Festival a bountiful feast

This year’s San Diego Latino Film Festival is celebrating its Sweet 16 and there’s no prouder papa than festival founder/executive director Ethan Van Thillo.

“We founded the SDLFF 16 years ago as a small student festival called Cine Estudiantil, and we were the only festival of its kind showcasing Chicano and Latino student work,” Van Thillo said.

What began as a showcase for university and high school students to participate in screenings, discussions and community action projects has grown into an 11-day event that’s one of the top local film fests. In addition to showcasing student work, the event strives to screen the latest and best features and documentaries from all over Latin America, Spain and the U.S.

This year’s lineup of more than 150 movies includes Sundance and Cannes festival winners. Van Thillo estimates a record turnout of 20,000 people, and those in attendance get to meet and greet some major names in international cinema. John Leguizamo, Barbara Mori, Jaime Camil, Andy Garcia, Eduardo Yanez, plus many others, were scheduled to appear at festival events beginning March 12.

The first festivals were held at Mesa College, San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego, followed by screenings at the University of Baja California in Tijuana and the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park. Not that the early presentations were always scintillating. Van Thillo likened the festival’s salad days to “forcing people to listen to panel discussions in classroom seating.”

In 1998, the festival changed its strategy when it shifted from a multi-venue academic setting to a mainstream theater.

“Learning how to use multiple screens was a huge change in the festival,” Van Thillo said. “As soon as we moved to Horton Plaza where patrons could eat popcorn, more people started coming. That’s when the festival took off.”

Pausing to laugh, he added:  “It suddenly dawned on us: This is why multiplexes exist!”

The change in venue also enticed more sponsors, being attractive to corporations that aimed to reach the expanding Latino market through film and other media. By clustering different Latin communities under the festival umbrella, often in commercial multiplex spaces, the SDLFF became a hub of financial interest as well as creative synergies. That, in turn, raised the public profile of the festival.

Van Thillo was also blessed to have what he calls “built-in media” working in the festival’s favor.

“In some markets, L.A. for instance, some of the most listened-to radio stations are the Spanish language ones” he said. “We have about $250,000 in media support in kind every year to help back up the festival.”

The fest has been fortunate to ride the wave of interest in Latino entertainment in general.

“Since we started, huge things have been happening in the Latino entertainment world,” Van Thillo said. “Whether it’s Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz or Gael Garcia Bernal, there was suddenly this huge interest in Latino entertainment that’s been building over the years.”

In addition to providing a diversity of Latino cinema, the festival has done an exceptional job of giving guests a rewarding experience. What makes it so distinctive is that not only can you sample films from such countries as Peru, Brazil, and Mexico but you can attend parties and even encounter visiting artists in the lobby of UltraStar Mission Valley.

“I always feel very comfortable when we’re programming the festival,” Van Thillo said, “because I can screen a very commercial film that appeals to fans of telenovellas and at the next screen over I can show a Cannes festival winner. As a programmer, being able to screen different films at once is fantastic.”

Special events for the 2009 San Diego Latino Film Festival include the Third Annual Cine’Mation (devoted to animation), Fourth Annual Cine Gay, Third Annual Borders on Film, and Made in Spain: A Celebration of Spanish Cinema.

When asked about his personal favorites this year, Van Thillo said, “I am excited about the films that are not really the most popular. For example, Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light. He has been at Cannes the past three years and is better known in Europe than in his own country, Mexico. I’m thrilled to be able to screen Silent Light, (Albert Serra’s) Birdsong, and Carlos Saura’s Fados. These are great art house films that otherwise won’t see the light of day (in San Diego) except at our film festival.”

Festival Highlights (to date):

Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “Sin Nombre”

First-time director Cary Joji Fukunaga turns what could be just another “run for the border” picture into a taut socio-political suspense thriller with more than a few nods to film noir. Fukunaga’s firsthand experiences with immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this Spanish-language movie. Fans of “City of God” are sure to admire “Sin Nombre’s” tough, accurate depiction of Central American gang life as well as the film’s uncanny knack for establishing place and character.

Both Mr. Fukunaga and lensman Adriano Goldman took home this year’s Directing Award and the Excellence in Cinematography Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Those that missed “Sin Nombre” still have a chance to catch it when it opens on April 3 at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas.

Laura Castañeda’s “The Devil’s Breath”

During a recent phone interview, local filmmaker Laura Castañeda could barely contain her glee. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “This is my first movie and already it’s in competition at a film festival.” The film derives its title from the name the Native Americans have given the hot, dry Santa Ana winds. This 40-minute documentary tells a harrowing story: Among the 11 casualties of the 2007 San Diego County firestorm were seven undocumented Mexicans who died trying to make their way into the United States.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s “The Garden”

One of this year’s Academy Award-nominated Best Documentaries tells the tale of a 14-acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles that was created in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King riots. The film chronicles the fight South Central farmers had to put up in order to save the patch of land, the largest urban garden of its kind in the U.S. Another superb documentary from the small, but venturesome Oscilloscope Pictures.

Among the films still to come:

Monique Gardenberg’s “Ó Paí, Ó” (Thursday at 8 p.m.)

A carnival of odd, infectious and thoroughly engaging sights and sounds that could pass for Brazil’s answer to “Mamma Mia,” were the latter situated in a falling down tenement house. Based on Márcio Meirelles’ popular 1992 play, “Ó Paí, Ó” (pronounced aw-pah-EE-aw, meaning “look at that”) is a joyous, sometimes silly and often carnal musical comedy.

Gerardo Herrero’s “Que Parezca un Accidente” (Thursday at 10:30 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.)

Veteran producer/director Gerardo Herrero casts Carmen Maura (”Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “Volver”) as a widow who acquires the services of a hit man to kill her son-in-law after learning that he’s been unfaithful to her daughter. Federico Luppi (”The Devil’s Backbone,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”) plays her gun-for-hire, an expert in the art of eliminating unfaithful husbands in this funny, fast-paced black comedy.

Francisco Javier Gutierrez’s “Before the Fall” (Thursday at 10:15 p.m.)

This sci-fi thriller, produced by Antonio Banderas, places the earth in the path of a giant meteorite that’s poised to destroy it in 72 hours. Alejandro (Víctor Clavijo) decides to drink and dance away his remaining three days until he finds himself forced to care for his brother’s children. Unlike its American counterparts, “Before the Fall” is more concerned with its characters rather than computer generated mayhem. It’s a startling and surprisingly assured debut feature that has “cult classic” written all over it.

Scott Marks, author of the blog Emulsion Compulsion and co-host of KPBS-Radio’s Film Club of the Air, is an SDNN contributor.

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