Health & Fitness
Blog: Top 3 Picks for the 20th Anniversary of the Latino Film Festival
The San Diego Latino Film Festival kicks off this week with some returning favorites and some interesting newcomers.
Sometimes, it feels like San Diego has as many film festivals as beaches. Not that we’re complaining. Patch Goes Pop loves film festivals – the parties, the celebrities but, most of all, the opportunity to see a movie that you normally wouldn’t get a chance to see at your local theater.
That’s why we’re in a happy place this week, as March brings us the annual San Diego Latino Film Festival, organized by Media Arts Center San Diego. This year’s festival runs from March 7-17, showcasing 165 films. The Latino Film Festival is the granddaddy of them all in San Diego, this year celebrating its 20th year.
As such, it is going back to the past by showcasing some of the best, most memorable films from the past 20 years. Among them are Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s first big success Cronos, Robert Rodriguez’s sizzling follow-up to his debut smash, Desperado, and more recent memorable films, including Y Tu Mama Tambien and Amores Perros.
Find out what's happening in Coronadofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Screening these movies emphasizes the tremendous growth of Latino films and their powerful influence in today’s mainstream cinema. Del Toro and Rodriguez have joined the list of top Hollywood directors and Gael Garcia Bernal, who starred in both Y Tu Mama Tambien and Amores Perros, has become a leading actor.
What films in this year’s festival are set to become pop culture favorites or boost their actors, directors or screenwriters stardom? The fun will be in making your own discovery, but here are some worthy candidates:
Find out what's happening in Coronadofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Mariachi Gringo – A small-town loser runs away to Mexico to be a mariachi singer but his effort to follow his dreams runs into some cross-cultural challenges.
Cinco de Mayo: La Battalla – An epic war film focusing on the famous battle between the French army and outnumbered, poorly equipped Mexican troops rallying to defend the city of Puebla.
La Camioneta: The Journey of an American School Bus – This film follows one yellow, American school bus that is sent to Guatemala, where it is repaired, repainted and resurrected as a brightly-colored camioneta that transports Guatemalans to work each day.
There are many other films and documentaries to choose from. All the films are being screened at the Digiplex Mission Valley in the Hazard Center. For more information or tickets, visit www.sdlatinofilm.com