These Are the Must-See Latino & Latin American Movies at SXSW Film Festival
'The Infiltrators' film still courtesy of Sundance Institute
Every year in March, Austin becomes the epicenter for all things culture. Music diehards can find their favorite acts playing. Comedy fans can drop by a set or two by established and emerging stand-up comedians. And film aficionados? Well, they have an overabundance of riches. Having established itself as one of the coolest festivals around, South by Southwest (aka SXSW) needs no introduction. This year, their program encompasses 134 feature films including 101 world premieres as well as 64 films from first-time filmmakers.
Moreover, there is plenty of US Latino and Latin American talent to celebrate, both in front and behind the camera. And while we know you’ll be checking out that new Seth Rogen-Charlize Theron film as well as that Beto O’Rourke doc which followed his campaign, we wanted to compile a list exclusively for Latinos. Below you’ll find our favorites from the feature film lineup, from Sundance standout docs about AOC to long-awaited horror films which hope to capitalize on our fears of La Llorona.
Beyond these titles, SXSW also has plenty of VR projects and shorts (some created by Texas filmmakers and others by high schoolers) worth checking out. That includes Nonny de la Peña’s Border Stories and Jorge Caballero’s attempt at recreating the Bogotá from the ’30s and ’40s chronicled by famed journalist Ximénez.
Oh, and we haven’t mentioned the fact that Alita: Battle Angel‘s Robert Rodriguez himself is teaching a master-class in micro-budget guerrilla filmmaking, featuring behind-the-scenes moments from his new $7,000 film, RED 11. Which is all to say, we’re very jealous of everyone in the hip Texan city come mid-March.
SXSW Film Festival runs March 8 – 16, 2019.