Crime, violence and poverty are often depicted in films about Latin America.
But Latin American Film Festival of Dallas co-founders Jhon Hernandez and Tony Nguyen want to challenge those stereotypes.
鈥淲e're trying to combat these images of violence and poverty and show that there's plenty of other things, plenty of other subjects, plenty of other ways of making films in these countries,鈥� Hernandez, also the festival鈥檚 director, said. 鈥淭hat doesn't mean ignoring it, but it means finding a new way to tackle it.鈥�
The second annual festival, which runs from March 21-23, will bring 11 Latin American films to the screen at the 鈥渕icrocinema鈥� Spacy, founded by Nguyen.
鈥淭here's not a lot of Latin American cinema that really plays in Dallas,鈥� Hernandez said. Part of the issue is 鈥渢here's not many Latin American films that get picked up for distribution.鈥�
Hernandez, who grew up in Colombia, has lived in Dallas for about 25 years. The film enthusiast posts critical reviews on his blog and curated the films to be shown this year.
The films at this year鈥檚 festival reflect different time periods, styles, subject matter and countries of origin, hailing from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
鈥淩eally, the most important thing is to have a wide variety and not just the standard style that a film festival will have, but rather a lot of different approaches,鈥� Hernandez said.
One of the films being shown this year is Greice, by Brazilian director Leonardo Mouramateus. The story follows its titular heroine Greice, a Brazilian university student in Portugal who returns to her hometown after an incident at a party.
While Mouramateus said many Brazilian films focus on landscapes like S茫o Paulo and the favelas, the director said Greice explores new views of Portugal and Brazil. And though the story is about immigration, Mouramateus said he didn鈥檛 root it in the poverty or pain that is typically associated with immigrant narratives.
鈥淸Immigrants] travel, they go to another place to live their dreams, to feel pleasure,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd every human being has this potential, this ability. For me, Greice is about this freedom of moving.鈥�
If anything, the story focuses on the flawed but endearing Greice, who鈥檚 prone to lying and scheming. Mouramateus said he doesn鈥檛 like stories that portray heroes as only morally good.
鈥�I really like the idea of a correct character that even if we don't agree with their decisions, we are seduced by them,鈥� he said.
The festival will also screen Bionico鈥檚 Bachata from the Dominican Republic, El Mirador from Mexico and Malqueridas from Chile, among other films.
The event will kick off with an opening night mixer at the Oak Cliff brewery. Pre-recorded Q&As with directors will play after some of the films.
Details
March 21-23 at Spacy, 1300 S. Polk St. #160a, Dallas, Texas 75224. $50. .
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