Films about New York’s Latin jazz, a new generation of crime writers in the U.S.-Mexico border, an Afro-Latina running for the Colombian presidency and colorism in Mexico are among the latest round of projects funded by Latino Public Broadcasting. 

The projects explore a variety of stories, with a focus on the diversity of Latino arts and recent reports on the changing political scene in the U.S. and throughout Latin America, according to LPB. They consist of broadcast and digital media projects that will receive monies from three different funds of the nonprofit, which in turn is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Of the 16 selections, three are supported by the Current Issues Fund and the rest by the Public Media Content and Digital Media funds.

Arts programs include The Music Never Ends, a crash course on the history of the Latin jazz scene in the Big Apple featuring the Mambo Legends Orchestra; Border Noir, about the new wave of crime writers chronicling life in the U.S./Mexico border; and Paquito D’Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall, a biography of the

Cuban-born jazz legend. 

Other projects are Igualada, about a young Afro-Latina community activist running for the presidency in Colombia; Undocumented Justice, a portrait of the first undocumented attorney to argue a case before the Supreme Court; and Mexico’s Reckoning: A History of Colorism, about the country’s burgeoning movement for racial justice.

“We are very proud to support the extraordinary work of these filmmakers who truly represent the amazing diversity within our Latino creative community,” says Sandie Viquez Pedlow, LPB executive director. “These productions also represent a vital step in addressing the dismal lack of Latino voices in today’s media; our passion and our mission (are) to correct that imbalance. These new projects remind us that there is an endless number of stories about our community that need to be told and we can’t wait to share them with viewers nationally.”

The following is the complete list of projects:

BROADCAST

Untitled Prison Hunger Strike Film
Producer and co-director: JoeBill Muñoz
Funding: Current Issues Fund
Three men look to build new lives after surviving decades of solitary confinement in California prisons. But as time passes, memories of their past still grip them. This film tells how these men and 30,000 others overcome impossible odds and orchestrate a hunger strike to abolish indefinite solitary confinement.

Igualada
Producer: Juan Yepes; director: Juan Mejia
Funding: Current Issues Fund
As Colombia’s streets burn with unrest, one determined woman dares to challenge an entrenched political establishment on the country’s biggest stage. Against all odds, Francia Márquez, an Afro-Latina rural community activist, has launched a presidential campaign where her uncompromising appeal for justice inspires a country by allowing it to dream.

Untitled
Producer/director: Bernardo Ruiz; producer: Gabriela Alcalde
Funding: Current Issues Fund
Part procedural, part true-crime thriller, this documentary tells the story of a history-making collaboration between a forensic scientist from Texas and a group of Latin American students, whose work to identifying the bodies of missing migrants will ultimately change the course of forensic science and international human rights.

Border Noir
Producer: Isaac Artenstein; director: Alejandro Meter
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
A cinematic journey along the U.S.-Mexico border featuring crime writers from both sides, working in a popular genre that reflects multiple and nuanced perspectives about immigration, sexuality, national identity, and globalization, while embracing a search for authenticity and justice.

Mexico’s Reckoning: A History of Colorism
Director/producer: Phillip Rodriguez
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
Helmed by the filmmaker of the docs The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo and Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle, the film will follow the movement for racial justice in Mexico, capturing the clashes between the overwhelmingly white elites who deny the severity–or even existence–of Mexican racism, and the activists on the ground who are leading the movement to unmask and dismantle it.

The Music Never Ends
Executive producer and director: Mari Keiko Gonzalez; executive producer: Lorraine Galvis
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
This new musical documentary follows The Mambo Legends Orchestra, some of whose members are also former members of the legendary Tito Puente Orchestra. Equal parts love letter and history lesson, the film traces the cultural significance of Afro-Cuban jazz–a fusion of the big band sound of the jazz era with Cuban music created in New York City in the 1940s.

Paquito D’Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall
Producer and director: Juan Mandelbaum
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
A look at the life of jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera and his extraordinary journey from child prodigy in Havana, Cuba, to 14-time Grammy-winning international music artist and composer.

The Game Plan
Producer and director: Mylène Moreno
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
The feature-length doc follows young female student-athletes who are leveraging their soccer skills to launch their lives. Pre-Covid-19, the female futbolistas of Orange County’s Fullerton College were already swimming against the tide; since the pandemic, their obstacles have been fully exposed.

TheyDream
Producer and director: William Caballero
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
The animated documentary is a time capsule about the filmmaker’s Puerto Rican-American family. It uses motion-capture technology to creatively visualize the family’s various realities, setbacks, hopes and dreams.

Undocumented Justice
Director and producer: Marlene (Mo) Morris; co-producer: Lidieth Arevalo
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
When ICE threatens 700,000 fellow DREAMers, Luis Cortes Romero fights back–and becomes the first undocumented attorney to argue a case before the Supreme Court.

American Sons
Director and cinematographer: Andrew Gonzales; producer: Laura Varela
Funding: Public Media Content Fund
A decade after the well-documented death of Corporal Jorge Villarreal during the War in Afghanistan, his closest Marine brothers are fighting their toughest battle yet–surviving in the civilian world.

DIGITAL MEDIA

Bertie the Brilliant
Producer and director: Gabriela Garcia Medina
Funding: Digital Media Fund
A young boy takes on chores and small jobs around his neighborhood to raise money for a ticket to a magic show. But when his grandmother loses her job, he is faced with a difficult decision.

Hair
Producer: Brian Khan; co-creators: Lorena Diaz and Wendy Mateo
Funding: Digital Media Fund
When everything beautiful fades, the only thing left is the joy you shared in the community. This is a story about a village contained in a Latina beauty salon, where hair–and spirits–are lifted.

The Kill Floor
Producer, director and writer: Carlos Avila
Funding: Digital Media Fund
When the Covid-19 pandemic engulfs a meatpacking plant in his rural hometown, a young Latino reporter returns to uncover the urgent and deadly circumstances threatening the plant’s workers – including his father.

First It Was My Dream
Creator and cinematographer: Dylan Golden
Funding: Digital Media Fund
After the unexpected closing of New York City’s Mendez boxing gym, Andy Dominguez, an undocumented fighter from Mexico, tries to prove he’s worthy of a World Title shot despite his status.

Punk Is Punk
Producer, director and writer: Kimberly Bautista
Funding: Digital Media Fund
A punk rocker gender-queer parent is hesitant when their child wants a quinceañera, a gender-normative gathering that sets the stage for them to face their estranged, old-school father.

The post Latino Public Broadcasting Funds 16 New Projects first appeared on .

The Imagen Foundation announced today 93 nominations in 18 categories from informational programming and on-air advertising to outstanding individual performances, and primetime programming in film and television. The 34^th Annual Imagen Awards will be presented Saturday, August 10th, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Among the nominees, the Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) also announced three of its LPB funded films are among the nominees: John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway; Bernard Ruiz’s documentary, Harvest Season, and Emilio and Gloria Estefan: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

The Imagen Foundation has honored and celebrated diversity in the entertainment industry for over 30 years. The award show has acknowledged actors, studios, executives, and many more for their exceptional performances and contributions in Hollywood.

The Imagen Awards nominees are determined by an independent panel of entertainment industry executives and Latino community leaders.

The Theatrical Motion Pictures Nominees are: 

Best Feature Film

• ¡He Matado a mi Marido! (HM Movie)
• Instant Family (Paramount Pictures)
• Monsters and Men (NEON/Moviepass Films)
• Pain and Glory (El Deseo/Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Director

• Sean Anders, Instant Family (Paramount Pictures)
• Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory (El Deseo/Sony Pictures Classics)
• Reinaldo Marcus Green, Monsters and Men (NEON/Moviepass Films)

Best Actor – Feature Film

• Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory (El Deseo/Sony Pictures Classics)
• Joe Camareno, Tin Holiday (Celtino Entertainment Group (CEG))
• Andy Garcia, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Universal Pictures)
• Anthony Ramos, Monsters and Men (NEON/Moviepass Films)

Best Actress – Feature Film

• Jasmine Cephas Jones, Monsters and Men (NEON/Moviepass Films)
• Jennifer Lopez, Second Act (STX Entertainment)
• Isabela Moner, Instant Family (Paramount Pictures)
• Rosa Salazar, Alita: Battle Angel (20th Century Fox)

The Television Nominees are:

Best Primetime Program – Drama

• How To Get Away With Murder (ABC; ABC Studios)
• Magnum P.I. (CBS; CBS Television Studios, Universal Television, Perfect Storm Entertainment, Davis Entertainment, 101st Street Productions)
• Manifest (NBC; Jeff Rake Productions and Compari Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television)
• Pose (FX Networks; Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions)
• Queen of the South (USA Network; Fox 21 Television Studios and UCP)
• Shades of Blue (NBC; Universal Television in association with Nuyorican Productions, EGTV, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Jack Orman Productions)

Best Primetime Program – Comedy

• Abby’s (NBC; Universal Television in Association with Waila Inc., Fremulon, 3 Arts Entertainment)
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC; Universal Television in association with Fremulon, Dr. Goor Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment)
• Jane the Virgin (CW; CBS Television Studios)
• On My Block (Netflix)
• One Day at a Time (Netflix; Sony Pictures Television for Netflix)
• Superstore (NBC; Universal Television in association with Spitzer Holding Company, and The District)

Best Primetime Program – Specials, Movies & Limited Series

• Emilio & Gloria Estefan: Library of Congress Gershwin for Popular Song (PBS; WETA, Bounce, the Library of Congress, Latino Public Broadcasting)
• Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias: One Show Fits All (Netflix; Triage Entertainment)
• Icebox (HBO; HBO Films in association with Gracie Films and Endeavor Content)

Best Actor – Television 

• Gabriel Chavarria, The Purge (USA Network; Blumhouse Television and UCP (Universal Content Production))
• Jason Genao, On My Block (Netflix)
• Jay Hernandez, Magnum P.I. (CBS; CBS Television Studios, Universal Television, Perfect Storm Entertainment, Davis Entertainment, 101st Street Productions)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda, DuckTales (Disney Channel; Disney Television Animation)
• JD Pardo, Mayans M.C. (FX Networks; Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions)
• Jon Seda, Chicago P.D. (NBC; Wolf Entertainment in association with Universal Television)
• Diego Tinoco, On My Block (Netflix)

Best Actress – Television

• Alice Braga, Queen of the South (USA Network; Fox 21 Television Studios and UCP)
• America Ferrera, Superstore (NBC; Universal Television in association with Spitzer Holding Company, and The District)
• Diane Guerrero, Doom Patrol (DC Streaming Network; Warner Bros.)
• Lela Loren, Power (STARZ; End of Episode, Inc., Atmosphere Entertainment MM, LLC, G-Unit Film & Television, Inc. and CBS Television Studios in association with Starz Originals)
• Justina Machado, One Day at a Time (Netflix; Sony Pictures Television for Netflix)
• Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin (CW; CBS Television Studios)
• Mj Rodriguez, Pose (FX Networks; Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions)

Best Supporting Actor – Television

• Ser Anzoategui, Vida (STARZ; Big Beach and Chingona Productions in association with Starz Originals)
• Angel Bismark Curiel, Pose (FX Networks; Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions)
• Omar Leyva, Icebox (HBO; HBO Films in association with Gracie Films and Endeavor Content)
• Julio Macias, On My Block (Netflix; Sony Pictures Television for Netflix)
• Hemky Madera, Queen of the South (USA Network; Fox 21 Television Studios and UCP)
• Danny Pino, Mayans M.C. (FX Networks; Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions)
• Wilmer Valderrama, NCIS (CBS; CBS Television Studios)

Best Supporting Actress – Television 

• Carla Baratta, Mayans M.C. (FX Networks; Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions)
• Stephanie Beatriz, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC; Universal Television in association with Fremulon, Dr. Goor Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment)
• Melissa Fumero, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC; Universal Television in association with Fremulon, Dr. Goor Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment)
• Isabella Gomez, One Day at a Time (Netflix; Sony Pictures Television for Netflix)
• Natalie Morales, Room 104 (HBO; HBO Entertainment in association with Duplass Brothers Productions)
• Rita Moreno, One Day at a Time (Netflix; Sony Pictures Television for Netflix)
• Genesis Rodriguez, Icebox (HBO; HBO Films in association with Gracie Films and Endeavor Content)

Best Young Actor – Television 

• Anthony Gonzalez, Icebox (HBO; HBO Films in association with Gracie Films and Endeavor Content)
• Elias Janssen, Jane the Virgin (CW; CBS Television Studios)
• Jenna Ortega, Elena of Avalor (Disney Junior Disney Television Animation)
• Jenna Ortega, Stuck in the Middle (Disney Channel; It’s a Laugh Productions)
• Marcel Ruiz, One Day at a Time (Netflix; Sony Pictures Television for Netflix)

Best Variety or Reality Show

• Hip-Hop Houdini (Fuse; 7Beyond)
• Last Week Tonight (HBO; HBO Entertainment in association with Sixteen String Jack Productions and Avalon Television)
• Mexican Dynasties (Bravo; Shed Media and Campanario Entertainment)
• Mira Quien Baila: All Stars (Univision; Endemol Shine Boomdog, Univision Studios)
• Pati’s Mexican Table (WETA Washington, DC / American Public Television; Mexican Table, LLC, WETA Washington, DC, FRANK. and Switchblade)
• World of Dance (NBC; Universal Television Alternative Studio in association with Nuyorican Productions and World of Dance)

Best Children’s Programming

• DuckTales (Disney Channel; Disney Television Animation)
• Elena of Avalor (Disney Junior; Disney Television Animation)
• The Loud House (Nickelodeon)
• Sesame Street (HBO; Sesame Street Workshop)
• Victor and Valentino (Cartoon Network; Cartoon Network Studios)

Additional Nominees are: 

Best Documentary

• A Sacred Journey (Higher Ground Entertainment)
• America ReFramed: Pyne Poynt (WORLD Channel; American Documentary)
• Great Performances: John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway (PBS; NGL Studios & Diamante Content Production in association with THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET & Latino Public Broadcasting)
• Harvest Season (PBS/Independent Lens; Quiet Pictures)
• The Sentence (HBO; Park Pictures in association with HBO Documentary Films)
• Wonders of Mexico (PBS; PBS and BBC co-production)

Best Informational Program (Local or National)

• Breaking Big (PBS; Ozy Media)
• Pati’s Mexican Table (WETA Washington, DC / American Public Television; Mexican Table, LLC, WETA Washington, DC, FRANK. and Switchblade)
• Univision 34: Mujeres en el Poder/Women in Power (Univision 34)
• VICE (HBO; HBO Entertainment in association with Vice and Bill Maher Productions)
• VICE News Tonight (HBO; HBO Entertainment in association with Vice and Bill Maher Productions)

Best Short-Form Non-Fiction Program

• Cuban Canvas (Riverfilms)
• SC Featured – A Dreamer’s Path (ESPN)
• SC Reportajes: Chicharito – Vidas Paralelas (ESPN)
• SC Reportajes – Maryland Gonzalez (ESPN)

Best On-Air Advertising

• Acura “Senses” (Orci)
• DISH Puerto Rico COPUR Inspiración (RightCut)
• DishLATINO Ingles Para Todos Campaign (RightCut)
• Sexism (Orci)

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Los Angeles, CA – Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), a non-profit organization funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, awarded twelve film and digital media projects made possible by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The awardees include nine documentary projects and three digital media shorts; ten of the twelve funded projects are helmed by Latina filmmakers.  The projects explore the breadth of the Latino experience, from Puerto Rico to Mexico to Brazil, as well as stories about Latino Americans from coast to coast.  Highlights include Nina Alvarez’s The Temporary Decades, on the fate of over 200,000 Salvadoran-Americans who will face deportation in 2019 when their Temporary Protection Status expires; Cecilia Aldarondo’s Treasure Island, a look at Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane María; and Christina Fernandez and Andrew Shapter’s Porvenir Texas, that revisits the 1918 massacre of fifteen Mexican men along the Texas border.

“We’re very excited about this year’s funded projects – they’re particularly timely and explore issues that our country is grappling with, from immigration to criminal justice to economic inequality,” says Sandie Viquez Pedlow, Executive Director of Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB).  “We’re proud to support these talented filmmakers and bring their unique perspectives to a national audience on PBS.”

Every year LPB invites independent filmmakers to submit proposals for production, post-production and digital support. All proposals are reviewed by a group of public media professionals, including journalists, independent filmmakers, academics, and executives from national funding organizations.

The 2018 awarded projects are as follows:

Current Issues Fund (CIF)

The Temporary Decades

Producer/Director: Nina Alvarez

Category: Post production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

On September 9, 2019, over 200,000 Salvadorans who have legally lived and worked in the U.S. over the past 17-35 years will be declared illegal. They will either be deported or forced to live in the shadows when their Temporary Protection Status expires.  Three families fight one more battle against U.S. Government policies to reclaim their right to remain in the country they call home.

The Age of Water

Producer/Director: Isabel Alcántara

Co-Producer/Co-Director: Alfredo Alcántara

Category: Post-production; 1 Episode/90 Minutes

The Age of Water follows the story of a young mother who, while trying to find out why her town’s children are dying of leukemia, inadvertently uncovers the Mexican government’s dark business of water.

American Exile

Producer/Director: John Valadez

Category: Post Production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

Fifty years after they fought in Vietnam, two Mexican American brothers face deportation, and discover thousands of veterans who now struggle with the same fate.

The Esparza Project (W.T)

Producer/Director: Maria Agui Carter

Category: Research & Development; 1 Episode/90 Minutes

An exploration of the case of Patricia Esparza who has spent the last six years in prison for a crime committed 20 years ago – the killing of her rapist by her then-boyfriend. Her story encapsulates the contentious and complex system of crime and punishment in America and shows how Patricia’s story unfolds from her not initially reporting the assault to the police, and how many victims are shamed into keeping sexual assault a secret.

Public Media Content Fund (PMCF)

Dear Homeland

Producer/Director: Claudia Escobar, KQED

Executive Producer: Kelly Whalen, KQED

Category: Post-production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

Dear Homeland is the story of Mexican singer/songwriter Diana Gameros and her 20-year journey as an undocumented immigrant from Cuidad Juárez, Mexico to Grand Rapids, Michigan and San Francisco as she waits to resolve her immigration status.  This is an intimate look at coming of age in a foreign country and finding one’s voice as a performer, told in large part through her hauntingly beautiful folk music.

Porvenir Texas

Producer/Director: Christina Fernandez

Co-Producer/Co-Director: Andrew Shapter

Executive Producer: Hector Galan

Category: Production; 1 Episode/90 Minutes

In the early morning hours of January 28th, 1918, a group of fifteen fathers, uncles, brothers and sons were taken from their homes and executed. The town of Porvenir, Texas was burned to the ground, and the remaining women and children fled. Who were the killers? And why were they never brought to justice?

Skin of Glass

Producer/Director: Denise Zmekhol

Category: Production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

When filmmaker Denise Zmekhol discovers that her late father’s most celebrated work as an architect is now São Paulo’s largest high-rise slum, she returns to Brazil to explore her father’s legacy and confront the harsh reality of inequality destroying the city he loved.

Through the Night

Producer/Director: Loira Limbal

Category: Production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

Through the Night explores the personal cost of our modern economy for two working mothers and a childcare provider at a 24-hour daycare center.

Treasure Island

Producer/Director: Cecilia Aldarondo

Category: Production; 1 Episode/90 Minutes

A kaleidoscopic portrait of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane María, Treasure Islandinvestigates a storm of a much greater magnitude: the economic crisis that crippled the island long before María arrived, and the disaster capitalism now reshaping it.

Digital Media – Shorts

The Daily War

Producer/Director: Karla Legaspy

Category: Digital Media; 1 Episode/10 Minutes

A struggling single mother who is a veteran takes on a new job only to discover that the work environment triggers her PTSD.

Joyride

Producer/Director: Edwin Gomez

Category: Digital Media; 1 Episode/9 Minutes

Teenage Latina twin sisters break their grandmother out of her assisted living facility for one last joyride.

Luciela

Producer/Director: Erin Ploss-Campoamor

Category: Digital Media; 1 Episode/10 Minutes

Luciela is a fiercely independent Mexican American girl with a tight-knit family that loves celebrating the 4th of July. Everything changes, however, when her beloved father is deported to Mexico.

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