has cancer, reunites her sisters in hopes of finding a miracle. Yet, as she attempts to keep her illness a secret, the tension between Sofia and Lucia seems to interrupt any chance of healing. With no hiking experience or reception, the sisters encounter challenges at every turn, but with the help of a local botanist with a dark past, the magic of Mexico will fill them with adventure and hope. The disease and the pilgrimage will bind them together in an attempt to find healing, forgiveness, and an unexpected miracle. The film stars writers Mendez, Maldonado, and Novello as well as Cristo Fernandez (Ted Lasso).

Papá Melissa – At home Papá, on the street Melissa. Set in Mexico City, a family of street merchants reconcile with their father´s non-binary identity: exploring gender roles and contradictory emotions. Papá Melissa takes us through an internal battle of crashing beauty constructs and parental duties. Identifying as a two-spirited person, this father and family challenge society’s general beliefs. Directed by Stieglitz and produced by Constanza and Doménica Castro at 271 Films.

LALIFF Works in Progress is an expansion of Amazon Studios and LFI’s current relationship; Amazon Studios is the exclusive sponsor of LFI’s Youth Cinema Project (YCP) Alumni program for the 2022-2023 school year. The program connects over 300 students to hands-on access and learning opportunities across the industry, including mentoring and assistance with college applications. The sponsorship also includes the inaugural YCP Fellowship initiative, which provided 17 college-bound students with resources to make a high-quality short film to strengthen their film school applications and scholarship opportunities. The finished film screened at LALIFF in June.

Visit https://laliff.org/programs/wip/ for more details on the LALIFF Works in Progress program.

The post LALIFF and Amazon Studios Announce Works in Progress Finishing Fund Recipients first appeared on .

Stars, filmmakers and special guests came together this week on the purple carpet in Hollywood for the world premiere of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. The added appeal in this sequel, in addition to representation of the African American community worldwide for the millions of fans, is the expansion of the diversity of the cast, which includes a larger spectrum of skin tones and nationalities.

Tenoch Huerta Mejia plays Namor with a completely new take on the iconic character. Namor’s backstory is inspired by the ancient Aztecs. In Wakanda Namor does not com from Atlantis, rather from Talocon. In Aztec mythology Tl?l?c?n, is the name of a paradise occupied by Tl?loc, the god of rain. Huerta Mejia, who is of Aztec and of Purépecha origin, has talked about how representing the history of Mesoamerican culture matters, and that what the Marvel Comic Universe has done with the character was done with a lot of respect for the culture.

The star studded purple carpet feature the film’s stars in a we-are-the-world motif: Letitia Wright (Shuri), Lupita Nyong’o (War Dog Nakia) , Danai Gurira (Okoye), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Angela Bassett ( Queen Ramonda), Tenoch Huerta Mejía (Namor), Dominique Thorne (Riri Williams), Michaela Coel (Aneka), the first Venezuelan actor to join the MCU Alex Livinalli (Atumma) and Mexican actress Mabel Cadena (Namora), among others.

The creatives responsible for the creation of this diverse world tat is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that joined the premiere festivities wee: Ryan Coogler (directed by/screenplay by), Joe Robert Cole (screenplay by), Kevin Feige and Nate Moore (producers), Louis D’Esposito and Victoria Alonso (executive producers), and Ludwig Göransson (music by/score produced by/songs produced by). Also in attendance was global icon Rihanna, who returns to the airwaves this Friday with Lift Me Up, the lead single from the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever original soundtrack.

In Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 11, 2022. 

The post ‘Black Panther: Wakanda’ Forever Celebrates Diversity and World Premiere first appeared on .

Los Angeles, CA – Founder of the Latino Film Institute, Academy Award®-nominated actor Edward James Olmos recently announce the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) return for its 21st edition and with it the lineup of films and events that will take place June 1 – 5 at the iconic TCL Chinese Theater and TCL Chinese 6 in Hollywood, CA.

This year’s festival will open with the Disney Original Documentary Mija directed by Isabel Castro.  The documentary follows Doris Muñoz, who began a career in music talent management and met Jacks Haupt, an auspicious young singer, both share the ever-present guilt of being the first American-born members of their undocumented families.  

The closing night film will be Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Max’s Father of the Bride directed by Gaz Alazraki with an ensemble cast led by Oscar nominee Andy Garcia alongside Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona, Diego Boneta, Isabela Merced, and Chloe Fineman.

The full lineup includes feature films, short films, episodic, animation, master classes, and musical performances. 

“LALIFF Is proud to present a diverse line-up of Latino storytellers,” said Edward James Olmos, co-founder of LALIFF. “The festival has seen tremendous growth, with support from both the film industry and our audience, allowing us to showcase and nurture important voices that the world needs to hear.”

The festival program comprises 17 feature films from the US, Latin America and Canada. Every film and episodic will have an in-person screening, and a selection will be available online, on-demand, from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM on Sunday, June 5th.

Other noted films screening during the festival are A Place in the Field directed by Nicole Mejia (currently a fellow of the LALIFF Inclusion Fellowship), All Sorts directed by J. Rick Castañeda (who was part of LALIFF’s Official Selection in 2016 with Cement Suitcase), and Blood Red Ox directed by Rodrigo Bellot (his previous feature, Tu Me Manques, was Bolivia’s submission for the Goyas and the Academy Awards in 2019).

The documentary program includes My Two Voices directed by Lina Rodriguez (which premiered at this year’s Berlinale as part of the Forum section); Comala, directed by Gian Cassini (an official selection by the Toronto, Morelia and Guadalajara Film Festivals), Pepe Serna: Life is Art directed by Luis Reyes, about the groundbreaking Mexican-American character actor Pepe Serna and whose body of work proves the lasting power and importance of character actors; and What We Leave Behind directed by Iliana Sosa, that tells the story of her grandfather’s lifetime of bus rides across the border to visit his children in the U.S. 

“You will find some of the boldest films, TV series and music, with 50% of the program directed by women,” said Diana Cadavid, LALIFF’s Festival Director. “We offer a platform for our artists to connect with a diverse and multicultural audience, as well as with important players in the industry,” said Diana Cadavid, LALIFF’s Festival Director. 

The Latinx inclusion Fellowship Series, sponsored by Netflix, will include five Afro Latino and five Indigenous Latino filmmakers. All ten filmmakers will be premiering their short films at LALIFF 2022.

Celebration animation this year the festival includes the Latino Film Institute’s premiere of two animated series from Mexico and the Cafecito Talks, conversations that cover a broad spectrum of perspectives in the animation world, featuring industry leaders and diverse talent and artists.

The festival has three juried competitions in the Live Action Short, Animated Short and Short Episodic categories.

The LALIFF Music 5th edition will highlight exceptional and diverse Latino/a talent, music panels, networking lounges, and celebrate the art and sound. 

LALIFF this year will collaborate with AltaMed Health Services to celebrate the work of Harry Gamboa Jr., Chicano artist (photographer, performance artist, director), author, educator, and currently the Director of the Photo/Media Program at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). The festival will showcase a selection of his photography and video artwork, spanning over six decades.

LALIFF’s Industry Days includes one on one meetings and networking events, a series of panels of industry talks covering a wide variety of topics. 

The two-day Legacy event, LALIFF’s student film festival, returns with over 100 films shot and produced by students of the Youth Cinema Project and will include student film premieres, panels, Q&As, special events and workshops, and screenings.

For more information and listing of sponsors for the festival For the LALIFF full programming slate, schedule and sponsor listing please visit www.laliff.org.Tickets are now available to purchase through the festival’s site here.

The post LALIFF 21st Edition: From Studio Films to Youth Cinema Projects first appeared on .

Apply at HERE

Dr. Jose-Luis Ruiz, president of the Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation, announced the opening of the submission period for the inaugural Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation Filmmaker Grant. 

MACEF was founded with a mission to address the negative image of  Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who have been largely portrayed in the media through degrading stereotypes such as “criminals”, “the help”, “lazy”, “illegal invaders” and “uneducated”, with devastating effects to the community. The MACEF board has decided that it is an important part of our mission to promote positive media content, as well as foster future Mexican-American, Chicana/o filmmakers to proactively change the narrative. 

As films, TV and media content online and on social media have a tremendous impact on the narrative, perception, and reputation of our community, MACEF has chosen to promote positive content and encourage future Mexican-American filmmakers to proactively change the narrative. 

The Mexican-American Film/Television Festival, grants and awards will serve to promote a more accurate portrayal, showing Mexican-Americans and Chicanas/os as a valuable part of American society. 

MACEF’S three-pronged approach is as follows: 

1. The Mexican-American Film/Television Festival, Grants and Awards, a yearly event celebrating and sponsoring films, television, and streaming content made by Mexican-American/Chicana/os with positive and true-to-life stories.  

2. The MACEF Filmmaker Scholarship which will further the education of aspiring filmmakers who want to enter the film/television industry.   

3. The MACEF Filmmaker Grant.

Eligibility and Submissions Process for the MACEF Film Grant

MACEF Advisory Board members Alex Nogales, chairman and CEO emeritus of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and Naibe Reynoso, an Emmy-Award winning journalist and author and publisher of Contodo Press, will oversee the selection process.  

Eligibility:   Individuals already in the industry or starting out who need funds to finish their short film, a feature-length film, or TV pilot to put it on the market. Film school students working on their thesis film are encouraged to apply. Filmmakers of any background can apply, however, the production team must include at least one producer, writer, or director, and one main actor who identifies as Mexican-American or Chicana/o, of any generation or mixed ethnicity. 

Submissions: To qualify for this grant the applicant must submit the script of the short film, feature-length film, or TV pilot, and be in an advanced stage of pre-production, production, or post-production. Qualifying films will be assessed by quality of the story, culturally positive, the production team assembled, and the viability of the project. Non-stereotypical stories will have priority. 

Grantees will have their film highlighted at the First Annual Mexican-American Film/Television Festival in May of 2022. 

Submission Period:  April 1 – June 15, 2021

Applications will be accepted between April 1 and June 15, 2021. Those chosen to receive the grant will be announced July 15 and the award amount will be dispersed at an August 2021 MACEF Reception. Grantees must present their film or television program at the first Mexican-American Film/Television Festival scheduled for May of 2022. 

MACEF’s core goal is to spotlight the contributions the Mexican-American culture and people have given to America. We offer a free library of live and online seminars, grants and scholarships to inspire pride and motivate success, specifically designed for Mexican immigrants, Mexican-Americans, Chicanos and any person wishing to embrace diversity and progress.

For more information on how to apply: https://www.mexicanamericancef.org under Scholarships & Grants.

The post Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation Offers Filmmaker Grants first appeared on .

Latin Heat News

This year’s Sundance Film Festival will run from Jan. 28 through Feb. 3. and will be a combination of a virtual experience with some in-person satellite film screenings. Tickets for the individual screening will be $15 while a full festival pass will be $350.

Due to the pandemic, the festival will take place mainly online but also offer some in-person screenings in arthouse theatres, drive-ins, and parking lots located in over 20 cities nationwide and will all adhere to all local COVID-19 protocols, according to organizers.

The festival pass grants access to premiere screenings that include an interactive waiting room experience and live question-and-answer sessions with the film cast and crew afterwards, as well as on-demand second screenings. The festival pass also gives full access to on-demand programs like Award Winners, New Frontier, Short Films, and Indie Series

The in-person screening programs vary in participating cities, with Honolulu, Hawaii listing two and Tulsa, Oklahoma 13. Also offering in-person shows are Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Iowa City, Key West, Louisville, Memphis, Minneapolis, Montclair, Nashville, New Orleans, Pasadena, San Francisco, San Juan, and Tucson.

To check out the screening program in each city CLICK HERE.

The day pass costs $75 and grants access to any program available to the full festival pass but only for one day.

Award Winners Pass will allow you to catch the 32 award-winning films in our program all in one pass for $100.

To purchase tickets, CLICK HERE.

The post Sundance Fest Tickets Go On Sale first appeared on .

Netflix To Sponsor In This Inaugural Year

The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) announced today the launch of LALIFF’s Inclusion Fellowship Series. This newly established program will focus on building a more inclusive and equitable industry for all members of the Latinx community. Each year, the fellowship will champion an underrepresented group from within the Latinx community.

For its inaugural year, Netflix is sponsoring the program for five visionary directors who identify as Afro Latino to create a short film that will have its world premiere at LALIFF 2021.

Academy Award®-nominated actor and co-founder of LALIFF and the Latino Film Institute, Edward James Olmos says, “For Latino representation in Hollywood to change, we need to create funding and distribution opportunities for our storytellers. The LALIFF Inclusion Fellowship is exactly that. For our first fellowship, we are proud to highlight Afro Latino voices because Black lives are Latino lives.”

“Netflix is excited to partner with LALIFF in helping to foster the next generation of Latino talent,” said Pete Corona, Manager of Original Series at Netflix. “Discovering new voices behind the camera will lead to bringing fresh and diverse perspectives in front of the camera, and we can’t wait to see what these new filmmakers will create.”

Each filmmaker will receive individualized mentorship from an established filmmaker, one-on-one meetings with industry leaders from production to distribution and various networking opportunities. The completed films will premiere as part of a special program during the 2021 version of LALIFF, where the fellows will also have the opportunity to participate in the festival’s Industry Week, to further develop their careers and gain industry access needed to succeed as working artists. Netflix will also offer support to the selected group of fellows throughout the development of their films.LALIFF’s Inclusion Fellowship series will award a $20,000 grant to each of the five selected fellows for the production of a short. For the full requirements, please visit: https://latinofilm.org/fellowship/. The call for submissions is now open and the deadline is October 14, 2020. The selected filmmakers will work with their mentors and partnered organizations from November 16 through April 16, 2021.

The post LALIFF Launches Latinx Inclusion Fellowship Series first appeared on .

The 18th edition of the festival will present films in the following sections: Special Presentations, Feature Films, Cinema’s Legacy, Episodic and Short Film sections. AFI DOCS 2020 runs June 17–21, with films available to view on DOCS.AFI.com. The Washington Post and Meet the Press return as the Primary Media Partners.

AFI DOCS’ program of Special Presentations includes the previously announced Opening Night film Boys State and Closing Night film Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President, as well as the Centerpiece Screening of The Fight. Additional titles include Portraits and Dreams and Ron Howard’s Rebuilding Paradise.

This year’s diverse Features section explores themes and subjects ranging from the intersectionality of race, gender and violence in the Minneapolis police department (Women in Blue); the devastating effects of immigration policies under the current administration (Blood on the Wall); the importance of reclaiming female sexuality (Dilemma of Desire); and Asian Americans’ experience gaining full participation in the American political process (First Vote).

Academy Award®-winners Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar return to AFI DOCS with their newest film, 9TO5: The Story of a Movement, which chronicles the 1970s movement for gender equality in the workplace.

Now in its second year at AFI DOCS, the Cinema’s Legacy program showcases three classic documentaries focusing on the fight for full participation and access to our country’s political system, and the importance of making sure all voices are heard. This year’s Cinema’s Legacy selections include Freedom of My Mind (1994), Nationtime – Gary (1972), and Sisters of ’77 (2005).

The Episodic section features multi-part documentaries following the past, present, and future of US politics, particularly women’s importance in it, from the Women’s Suffrage Movement of the early 20th century to the recent historic rise of women of color running for office, including And She Could Be Next, City So Real, and The Vote. 

The 2020 Guggenheim Symposium will honor Academy Award^®-winning actor and filmmaker Lee Grant. Each year, the AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim Symposium honors a master of the nonfiction art form. This year’s virtual Symposium will include a screening of Grant’s Academy Award^®-winning documentary film Down and Out in America (1986) and an in-depth conversation with Grant on June 19, 2020, moderated by author and Washington Post chief film critic Ann Hornaday.

Passes to AFI DOCS 2020 are now available to AFI members and the public at docs.afi.com/passes. Tickets will be available on June 10. To become an AFI member, visit AFI.com/join.

AFI DOCS 2020 PROGRAM

OPENING NIGHT SCREENING – Wednesday, June 17

Boys State:  DIRS Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine.  PRODS Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss.  USA. 

Each year the American Legion hosts a “civics camp” for high school students (separated by gender) in states across the country, where attendees are tasked with creating a mock government and spend the week campaigning for leadership and party platforms.

Winner of the Sundance U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize.

CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING – Sunday, June 21

Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President:  DIR Mary Wharton.  PRODS Chris Farrell and Dave Kirkpatrick.  USA.

This fascinating documentary charts the mostly forgotten story of how Carter, a lover of all types of music, forged a tight bond with musicians Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton and others, and who this artist helped gave him a crucial boost in the Democratic primaries.

CENTERPIECE SCREENING – Friday, June 19

The Fright:  DIRS Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman and Eli Despres.  PRODS Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres, Maya Seidler, Peggy Wexler and Kerry Washington.  USA.

Celebrating 100 years of the ACLU, THE FIGHT shows how this group of committed lawyers has made a huge difference in protecting our rights and in the daily lives of countless Americans. Winner of the Sundance U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking.

Rebuiliding Paradise:  DIR Ron Howard.  PRODS Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Xan Parker, Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes.  USA.

In the aftermath of The Camp Fire, California’s deadliest and most destructive fire in history, displaced over 50,000 residents, Ron Howard’s documentary follows a group of residents as they struggle and work together to rebuild their lives and community.

2020 GUGGENHEIM SYMPOSIUM

HONORING LEE GRANT

For the 2020 Guggenheim Symposium, Academy Award®-winning actor and documentary director Lee Grant (Down and Out in America and Confronting the Crisis: Childcare in America) will be featured in an in-depth conversation with Washington Post Chief Film Critic Ann Hornaday.

FEATURE FILMS

Among the 18 diverse documentary films being featured in this festival, are three films of great interest to us.

Blood on the Wall:  DIRS Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested.  PRODS Sebastian Junger, Nick Quested and Peter Goetz.  USA.

Immigration under the current administration is indelibly marked by powerful media images of migrant caravans, thousands of Central American families walking hundreds of miles through Mexico desperate to attain asylum in the United States. Acclaimed filmmaker Sebastian Junger (Academy Award®-nominated RESTREPO and KORENGAL) reteams with Nick Quested (Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS) and National Geographic to chronicle the course of events that would transform Acapulco from tourist destination to murder capital in less than a decade.

Mirachle Fishing:  DIR Miles Hargrove CODIR Christopher Birge.  PRODS Miles Hargrove, Christopher Birge and Eric F. Martin.  USA.

So, your dad has been kidnapped by a rebel group and you are forced to negotiate for his release… what do you do? Well, if you’re Miles Hargrove, you make a video diary. Twenty-five years later, with the gift of hindsight, he returned to these diaries to tell this incredible story. In 1994, the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) kidnapped journalist Tom Hargrove from the family home in Cali, Columbia, leaving his wife and two sons to pay the ransom. With the help of their friends, including a hostage negotiator, FBI agent, and their 18-year-old neighbor, the group navigated conditions for his expected release. Their story, impeccably captured by a then state-of-the-art Video8 camcorder, shows a family in crisis, yearning for normalcy and finding moments of hope and kindness amidst the horror.

A Thousand Cuts:  DIR Ramona S. Diaz.  PRODS Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburn.  USA.

Upon taking power in 2016, the newly elected populist president Rodrigo Duterte promised a relentless war on drugs. Brushing aside the rule of law and due process, his campaign resulted in thousands of deaths. Another constitutional casualty of Duterte’s rule has been freedom of the press.

Co-founded by journalist Maria Ressa in 2012, the online site Rappler is one of the Philippine’s most popular news outlets and a thorn in Duterte’s side. The stakes are raised when Rappler is cited as a fake news outlet and targeted for possible closure, followed by Ressa’s arrest on specious charges.

Set against the backdrop of the country’s 2019 midterm elections, this stirring documentary shows what happens when a strongman president threatens democratic norms. But Ressa, part of a group honored as Time’s Person of the Year 2018, is not backing down: “We, at Rappler, we will not duck. We will not hide. We will hold the line.”

Along with our films of interest, is a complete list of the featured festival films. For full summary and further information of films, please visit DOCS.AFI.com

9To5: The Story of a Movement:  DIRS Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar.  PRODS Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar.  USA.

Bully. Coward. Victom. The Story of Roy Cohn:  DIR Ivy Meeropol.  PRODS Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Ivy Meerpool.  USA.

Coded Bias:  DIR Shalini Kantayya.  PROD Shalini Kantayya.  USA, UK, China.

Dads:  DIR Bryce Dallas Howard.  PRODS: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Michael Rosenberg, Justin Wilkes, Bryce Dallas Howard and Walter Matteson.  USA.

Dilema of Desire:  DIR Maria Finitzo.  PRODS Maria Finitzo, Cynthia Kane and Diane Quon.  USA.

Down and Out in America (1986):  DIR Lee Grant.  PRODS Milton Justice and Joseph Feury.  USA.

First Vote:  DIR Yi Chen.  PROD Yi Chen.  USA.

Freedia Got a Gun:  DIR Chris McKim.  PRODS Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato and Chris McKim.  USA.

The Letter:  DIRS Maia Lekow and Christopher King.  PRODS Maia Lekow and Christopher King.  Kenya.

One Life:  DIR Josh Turnbow.  PRODS Akshay M. Shah and Robert Dvoran.  USA.

The Reason I Jump:  DIR Jerry Rothwell.  PRODS Al Morrow, Stevie Lee and Jeremy Dear.  UK.

Saudi Runaway:  DIR Susanne Regina Meures.  PROD Christian Frei.  Switzerland.

Sine Me a Song:  DIR Thomas Balmès.  PROD Thomas Balmès.  France, Germany, Switzerland.

Stockon on My Mind:  DIR Marc Levin.  PRODS Cassius Michael Kim and Mike Marangu.  USA.

Through the Night:  DIR Loira Limbal.  PRODS Jameka Autry and Loira Limbal.  USA.

The post AFI DOCS 2020 Film Festival Goes Virtual first appeared on .