Tampa Bay Latin International Film Festival

Don’t miss the Tampa Bay Latin International Film Festival on September 16th at the Auditorium at Creative Pinellas. During the Festival, you will experience two 40-50 minute segments of short films. Each segment will have an average of 4-8 short films with a 40-minute intermission. During the intermission, we will invite dialogue around the theme with the organizers and artists who co-create an opportunity for exploring, learning, and sharing. Free and open to the public.

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Schedule

4:00 pm: Opening Reception

5:00 pm: First film segment

Barrier – Director Jorge Armando Pattroni

2 mins, 24 sec

Jorge A. Pattroni was born in Lima, Peru in September 11 2002. He’s an independent filmmaker currently studying image and sound design at Buenos Aires University. He won the best student music video at the Buenos Aires Music Video Fest 2022 with his music Video América TV. He has also worked in many other short films including fiction and documentaries.

Story:

Killa, a young Quechua-speaking girl, approaches Francisco, a wealthy man, but when he does not understand her, a dissonance is generated between their two perspectives.

Nervios – Director Frank Roméu

6 mins, 27 sec

Story:

A Cuban immigrant discovers the reality of patriotism and identity as he celebrates his newfound citizenship in America.

Aroma de Azucenas – Director Julián Garnik

9 mins, 51 sec

Julián Garnik is a filmmaker from Carolina, Puerto Rico currently based out of Austin, TX. His films have been awarded and screened at various international festivals, amongst them the Oregon Short Film Festival, Rincón International Film Festival, and the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival. As a commercial videographer and editor, he’s had the chance of working with clients like Adidas, Zeiss, and the Hispanic Federation.

Story:

A look into the legacy of Saúl Dávila, a legendary flower street vendor in Puerto Rico who has stood the test of time and sold a unique flower called azucena almost everyday for the last 50 years, resisting the widespread automatization and displacement of jobs like his to become an iconic symbol of our people’s cultural tradition.

El Sazon – Director William Zimmerman

10 mins

Will Zimmerman is a senior at Wake Forest University pursuing a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Creative Studies.

Story:

The English language doesn’t have a direct translation for “Sazón,” and that’s befitting. If payoff is in the bite, sazón is in the ten-thousand hours – learning the craft and the ingredients, the procedures and the ways. It’s ephemeral, intangible, and at the same time, distinct and known, dancing and delightful on the tip of the tongue. Somewhere, sazón is the sweet bouquet of grandma’s meatballs, smothered in their basily-tomatoey paste. Elsewhere, sazón is the fusion of blended spices, passed down across as many generations as the brick grill atop which the vegetables have always been prepared. In Winston-Salem, N.C., Tin recognizes sazón in the masterstroke of Beto’s tacos. Recognizing and replicating, though, are hardly one and the same.

Fairy Rice Mother – Director Joelle Velez

*Puerto Rican female filmmaker

12 mins, 13 sec

Story:

Fairy Rice Mother is a charming comedic short centered around family, identity, and rice. When Ruby’s attempt at making her family’s traditional rice dish goes terribly wrong, her late abuela sends her help in the form of Francis, a hardass magical expert who’s ready to kick Ruby’s rice into shape.

Hot Latin Nights – Director Franco Vidal

16 mins

Franco Vidal is a Peruvian filmmaker based in Los Angeles with a BA in Film Production from California State University, Northridge. He is currently earning his MFA in Film Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts as a recipient of the George Lucas Family Foundation scholarship. He continues to make films about Latinx culture and his community.

Story:

The Granada, a nightclub owned by the famed salsa singer Tony “El Tío” Lopez is closing down. El Tío’s nephew had no intention of attending the closing night, until the girl next door asks him to save the last dance for her. Now all he needs to do is learn how to salsa dance.

Coach Herman Valdez and the Secret Weapon-OVERLOAD – Director Austin Ronald Janowsky

20 mins

Austin Janowsky is an American actor-screenwriter-director. To date he has written, directed and produced over a dozen films/tv pilots. He is also an actor that booked roles on Apple +, NETFLIX, Amazon, Oxygen, Peacock, Lifetime.

Austin Janowsky has also work as a comic book artist since 1994 for Marvel Comics, Image Comics, IDW, Dynamite Ent. Devils Due and others. Janowsky’s most recent comic is his all age holiday series “Stanley The Snowman” with Scout Comics.

Austin Janowsky grew up in Upstate NY – New Hartford, NY. He is the son of Ron and Kay Janowsky. Austin was in musicals and theater is entire school career and being named “Most Theatrical” his senior year. After he graduated, He moved to Florida where he lives by the ocean with his Wife. He has 4 adult children.

Story: Filmmaker Austin Janowsky interviews the Innovative High School Basketball coach Herman Valdes and talk with him about his storied career and how his faith helped create innovative plays like The Overload that brought him to the Pinnacle l of his profession!

6:00 pm: Discussion

7:00 pm: Second film segment

Meet Los Parents – Director Joey Medina Los

 3 mins, 43 sec

Joey Medina born and raised in The Bronx, New York was distain to become a Writer, Producer & Director.

In 2006 Joey created and produced and hosted, “Latin Palooza,” a comedy special shot live in front of 1,300 people. The DVD was picked up and distributed by Image Entertainment.
Since then Joey has produced and directed five music videos for pop , rap and rock artists.
In 2009, Joey produced and directed another comedy special titled, “Cholo Comedy Slam,” this time adding a musical acts along with stand-up comedians. The event was shot in Los Angeles in front of 2000 people and was picked up and distributed by Latin Fusion Entertainment.
Joey also wrote, produced and directed his first short horror film, MISSING. As a professional comedian most of his filmmaking projects were comedies, so he wanted to produce a horror film that was as dark and disturbing as possible. He set out to make a film that would be hard to watch for the viewer. He wanted the viewer to experience what the victims in the film were going through.

Having almost zero budget, he built many props himself and designed many of the makeup effects as well. Joey spent about six weeks preparing for the shoot, including writing and casting. The shoot itself took three days with a partial crew for only half the time.
The film went on to win Best Director and Best screenplay in the 2015 International Horror Realm Film Festival and the Award of Excellence in the 2015 Ricon International Film Festival in Puerto Rico along with an Award of Merit in the 2015 Indie Fest Film Awards.
Joey Medina also wrote, produce, directed, edited as well as stared in his own single camera style sitcom called “Man of a Funny Age.”
Most recently Joey just wrote, produced and directed a powerful short film called, “The Lesson.’ Jon Kelly from “Access Hollywood” calls the film “Stone Cold Powerful.”
Joey is currently a content producer on a syndicated game show called, “Funny You Should Ask.” He continues to expand his knowledge and passion for filmmaking and production.

Story:

A caucasian man is nervous to meet his Mexican girlfriend’s parents for the first time.

Los(t) Suenos – Director Jakub Chlouba

 6 mins

Jakub is a freelance director and cinematographer currently based between Switzerland and Barcelona. He is fascinated by what it means to be a human and strives to express it through his work. He believes that through stories we as humans can be inspired and motivated to take a step toward our better selves and thus a better world.

He specializes in branded content, documentary, and adventure travel. His strong ability to connect with people on a deep human level helps him tell authentic stories.

Story:

After the tragic loss of his young daughter, Anderson decides to leave his home country of Venezuela and forge his own path in life. Moving to Buenos Aires with nothing, he becomes a bicycle messenger in order to make a living. This is his story.

Alma – Director Iris Reyes

7 mins

Iris Reyes is Puerto Rican Filmmaker, Screenwriter and Producer. She is also the Director of the Tampa Bay Latin International Film Festival. She often works on set as a Script Supervisor and 1st and 2nd AD. She’s moved into more roles recently, including as a Unit Production Manager and a Line Producer. She currently co-owns a production company named iReyes Films, LLC. Alma was produced and written by her and specifically for the film festival. This film is her Directorial Debut.

Story: Alma, Spanish for soul, is short Horror film that reflects the pain of a Latina. We follow a young women, Violet, through her home and see how the opinions of her family and friends affect her identity and soul.

The Laundry Machine – Director Noemi Lopez

16 mins

Noemi Lopez is a Mexican-American producer, director, and cinematographer. She has pursued her BFA degree at The University of Tampa with a minor in Business Administration in 2021. She has worked in several productions ranging from features, shorts, and commercials. She has held different job titles from each department located in the Tampa Bay, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami areas. Noemi has had the prodigious opportunity of being selected to attend the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 where she took part in three days of filmmaking workshops, Q&As with directors, and even had the opportunity to walk the red carpet with some of the greats.

Her plan for the future is to create her own film company and be a successful film producer for her community. It is her ultimate goal to be honored at the Academy Awards and bring home an

Story:

A college student goes into an unexpected adventure to his future.

Translators – Director Rudy Valdez

21 mins

Rudy Valdez is a two time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker committed to creating social, cultural, and political stories through a cinematic and meaningful lens. He got his start in film as a Camera Operator on the Peabody Award-winning, Sundance series Brick City and went onto direct a true passion project, The Sentence (HBO). Shot and directed by Valdez over the course of a decade, this feature documentary tells the very personal story of his sister’s plight in the criminal justice system while tackling subjects like mandatory minimums and sentencing reform. For this work, the filmmaker won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, US Documentary Audience Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was a 2018 Critics Choice Documentary Awards Best New Director nominee.

Prior to The Sentence, Valdez has worked as a Cinematographer on a multitude of projects including: The Last Patrol (HBO), directed by Academy Award-nominated Director Sebastian Junger; Whoopi Goldberg presents Moms Mabley: I Got Something To Tell You (HBO) produced and directed by Whoopi Goldberg, premiering at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival; Remembering the Artist, Robert De Niro, Sr., (HBO), premiering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival; The Conversation Series, a New York Times OpDoc; the series Second Coming?: Will Black America Decide the 2012 Election? (BET); Prison Dogs, directed by Primetime Emmy Award-winning Director Geeta Gandbhir and Perri Peltz, premiering at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival; Buried Above Ground, directed by Ben Selkow, premiering at the Woodstock Film Festival; as well as, The Talk (PBS), directed by Academy Award-nominated Director Sam Pollard.

Valdez’s most recent project, ReOpening Night, a feature film about The Public Theater’s staging of a beloved New York City institution, Shakespeare in the Park, following the COVID-19 pandemic. It premiered on HBO Max in December. This past summer, Breakaway, a feature film following WNBA superstar, Maya Moore and her fight for criminal justice reform, premiered on ESPN in July 2021 (produced by Rockin’ Robin Productions); and its complementary short, Make Him Known, premiered at the 2021 Miami Film Festival and made appearances at the Sarasota Film Festival, The Brooklyn Film Festival, Minneapolis Film Festival, and Nantucket Film Festival. His four-part docu-series, We Are: The Brooklyn Saints (produced by Imagine Documentaries), is currently streaming on Netflix. He also co-directed the premiere episode of Through Our Eyes (HBO) alongside Academy Award-winning director Geeta Gandbhir, a four-part docu-series from Sesame Workshop that explores the lives of American families from the perspective of children; how they navigate their circumstances with their families and the world at large. He is also in production on the definitive feature documentary of Carlos Santana (produced by Imagine Documentaries) and Disney +’s CHOIR, a docu-series following the Detroit Youth Choir after their star turn on America’s Got Talent (also produced by Imagine Documentaries). Valdez’s repertoire now extends into the scripted arena as he recently sold a genre TV series he created that is loosely based on his family and life experiences as well as a Feature film he will direct based on a story written by Valdez that is slated to shoot in the Spring.

Story:

In the United States, there are over 11 million child translators. Our story follows Harye, Densel, and Virginia as they translate for their parents in everyday situations.

 

About

The Tampa Bay Latin International Film Festival seeks to uplift Latine stories and filmmakers of all ages and stages of life by exploring Latin America’s emerging and established talent in film through documentaries or short Latin American films to the Tampa Bay community. Our hope is to fuel connection, deepening engagement and knowledge of the Latinx community by providing more outlets for these extraordinary voices in film, not typically seen in commercial theaters, we will explore the incredibly diverse perspectives that Latin America has to offer the world. As we learn more and promote Latina/o/x/e film, art, theater and music throughout Tampa Bay.

For MiGente MiPueblo’s 4th Annual Movida, the festival invites the audience to reflect on the theme ¿y quien es mi gente? Mis Raices & My Identity. Our roots are black, indigenous, white. Our shared identity is intersectional and emergently complex. We need to get to know who we are together and with each other. This Festival will further a dialogue that will create greater understanding and empathy for others, while growing the network of advocates for a thriving community.  Tampa Bay Latin Festival will accept submissions through September 8th, 2023.

More Info TBLIFF