Films delve into issues Latinos face

The Colorado Springs film community is going bilingual this weekend with the launch of the Cinema Latino Film Festival.

The new festival is a joint project of the Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, the Springs' oldest film festival, and Centro De La Familia, a social services nonprofit that works with the Spanishspeaking, American Indian and immigrant communities.

Sandra Hernandez, Centro's executive director, said the group has held dances and fashion-show fundraisers in the past, but hosting a film festival is a way to delve deeper into the issues facing Latin American and Hispanic immigrants in the U.S.

"There are so many issues now with the Hispanic population, we wanted to do more of an educational forum," Hernandez said.

The festival's lineup, which kicks off tonight at Colorado College's Armstrong Hall with "Made in L.A.", features films by or about Latinas, in keeping with the mission of the Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, said Linda Broker, the festival's director. Because of that focus, she said, there weren't nearly as many films to choose from. The narrowed field, however, didn't end up hurting the quality: Cinema Latino features two Oscar nominees, "Recycled Life" and "La Corona."

"I was thrilled that the lineup ended up being so strong," Broker said.

"Recycled Life" is a documentary that follows the families living in and off of a garbage dump in Guatemala. "La Corona," also a documentary, shows a beauty pageant held inside a women's prison in Columbia. "Made in L.A." peers inside an immigrant sweatshop in Los Angeles (the film's director, Almudena Carracedo, will attend the opening-night screening). In "The Sugar Curtain," the filmmaker returns to Cuba after decades away and looks at how life has changed there. "Nonna's Trip," the only feature film in the festival, tells the story of a family's trip to Italy to honor their grandmother's last wish. And in "Tracing Aleida," the filmmaker rediscovers her past and family, which were buried in Mexico's "Dirty War" during the 1970s.

Although the festival focuses on Latino issues, Broker and Hernandez are hoping for a wide audience to provide different takes on the films.

"I think the films themselves have universal appeal," Broker said. "I would hate to think that someone who is not Latino would think this festival is not for them."

And, although many of the films are in Spanish, everything is subtitled.

"You just have to be able to read," Broker joked.

Hernandez said Centro is hoping to make the festival an annual event.

"I think it's important to educate the community around these issues on an ongoing basis," she said.

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details

CINEMA LATINO FILM FESTIVAL

When: Today and Saturday

Where: Colorado College, Armstrong Hall, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St.

Tickets: Individual films, $10; full pass $45; Friday night reception and film, $25; Saturday all-day pass $25; for more information, go to www.rmwfilmfest.org

SCHEDULE

Friday 6:30 p.m. - Reception 7:45 p.m. - "Made in L.A. (Hecho en Los Angeles)"

Saturday 10 a.m. - "The Sugar Curtain" 12:15 p.m. - "Recycled Life" and "La Corona (The Crown)" 2 p.m. - "Nonna's Trip" 4:15 p.m. - "Tracing Aleida"