2021 Latin and Latino American Film Festival

The Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures began its annual Latin American and Latino Film Festival on Wednesday, September 8, presenting “Who Is Dayani Cristal?”, a moving exploration of one man’s story of attempting to cross the border and the Sonoran desert to make a better life for his family.  The film further explores the human toll the current immigration laws exact.  The third of its kind, this film festival will feature five movies from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and the U.S., all of which focus on the issue of immigration and LGBTQIIA+rights. The films will be presented in the Pattee Auditorium, or CSB 100 at 7:00pm.  Upcoming films include:  “Chinese Tale” from Argentina on September 22, “The Journey of Monalisa” from Chile on October 6, “The Return” from Costa Rica on October 27, and ending with “The Wall” a Latin American film, on November 10.

Larissa Pothoven, a senior at Monmouth and the Media Manager for the Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures Department, warns other students not to miss this opportunity. “I think they would be missing out...Even if you don’t think you’re interested, you can always go once. You might be surprised at what you discover”. In our interview, Larissa mentioned her favorite part of the festival was the different perspectives that the films give, further stating “The discussions afterwards are also interesting. I appreciate hearing other people’s thoughts about the topics at hand”. Larissa continued, “The most important thing about these films is understanding different people’s lives and viewing the world through multiple perspectives”.

Faculty organizer Professor Jennifer Thorndike shares Larissa’s view on the importance of viewing the world through multiple perspectives explaining, she began working on the idea of the film festival because she wanted to bring more diverse stories to campus. “There isn’t Latina cinema in Monmouth and representation is important.  I try to make the selection as diverse as possible, different testimonies on specific topics.”

Professor Thorndike begins the process of organizing the festivals by choosing a topic.  For example, the first year of the festival the topic was mental health. “(For the first festival) I wanted something universal, like mental health, then we choose subtopics, like beauty standards, which relate to the main topic.  All the films have to relate to the main topic in some way.”  Professor Thorndike stated she tries to choose topics which are timely, as well as universal, so that viewers can identify how these topics relate to different cultures.  “(For the second festival), the topic was social movements and the protests which were happening at that time.  This year I chose immigration because (while) that is a topic that is always there; in the last year we have seen it more with the families being separated at the border. The subtopic this year is LGBTQIIA+ rights”.

After choosing the topics and subtopics, she then looks for Spanish movies which relate to these chosen themes.  This can be an exhaustive search for the right films to explore the current theme or topics for the festival, however, Professor Thorndike feels it is worth it, as the festivals have been very popular.  “It has been a full house each time, for five movies a year.  Even when we were on Zoom last year it was well attended. When we began we were in the library but have moved to Pattee auditorium so we have more room.”

While organizing the festival each year is a lot of work, Professor Thorndike is proud of the opportunities the festivals offer for students, regardless of their major. “It’s a chance for students, including students outside the Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures discipline, to relax and watch a movie and have a shared theatrical experience.   I can’t wait until we can have popcorn and the full theatre experience again, because the best lessons we receive are from art, whether it is literature, theatre or cinema... (they are) stories representing people different than yourself, to make you reflect on how you are, who you want to be, to be a good human being. That's what art does and cinema does.  It’s good to keep learning new things, all the time”.

Melanie Delbridge - Staff Writer