Photo courtesy of Jhon Hernandez.

When Jhon Hernandez came to Tyler Station’s microcinema Spacy with the idea to show more Latin American films, he was just planning to volunteer to help put on a screening series. Instead, his suggestion to show a few films became the annual Latin American Film Festival of Dallas (LAFFD), cofounded by Tony Nguyen.

“The idea behind the festival is that we want to bring the best of Latin American cinema that isn’t coming to Dallas,” Hernandez, who serves as the LAFFD festival director, said.

This year marks the third rendition and will show 10 screenings running from March 27-29, including films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States.

Many of the films involved in this year’s festival will also premiere in North America, Texas or DFW for the first time. Each has been carefully selected to “be an all killer, not filler kind of line up,” he said.

When determining the lineup for the festival, Hernandez said he primarily focuses on films that take place in Latin America with a director that is most likely Latin American.

“The only exception to this is I try to find a movie that’s set in the U.S. This year, we’re showing a movie called Mad Bills to Pay, which is a movie that takes place in New York in the Bronx, about characters who have Dominican heritage,” he said. “So there’s a lot of Spanish, there’s a lot of English, and it’s set in the U.S., but it’s about the Latin American experience in the United States.”

Often themes also emerge once the pieces are selected. With last year’s festival, two movies shown dealt a lot with prison and that was a theme that emerged without intention, Hernandez said.

“And I think that’s usually what happens, and I’m not looking to establish a particular theme with the festival or the movies that we pick,” he said. “I’m interested in the variety of what’s out there. I’m interested in the many different ways they are making movies in Latin America, and it really is up to the filmmakers to establish those things.”

One new addition to the film festival’s line up this year is LAFFD’s first showing of an animated film, titled Olivia and the Clouds.

“There’s not a tradition that I think people are aware of regarding Latin American animation,” Hernandez said. “It’s very exciting that we’re able to show it. I think it’s something unique and most people probably haven’t really had much exposure to.”

Other new aspects of this year’s festival include an airbrush T-shirt workshop in collaboration with artist Christian Octavio Román and 20% of ticket sales will go to Vecinos Unidos DFW.

“Obviously, as a Latin American person, I’m Colombian, and I live in Dallas, and I live in the United States, it’s impossible to ignore what’s happening in our country,” Hernandez said. “So even though the movies themselves don’t speak about everything that’s going on right now, like immigration, I feel like we still need to do our part.” 

Tickets are on sale now with the opportunity to purchase a weekend pass for $50. To view the full festival schedule, click here.