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The Chicago International Latino Film Festival plays from April 16-28, with screenings at the Biograph Theater, 3 Penny Cinema and Facets Multimedia in Chicago.
For more information, visit www.latinoculturalcenter.org or call (312) 409-1757.
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Slap on your dancing zapatos and join ChicagoFilm.com, ShakeChicago and SKYY Vodka on April 20th for the Chicago International Latino Film Festival Birthday Bash at The Funky Buddha Lounge! More...
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It's the 20-year Anniversary of the Latino Film Fest. What have been some
of
the biggest highlights of the fest?
Every five years traditionally we get into it like any organization. We celebrated
our 5 year anniversary, our 10-year anniversary. The Chicago International Film
Festival just celebrated 40 years, so we're only halfway to where they are. But
yes, it's a time for us to think and sort of realize that 'wow we have arrived
here' and, in our case, who would believe that we would be where we are?
We started out projecting films onto a gym wall. It was a very humble beginning, but a good idea – that we would be able to share the Latino culture in its full dimension, which is so diverse and profoundly rich and so international. From that point, when we had a budget of only $10,000, we’ve grown to have a budget of over $1 million, with close to 40,000 people attending screenings.
The film festival continues to be a really good tool in the sharing process, where we can create a greater awareness of who are and what we are experiencing. It has given us a lot of inspiration and motivation and out of the film festival we have been able to create the International Latino Cultural Center.
What films are you most looking forward to screening this year?
For me as director of the festival, it's difficult to say and would be inappropriate to encourage people to go to this film or that. The main thing is that the festival has value and deserves to be seen. We are always looking to provide an opportunity to touch people’s lives and make a difference in their lives by making them cry or laugh or have a good time. That’s what we are trying to do with our films.
We've put together a special selection for our 20th Anniversary - 11 films that people have requested again and again to see. They are the films that have made a definite connection with the audience and we are trying to fulfill that intense desire that people have to see them again.
Actually there have been seven different films that we have tried to locate but have been unable to locate – they are out of print or we simply are unable to find them. If the people who have seen the films were aware that they won't be seen again, they would do something to preserve some of these small jewels. These films are only 10-15 years old – it's a tragedy.
Besides running the film fest, you've also been heavily involved in fundraising for the Cultural Center. Why is the center so important to Chicago?
Film has been very inspirational and empowering for us in the way that we approach this project. When we look at the way that films are being made in Latin America, they are made out of necessity to reveal something, to tell a story, to denounce something. There is a great level of commitment from the artists and filmmakers to really put it together and say what is on their mind. So we cannot do anything less than that. If they can do what they do under the conditions and circumstances that they face, there is no reason for us not to really think and work towards building a cultural institution, a sort of Mecca where we can share the culture of soon to be 1 million people from more than 20 nations.
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004: Chicago Latino Film Festival
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