*
By Maribel Falcón, Remezcla
CineFest, the nation’s oldest running Latino film festival, just wrapped in San Antonio, Texas, a city recently deemed the probable birthplace of the breakfast taco. In addition to it’s food fame, San Antonio is the cultural corazón of Texas and maintains a community of raza that support the arts. So it makes sense, that 38 years ago, CineFest was born during the Chicano movement and why it continues to hold a space in the city’s historic Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.
Contrary to the typical film festival fashion of premiering a new blockbuster on opening night, CineFest chose to pay homage to the 1995 classic, Mi Familia, directed by Gregory Nava. The epic drama stars some of the most recognized Latino/a actors in the industry, including Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, Lupe Ontiveros, and Edward James Olmos. Mi Familia remains a cult classic for the Latino/a community and serves as an epic representation of our culture. CineFest proved, with this choice, that they are festival for the people who celebrates #CineSoBrown.
In it’s simplest form, it’s a story about three generations of a family in East LA. The narrative encompasses many issues still relevant to us today – migration from Mexico for a better life, unjust deportation policies, and the consistent incarceration and targeting of poor men of color by police. It also honors the indigenous influence on our spirituality and how these beliefs guide our life choices.
Click HERE to read the full story.