Here’s Your Guide to Latino Movies, Series, and Virtual Reality at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
Courtesy of Starz
Housed in what was then a neighborhood in dire need of foot traffic and a cultural anchor, the Tribeca Film Festival now stands tall as one of New York City’s most anticipated events. With over 100 feature films in their 2019 program, there is plenty to look forward to in the expansive Tribeca roster.
Festival Director Cara Cusumano made a point of singling out the diversity in the 2019 feature film program; close to a third of the features are directed by people of color and 13 percent are by individuals who identify as LGBTQIA. “Every festival is shaped by and reflective of its community,” she said, “and we are fortunate that our hometown just happens to be the most diverse city on Earth. So our curatorial mandate is to bring to the screens a cinematic celebration – in only 100 features – whose breadth of stories and storytellers is as prismatic and adventurous, local and global, diverse and inclusive as our incredible city.”
One population who, unsurprisingly, remains underrepresented is the US Latino community — in a city where said community makes up a third of its population. As our list below confirms, only a handful of feature films center on the US Latino experience, and only a selected few are directed by US-born Latinos. (At least a screening of Vida‘s second season will make it feel like plenty of Latinas are in the house.) Even Latin American fare, which usually makes such a crucial part of global fests like Tribeca, is wanting this year, with a smattering of projects set in Argentina, Mexico, and Bolivia representing the booming industry down south.
Thankfully, in addition to its slew of features, VR projects, TV series, and shorts, the festival is yet again hosting some panels and talks that will be spotlighting some ace Latin American talent. You won’t want to miss out on Guillermo del Toro‘s master class, obviously. But be sure to also check out the New York Times Op-Docs special screening which will feature five short documentaries specifically focused on immigration, and the various events the fest will be throwing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Vida‘s Tanya Saracho and Ser Anzoategui will take part in “Narrative Ownership: Who Gets To Tell Whose Story?” about cross-community collaborations where trans, non-binary, and intersex artists have joined forces with cisgender creatives to forge successful storytelling partnerships, while Vida season two newcomers Raúl Castillo (Looking, We the Animals) and Roberta Colindrez (Broadway’s Fun Home) will be panelists in “LGBTQ Media Visibility,” all about the changing face of LGBTQ representation.
As we know, choosing what to catch at Tribeca can be daunting, so we’ve compiled a list of all the feature films, virtual reality projects, and TV series that center on Latino and Latin American stories. Check them out below.
Tribeca Film Festival runs April 24 – May 5, 2019.
<strong>SERIES</strong>
Vida
In the second season of Vida, Lyn (Melissa Barrera) and Emma (Mishel Prada) begin the monumental task of rebuilding their mother’s legacy—a crumbling bar and apartment building in East L.A.—at a time when the local anti-gentrification uprising will stop at almost nothing to call out any and all cultural displacers. They navigate obstacles while contemplating the relationships in their lives, including their own, and are forced to dig deep to unearth what their mother’s legacy means to them.
Unimundo 45
Luna Grande (Elizabeth De Razzo) is the producer of Noticias Unimundo 45’s 11 p.m. newscast. She couldn’t be happier that Trump is President. She never believed that “post-racial” bullshit, so she’s relieved to see that America’s mask has finally come off. But when her undocumented parents decide to self-deport due to the new anti-immigrant policies, Luna begins to question the jaded person who she has become. She begins to shed her cynicism, and what emerges is an impetuous Chicana activist monster of sorts, full of rage and eager to make up for lost time.
Motherstruck
Adapted from Staceyann Chin’s own autobiographical one-woman show, Motherstruck follows the true story of one lesbian’s (Chin) quest to become a mother. She shares her story alongside her closest friends (who are played by, among others, Orange is the New Black‘s Laura Gomez and One Day at a Time writer Janine Brito). With them by her side, Staceyann embarks on a wild road toward motherhood.
<strong>VIRTUAL REALITY</strong>
El sueño de la hija del jaguar
Created and directed by Alfredo Salazar-Caro, this Mexican-American co-production is a surreal Virtual Reality documentary where Achik’, the spirit of a young Maya immigrant, guides the viewer through her memories of an arduous journey north.
Ayahuasca
In this virtual reality project, participants are immersed in visions triggered by a dose of the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca. The spectator lives this through director Jan Kounen’s eyes as he travels on a spiritual voyage. He and viewers are guided there through Guillermo Arévalo Valera, a Shipibo vegetalista and businessperson from the Maynas Province of Peru.