GuadaLAjara Film Festival
The 10th iteration of the Guadelajara Film Festival in Los Angeles will take place on December 17th to 19th and is, for this year, a streaming film festival. The festival is re-branding for 2020, hence the LA in the festival’s name. There will be nine films streaming as part of the festival, these are a few of those films:
Opening Night: NO MAN’S LAND from Director Conor Allyn, starring Frank Grillo, Andie MacDowell, George López and Esmeralda Pimentel. Migration is an issue that will always be fundamental when we talk about the relationship between Latin America and the United States. No Man’s Land addresses this problem from a human perspective.
Center Piece: 499, from director Rodrigo Reyes and stars Eduardo San Juan Breña as a 16th-century conquistador who begins an epic journey, documents stories of how the Spanish dehumanized the societies they encountered.
Closing Night: SUMMERTIME from Director Carlos López Estrada, starring Mila Cuda, Paolina Acuña-Gonzaléz, Tyris Winter, Gordon IP, Marquesha Babers, Austin Antoine and Bryce Banks.
A film that tackles the theme of being an “Angeleno,” representing the diversity in a big city in the United States.
There will be three Master Classes:
Her Gaze: A conversation to discuss the uniqueness of the female gaze behind the camera. Each director shares how they found their passion in filmmaking, their voice and their experiences behind the camera. Participating Directors: Gia Coppola (Mainstream), Patricia Riggen (Under The Same Moon), Yulene Olaizola (Selva Tragica). Moderator: Maikiko James, Executive Director, Women in Film.
Aspirations through Animation: Animation is a great place to create a pipeline for aspiring Latinx filmmakers in particular those who may have stories that need to live in a fantastical world to have a wider audience appeal. It helps to bring different cultures together. Participants are Carlos Lopez Estrada (Dir of Summertime & Disney’s upcoming Ryan And The Last Dragon) and Osnat Shurer (Producer, Ryan And The Last Dragon & Moana)
Moderator: Julia Ann Crommett, VP Multicultural Audience Engagement, Disney
Writing Without Borders: A conversation with writers who have no creative borders and have collaborated with filmmakers from the U.S., Latin America and around the world.
Participants are: Mauricio Katz Screenwriter Maniac & Zero Zero Zero, Sebastián Hoffman, Screenwriter and Director of Time Share & Halley, David Barraza, Screenwriter of No Man´s Land. Moderator: Christine Davila.
Additionally, the festival will be continuing the WIP Latino Program:
The festival will also continue the WORK IN PROGRESS (WIP LATINO) program: This program aims to support emerging talent by helping narrative and documentary feature films in post-production. Past winners have included award winning films such as I’m No Longer Here. This year, 9 films will compete in the WIP Latino of the GuadaLAjara Film Festival with 7 countries including the USA with a Latin production made in Los Angeles. The winning film will receive a cash award of $10,000.
One of the previous WIP Latino films I’m No Longer Here directed Fernando Frías de la Parra is country of Mexico’s Academy Awards candidate for Best International Feature.
The drive of the festival is to showcase Latinx talent and include those who are second and third generation Latinos in the United States. This is key because normally the stories that get told about Mexicanos and Latinx in film are those of recent immigrants. This year’s programming will center on stories around our commonalities across cultures. You can watch the press conference here.
https://www.facebook.com/FICGinLA/videos/695734844652657/
The festival will be celebrating the leaders behind vital organizations that help pave the way to a better future for all Latinos. Its inaugural honoree will be Monica Ramirez, CEO and Founder of Justice4Women Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports migrant women and promotes better living and working conditions. 100% of this year’s net box office will be donated to the Justice4Women Foundation.
You can get more information at the festival’s website here: https://www.ficginla.com/