LALIFF 2019

18th Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
July 31 - August 4 at TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood

This year’s program will open with Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera’s The Infiltrators, which won the Audience Award: NEXT and The NEXT Innovator Prize at Sundance earlier this year.  The film, a mixture of documentary and narrative, focuses on a real-life rag-tag group of undocumented youth – Dreamers – that get deliberately detained by Border Patrol in order to infiltrate a shadowy, for-profit detention center. The film is a suspenseful telling of this high-stakes mission - a little-known chapter in American activism, and a rare insider experience of a for-profit immigrant detention center, an institution that is rapidly expanding across the American landscape.

LALIFF will also offer special screenings including Les Blank’s Chulas Fronteras (1976), marking the Los Angeles premiere of the 4K restoration, and a screening of Ascent of Weavers, 3-channel video piece a by artist, Rebeca Mendez as part of LALIFF Art.

FEATURE FILMS:

Building the American Dream - Three immigrant families facing the deadliest working conditions in the USA, rise up to seek justice and equality in the Texas construction industry. Directed by Chelsea Hernandez (US)

Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire - This stunning documentary explores the brief, rich, and contradictory life of the artist Carlos Almaraz: a Chicano activist, sexual outlaw, and visionary painter of some of the most unforgettable images of southern California. Directed by Elsa Flores Almaraz & Richard J. Montoya (US)

Councilwoman - A hotel housekeeper has won a City Council seat in Providence, RI. Energized to advocate for low-income workers, her stamina for politics is put to the test. Directed by Margo Guernsey (US)

De Lo Mío – An achingly alive look at cherishing the past while learning to let go. Directed by Diana Peralta (US)

Divine Love – Brazil, 2027. A deeply religious woman uses her position in a notary’s office to advance her mission to save struggling couples from divorce. Whilst waiting for a sign in recognition of her efforts, she's confronted with a crisis in her own marriage that ultimately brings her closer to God. Directed by Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil/Uruguay, Chile, Denmark, Norway, Sweden)

I’ll See You Around - Lucas struggles to break the cycle of addiction gripping his family and risks losing everyone he loves if he can't learn to forgive. Directed by Daniel Fermin Pfeffer (US)

Initials S.G. - Down on his luck, an aging Serge Gainsbourg wannabe struggles with an acting career he can't seem to get on track, an affair he doesn't want, and a crime he didn't mean to commit. Directed by Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia (US/Argentina/Lebanon)

Midnight Family - In Mexico City's wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. Directed by Luke Lorentzen (Mexico)

Pahokee - In a small agricultural town in the Florida Everglades, hopes for the future are concentrated on the youth. Four teens face heartbreak and celebrate in the rituals of an extraordinary senior year. Directed by Ivete Lucas & Patrick Bresnan (US)

Premature – The summer before she leaves for college, Ayanna meets handsome and mysterious outsider Isaiah; her entire world is turned upside down as she navigates the demanding terrain of young love against a changing Harlem landscape. Directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green (US)

Raúl Julia: The World’s a Stage – Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage examines the life and career of the inspiring entertainer, Raúl Juliá. The feature documentary is a revealing portrait of the charismatic actor, who earned recognition across the world for his versatility on stage and on screen before his life was tragically cut short. From his early days on local stages in Puerto Rico to stardom on Broadway and in Hollywood, Raúl’s story is one of passion, determination, and a bit of magic – all qualities for which his performances were known. Directed by Ben DeJesus (US)

Sick Sick Sick - Silvia and Artur’s teenage-romance starts abruptly and ends up all of sudden after a serious accident. Silvia gets sick and her days turn into dark. Her mourning becomes an obsessive quest to bring him back to life. Directed by Alice Furtado (Brazil)

Siqueiros: Walls of Passion - A documentary film about revolutionary Mexican visual artist David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896–1974) and the resurrection of his Los Angeles mural AMÉRICA TROPICAL, located at the birthplace of Los Angeles and later championed by the Chicano movement as a symbol of its oppressed culture.  Directed by Lorena Manriquez (US)

The Inflitrators - A rag-tag group of undocumented youth deliberately get themselves detained in order to infiltrate a shadowy for-profit detention center. Directed by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera (US)

The Sharks - While reports of shark sightings create panic in a small beach town, 14-year-old Rosina begins to circle her own prey as her intense attraction to an older co-worker grows. Directed by Lucía Garibaldi (Uruguay/Argentina/Spain)

SHORTS:

And the Brave Shall Rise - Rooted in the newfound strength of a movement led by stay-at-home moms, one woman decides to run for office in a grass-roots effort to honor her son and family. Directed by Adam Schlachter.  (US)

Chalino - Inspired by the life, music, and murder of Chalino Sanchez, an immigrant in Los Angeles becomes an international sensation as the King of Narco Music. Directed by Michael Flores.  (US)

Chicle (Gum) - An ill-tempered teenager attempts to find peaceful solitude on the day of her grandfather’s passing until an estranged friend pays her a visit.  Directed by Lizette Barrera.  (US)

Cuco “Hydrocodone” - Hydrocodone is a music video dedicated to the momory of our past selves and the longing of who we have yet to become as we grow older, visualized as an abstract journey through a young man's experiences when confronting death. Directed by Jazmin Garcia. (US)

Figueroa - When his younger brother loses a fight, a teenage boy tries to teach his little brother about manhood, only to face an event that threatens to shatter their world altogether.  Directed by Victor Hugo Duran.  (US)

Little con Lili - LILI, is a 10-year-old Cuban-American girl who should be doing her homework, but instead, decides to enjoy a leisurely afternoon, home alone, eating all her favorite foods, and listening to her favorite band, Air Supply.  Directed by Gabriela Garcia Medina.  (US)

Pozole - When Maia sets out to reconnect with her traditional Mexican roots on her Nana's 100th birthday, things go terribly wrong.  Directed by Jessica Mendez Siqueiros.  (USA)

Raptor - Ariel gets involved in a teenager civil arrest of a guy is accused of stealing a phone. 

Directed by Felipe Gálvez.  (Chile)

Sebastian - An emigrating father writes home to his son.  Directed by Sam Fragoso.  (US)

Simon Cries - Simon, wrecked by a love sorrow, overflows with sadness.  Directed by Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento.  (Belgium)

Skaya - Sergio Ramirez builds a basketball and academics program that empowers a generation of kids in the north western mountains of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. 

Directed by Gabriel Noquez.  (US)

Suicidrag - The Mexican group of drag queens Suicidrag streak the streets and nightclubs of Mexico City to raise awareness about the gender stereotype imposed by the consumer society.  (Mexico)

The Bell - A young woman in El Salvador wishes to hear the village bell before she joins a caravan to the US, but the antique bell hasn't rung in 25 years and there is only one man left that can repair it: a drunkard that lives in the cemetery.  Directed by Michael Flores.  (El Salvador)

The Bony Lady - Arely Vazquez, an immigrant and transgender woman, overcomes prejudices and breaks tabus as she fulfills her vows to the Skeleton Saint.  Directed by Adriana Barbosa. (US/Brazil/Mexico)

To Be Queen – In Luling, the “toughest town in Texas”, two Latina high school girls compete to be the next watermelon thump queen.  Directed by Farihah Zaman & Jeff Reichert. (US)

Unlucky’s Luck - On his 63rd birthday, Pellito receives a ticket for the Fortune’s Raffle, an almost surreal lottery that comes into town. Directed by Felipe Holguin Caro.  (Colombia)

Water Warrior - Water Warrior is a short film about Latina surfers and why seeing yourself in the sport you love matters. (US)

Raúl Julia: The World’s a Stage

EPISODICS:

South of Sunset: Fake Mexicans - After an Executive tells Mexican-American writer DJ Banks his writing isn't authentic, and with the help of his comedic cousins, DJ sets his day on rediscovering his cultural authenticity by re-connecting with an old Mexican-American lady friend that ends up in disaster.  Directed by David Tripler. (US)

Stoned Breakups - Writer Daniel F. Pérez gets really high and opens up about a tragic east coast romance and breakup as a group of sober comedians reenact it. Directed by Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez. (US)

THE BIBLE: The Sacrifice of Isaac – An extremely Biblically accurate retelling of the Binding of Isaac. Directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp (US)

Unimundo 45 - When the anti-immigrant candidate wins the presidency, a jaded Latina news producer sheds her cynicism and reconnects with her suppressed activist side—on live TV.  Directed by Thembi Banks.  (US)

Werq the World: Valentina – Werq the World: Valentina follows the enigmatic Miss Congeniality (or fan favorite) of RuPaul’s drag race Season 9 as she tries to keep up with the fast pace and intense hustle of an international tour. Directed by Jasper Rischen.  (US)

For more information and the complete schedule of events, please visit LALIFF2019