Y’ALL!! We are officially 16 days away from SXSW 2020!
This year, for most of my SXSW coverage I will be focusing on Latinx artists, films, sessions, and more.
Today, I will be covering a Latinx Spotlight for the 2020 SXSW Film Festival. This list includes sessions and films with Latinx directors, producers, and actors or about Latinx people and/or issues affecting the Latinx community.
Keep reading for my Latinx Spotlight for the 2020 SXSW Film Festival!!
MAR 13, 2020 | 2:00PM – 3:00PM
Featured Session: 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report + Latino Film Institute
https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/events/PP97947
SPEAKERS: RAFAEL AGUSTÍN (Latino Film Institute), MAGDIELA HERMIDA DUHAMEL (Latino Film Institute), EDWARD JAMES OLMOS (Latino Film Institute & Youth Cinema Project), and DR. ANA-CHRISTINA RAMÓN (University of California, Los Angeles)
How do you close the achievement and opportunity gap for minorities in the entertainment industry?
Please join Academy Award Nominee Edward James Olmos and the team behind the Latino Film Institute for a presentation on the groundbreaking programs advancing marginalized communities in Hollywood. The panel will include a special presentation by Dr. Ana-Christina Ramon, co-author of the 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report. This panel will discuss the ideas and programs that LFI has placed into action to address the lack of representation in Hollywood and focus on the next generation of content creators.
Film Screening: Dichos Title Sequence
DIRECTOR: GWENAËLLE GOBÉ
Fancifully illustrated title graphics of Latin American expressions for each episode of the web series ‘Dichos’ which attempts to translate the untranslatable, while educating (and miseducating) audiences about Latin American proverbs.
Dichos Title Sequence Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2026138
Film Screening: The Pushback
DIRECTOR: KEVIN FORD
The first of two Latinas to represent Texas in Congress, Veronica Escobar, and the only African-American woman to run for city council in Austin in 2018, Natasha Harper-Madison, lead a diverse group of progressive voices across Texas as they fight decades of institutional racism and policies of discrimination along the border. The battle over immigrant rights, land seizures to build the border wall, and the troubled racial history of the state form the backdrop to a film that explores how a place once known for its reactionary politics is becoming more liberal, more diverse—and more at risk for violent conflict.
The Pushback Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2026248
Film Screening: Mucho Mucho Amor
DIRECTORS: CRISTINA COSTANTINI and KAREEM TABSCH
Every day for decades, extravagant Puerto Rican astrologer, psychic, and gender nonconforming legend Walter Mercado charmed the world with his televised horoscopes. Equal parts Oprah, Liberace, and Mr. Rogers, Walter reached over 120 million viewers at his peak, enthralling the Latin world with sequined capes, opulent jewelry and horoscopes that shared a message of love and hope to his devoted viewers. Then, he mysteriously disappeared.
Over a decade later award-winning directors Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch and producer Alex Fumero capture Walter’s final two years, when the pioneering icon grappled with aging and his legacy, and prepared for one last star-studded spectacle.
Mucho Mucho Amor Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2027053
Film Screening: Día de la Madre
DIRECTORS: ASHLEY BRANDON and DENNIS HÖHNE
A band of juveniles embark on a 24-hour spree of breaking into houses and causing a ruckus.
Día de la Madre Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2024877
Film Screening: Huntsville Station
DIRECTORS: JAMIE MELTZER and CHRIS FILIPPONE
Every weekday, dozens of inmates are released on parole from Huntsville State Penitentiary, the largest prison release center in Texas. With a bus ticket voucher and $100 release check, most of them take in their first moments out with phone calls, cigarettes, and quiet reflection at the Greyhound station up the block. In this pivotal moment, between incarceration and freedom, a myriad of complicated emotions arise before the bus arrives to take them home.
Huntsville Station Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2024797
Film Screening: Call Center Blues
DIRECTOR: GEETA GANDBHIR
A cinematic tale of deportation, migration, displacement and opportunistic capitalism, Call Center Blues follows four characters as they struggle to make sense of their lives in Tijuana. Each with a vastly different story, they are all linked by their displacement and the sole choice of call center work they have in a country that is so unfamiliar and oftentimes frightening, yet other times a ray of hope. Tijuana becomes their home, a place defined by the border but yet defiant towards it, a no man’s land where everything and everyone feels transient. These characters paint a picture of love, loss and longing – for home, for an American Dream deferred, and for justice.
Call Center Blues Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2024758
Film Screening: Jose Feliciano: Behind This Guitar
DIRECTORS: FRANK LICARI and HELEN MURPHY
The official documentary on the life and continuing career of singer-songwriter and guitarist Jose Feliciano – the world’s greatest living guitarist (and ranked one of the best of all-time), first-ever Latin crossover artist and pioneer in the mixing of musical genres and song interpretation. One of the greatest artists of all time!
From an impoverished neighborhood in Puerto Rico to the streets of Spanish Harlem to the top of the pop music charts – Jose Feliciano has crafted an unrivaled music career spanning five decades.
At the height of popularity, a national controversy almost ended his career. His enduring legacy is a testament to his undeniable talent & incredible resiliency.
Jose Feliciano: Behind This Guitar Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2025989
Film Screening: Critical Thinking
DIRECTOR: JOHN LEGUIZAMO
It’s 1998 in Miami. Rampant poverty, broken families, and a prejudiced system push underprivileged youth to the fringes of society. But for a magnetic group of teens, there’s a reprieve. A game where it’s not about where you come from, but how you play. That equalizer is chess. Mr. “T” Martinez, a chess militant and passionate coach, leads them to a completely foreign field of battle: the National Chess Championship. With an underfunded school district, Martinez and his team can’t just waltz into the arena. They have to fight for it. Chess runs parallel to their own experiences as Martinez teaches them that the power of Critical Thinking can not only save their kings, but also their lives.
Critical Thinking Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2023365
Film Screening: LA Originals
DIRECTOR: ESTEVAN ORIOL
From lowriding to tattooing to photography, perhaps no other contemporary duo has been at the forefront and influenced hip hop and street culture like Estevan Oriol and Mister Cartoon. Through their craft they have catapulted the chicano art movement onto the world stage and influenced countless other artists. “LA Originals” traces back the steps of these two “O.G.” street artists to their childhoods. Starting out as an art child prodigy and rising through the ranks of graffiti bombing, to celebrity tattooer, and from troubled youth to hip hop tour manager, photo-documentarian, portrait photographer and filmmaker.
LA Originals Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2023455
Film Screening: La Mami
DIRECTOR: LAURA HERRERO GARVÍN
Inside the mythical Barba Azul (Bluebeard) Cabaret in Mexico City, the women of the night gather in an ebb and flow of emotions. Every day, La Mami, the caretaker of the women’s bathroom, offers them much needed advice and comfort to combat their crude, macho reality. From inside the Cabaret’s bathroom, La Mami reminds us all that alliances are the key to facing adversity.
La Mami Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2023443
Film Screening: Charm City Kings
DIRECTOR: ANGEL MANUEL SOTO
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, an infamous group of Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
Charm City Kings Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2025940
Film Screening: SXSW Community Screening: Faces of Austin
MORE INFO TBD
SXSW Community Screening: Faces of Austin Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2026906
Film Screening: Persiguiendo El Sueño Americano
DIRECTORS: JOSE GAMEZ and HEIDEE ANDRES
This documentary is a real look into the two stories of women who came to America in search of the American dream despite all the struggles and challenges they face, especially the legal ones. They share their hopes and dreams for their children as they try to combat the current negative climate they face being immigrants. All they want is a better life for their family.
Persiguiendo El Sueño Americano Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2025048
Film Screening: 218
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: ADRIEL ORTIZ and PRODUCER: MELANIE ULLOA
This is found footage which takes place in a mental institution in El Salvador. It is a story of a mental health patient who struggles with multiple personality disorder. This footage contains the interview of the patient and her psychiatrist who is trying to get the bottom of the horrific murder of her parents. He gets more than he bargains for.
218 Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2025051
Film Screening: AdSpace
DIRECTOR: ANDRE GARCIA
In the near-future, Max can’t decide whether or not she wants to renew her membership for her “Friendbuddy,” a digital service that provides companionship to most. Alice, her Friendbuddy, sees herself as a true friend to Max, and can’t imagine why she would ever want to live without her. Max, on the other hand, can’t imagine that Alice could ever truly be a friend to her at all.
AdSpace Film Screenings – https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2025174
Film Screening: The New Mutants
DIRECTOR: JOSH BOONE
20th Century Fox in association with Marvel Entertainment presents “The New Mutants,” an original horror thriller set in an isolated hospital where a group of young mutants is being held for psychiatric monitoring. When strange occurrences begin to take place, both their new mutant abilities and their friendships will be tested as they battle to try and make it out alive.
The New Mutants Film Screenings – TBA
I am super excited to meet and connect with some of you this year at SXSW!
Stay in love and just listen,
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