The Los Angeles-based GuadaLAjara Film Festival, formerly known as the Festival Internacional de Guadalajara, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and despite having to go entirely virtual because of the pandemic, it has big plans for online attendees.
The digital festival will take place from December 17-19, 2020 at its official site.
While its name has changed, the festival’s mission to “showcase the best of Latin American cinema” and “serve as a bridge for Latino filmmakers between Hollywood and Latin America” is still the same.
“[The festival’s mission] is to show the best of Latin American cinema, and open doors for emerging Latinx creators, with the intention of cultivating a borderless film industry” said festival director Ximena Urrutia Partida in a statement.
Along with its main mission, the festival hopes to encourage greater inclusivity by engaging with more second and third generation Latinx filmmakers and to continue to preserve the roots and language of the culture.
The festival’s opening night film is No Man’s Land starring Frank Grillo, Andie MacDowell, George López and Esmeralda Pimentel. The film tells the story of a young man who is forced to flee to Mexico after he accidentally kills an undocumented immigrant near the Texas-Mexico border. The closing night film is Carlos López Estrada’s Summertime about 25 young Angelinos whose lives intersect during one hot summer day.
This year, the GuadaLAjara Film Festival also wanted to start paying tribute to Latinx-driven organizations and the Latinx people who run them. It will start by honoring Monica Ramirez, CEO and founder of the Justice4Women Foundation. The non-profit organization works to advance the human and civil rights of migrant women and their families. All proceeds of this year’s festival will go to the foundation.
For full schedules and more information on the festival, including workshops, visit here.