Monthly Film Festival

September 26, 2020 12:15pm PDT - 09:00pm PDT
FESTIVAL INDUSTRY DELEGATION MEMBERS
Adam Martinez
CBS Television Studios
Adrian Ward
Banc of California
Austin Bowman
AGBO
Axel Caballero
WarnerMedia 150
Carole Kirschner
CBS Writers Program & WGA Showrunners Program
Christopher Casanova
Black Bear Pictures
Dave Neustadter
New Line Cinema
Elishia Holmes
MGM
Gabriel Mena
M88
Greta Talia Fuentes
MACRO
Ilyse McKimmie
Sundance Institute
Jaime Davila
Campanario Entertainment
Jerry Rojas
Shelter PR
Joey Dizon
AGBO
Josh Williams
AGBO
Luke Rodgers
Los Angeles Media Fund
Nicolás Celis
Pimienta Films (Producer of Roma)
Nuria Botella
Maxine Leonard PR
Ruben Garcia
CAA
Sandra Condito
UnbeliEVAble
Shari Page
Half Initiative
PROGRAM MODERATORS
Clayton Davis
Variety
Gabriel Lerman
HFPA
Kristen Lopez
TheWrap
Michael Ordoña
Los Angeles Times
Omar Sanchez
Entertainment Weekly (EW)

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) co-host a virtual edition of the annual NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) Film Festival InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema event, powered by Seed&Spark. The InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema line-up consists of two shorts programs and a presentation of Varda Bar-Kar’s feature documentary Fandango at the Wall. This event will include virtual screenings, filmmaker Q&A’s and industry panels.

The weekend will feature a powerful lineup of local and international films by world-class emerging filmmakers and stories from the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Spain, Chile, and the Dominican Republic and presents three world premieres, Alberto Belli’s After Life Vacation, Alyssa Toledo’s Lift Off and Kate Romero’s Chronology.

The day begins with Shorts Program #1 – 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. Stories told in this block include a couple facing the choice of spending eternity together, a boy finding his own moral compass, a man using his childhood imagination to cope with a grim reality, a woman on a quest to regain her ability to dream, a college student orchestrating a fiction about his life for his visiting mother, a pair of trapeze artists whose trust is critically tested, and a young girl who escapes deportation by becoming a mermaid.

Next, the line-up continues with the West Coast premiere of director Varda Bar-Kar’s 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 evening concludes with Shorts Program #2 – 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. The program includes the story of a man visiting his deceased father’s partner, a time traveling woman grappling with her younger and older selves, a group of millennials delving into the history of the El Mozote massacre, one woman’s portrait of her father, parents facing the risks of traveling undocumented to see their daughter after an accident, a prehistoric family drama, and a young boy’s relationship with a grandfather whose reality is starting to slip away from him.

All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects which will be considered for all upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion and region. NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year.

Schedule

Program #1: InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Shorts #1 – Figments, Fictions and Fantasies
12:15 PM – 1:45 PM – Suggested Screening Time
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Audience Q&A
Program #2: InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Feature – Fandango at the Wall
3:15 PM – 4:45 PM – Suggested Screening Time
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Audience Q&A
Program #3: InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Shorts #2 – Generational Echoes
6:15 PM – 7:45 PM – Suggested Screening Time
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM – Audience Q&A

Venue

This year’s program will be held virtually. That’s right, everything is online. Please join our filmmaking community from the comfort of your home!

Program #1: InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Shorts I - Figments, Fictions and Fantasies
After Life Vacation
Dir. Alberto Belli & Writ. Maria Brasero
12 Mins | Spain
The Little Thief
Dir. Nicole Vanden Broeck & Writ. András Roder
3 Mins | USA
Lift Off Thumbnail
Lift Off
Dir. & Writ. Alyssa Toledo
13 Mins | USA
Water Dreams
Dir. & Writ. Domingo Pablo Ortiz
11 Mins | Mexico
Being In Thumbnail
Being In
Dir. & Writ. Victor M. Rocha
14 Mins | USA
The Catch
Dir. Thais Drassinower & Writ. Camila Zavala
16 Mins | Peru
Dia de Las Carpas
Dir. Joao Dall'Stella & Writ. Marika Kato Hoag
15 Mins | USA
Program #2: InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Feature - Fandango at the Wall
Fandango at the Wall
Dir. Varda Bar-Kar & Writ. Varda Bar-Kar, Kabir Sehgal
93 Mins | USA, Mexico
Program #3: InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Shorts II - Generational Echoes
Acuitzeramo
Dir. & Writ. Miguel Angel Caballero
16 Mins | USA, Mexico
Chronology
Dir. Kate Romero & Writ. Valerie Hurt
15 Mins | USA
Manzanal
Dir. Jon Ayon
7 Mins | USA
Papi
Dir. & Writ. Gabriela Ortega
7 Mins | USA
Undocumented
Dir. & Writ. Fernanda Belmar
9 Mins | USA
Nahjum
Dir. Sebastian Torres Greene, Manuel Del Valle & Writ. Sebastian Torres Greene, Manuel Del Valle, Erik Hirschhorn
17 Mins | Mexico
Napo Thumbnail
Napo
Dir. Gustavo Ribeiro & Writ. Gustavo Ribeiro , Gabriela Antonia Rosa
16 Mins | Brazil