Latino Film Festival brings world to Hazard Center

The festival’s artistic, culturally rich banquet of engaging cinema features works by filmmakers hailing from Mexico, Spain, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, and, of course, the United States. So, if you are looking for Latino-focused films from just about anywhere on the globe, the festival offers plenty to choose from its 185 feature-length and short films screening at Hazard Center’s UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas through March 21.

“I can’t travel to all of these countries,” said Ethan Van Thillo, executive director of the Media Arts Center of San Diego, which presents the festival. “In some ways, the festival is a mini-vacation for many people. You can go to Peru, you can go to Chile through the world of cinema and see what people are doing and thinking.”

With its finger on the collective pulse of mainstream and indie cinema, the festival is a major draw for large numbers of festivalgoers hungry for Latino perspectives as envisioned by filmmakers with unique points of views from the local, national and international stages.

“We’re not a film festival that’s trying to compete with Tribeca or Sundance,” said Van Thillo, explaining the festival’s longevity and success. “We’re a film festival that’s about the local community. And the community is always at the forefront of our programming.”

There’s no question than Van Thillo knows his audience. In the mood for hard-hitting dramas or lighthearted comedies? Or maybe you have an appetite for documentaries, short films, and animation. The festival has all of those bases covered, courtesy of its careful selection process spearheaded by festival curator Lisa Franek, who is a talented filmmaker in her own right.

The festival also has more to offer than its cross section of movies screening on four screens at the Ultrastar in Mission Valley. In addition to the lineup (the full schedule is on its Web site, sdlatinofilm.com), the festival will host “Reel Talk” workshops and panel discussions where emerging filmmakers and students can network. That synergy of marathon film-viewing and community action is in sync with the Media Arts Center’s larger mission of “changing lives through film.”

If you are on the lookout for just how deeply the power of film can transform lives, there is a mother lode of evidence in the filmography of the festival’s guest director, filmmaker Leon Ichaso. The festival is screening Ichaso’s new film, 2009’s “Paraiso” (Monday at 10:30 p.m.; March 19 at 7:30 p.m., and March 21 at 3 p.m.) and his 2001 biopic “Pinero” (March 20 at 3:30 p.m.) about the late Puerto Rican poet and playwright Miguel Pinero.

News by Neil Kendricks comes from Signon San Diego.