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
