This week marks the start of the annual San Diego Latino Film Festival. Official selections include films by San Diego and Tijuana filmmakers. Also featured are movies filmed throughout Baja California.
The films are part of several curated showcases. One of them is the Frontera Filmmakers showcase, described in part as “crafting a narrative rich in critical reflections about our common borderland environment.”
Below are five of several featured films in this year’s festival, and a list of the full schedule is available here.
'Ángel'
Marla Arreola, producer
Showing:
Monday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at AMC Mission Valley - Screen 10
Wednesday, March 20 at 7 p.m. at AMC Mission Valley - Screen 10
“Ángel” is a film about love between Ángel, a sex worker and Lu, a young, homosexual plastic artist. Marla Arreola, the film’s producer, said it’s also an exploration of love within the context of Ángel’s work, the world of art, and the way of life in Tijuana.
The idea for the film came from Hoze Meléndez, the director, writer and one of the stars of the film. Arreola said Meléndez met with sex workers to learn more about what their lives are like living along the border in Tijuana.
“Ángel'' was filmed in the Tijuana neighborhoods of Playas de Tijuana, Otay, la Colonia Anexa Buena Vista, and Santa Fe. Arreola is from Tijuana and said she was interested in working on the film because she has a strong interest in films from Baja California. The film has also been selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Arreola will be at the film screenings of the San Diego Latino Film Festival.
'Carly'
Emily Lerer, director
Shelly Ro, actor & writer
Showing:
Monday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at AMC Mission Valley - Screen 10
Wednesday, March 20 at 7 p.m. at AMC Mission Valley - Screen 10
Making its California premiere is “Carly,” a sci-fi dystopian short film. Shelly Ro, a filmmaker born and raised in Tijuana, helped write the script and she is also one of the stars in the film. Ro said she got the idea for the film during the pandemic, a time where internet use went up. She remembers receiving aggressive videos about current events, and wondering just how far it could get — could there be a point where people will root for violent events like someone getting killed?
Emily Lerer, the film’s director, said the story allowed them to tackle philosophical questions around popularity and social media and what people are willing to accept as it slowly becomes the norm. She compares it to the concept of the frog in the pot. “If your world slowly turns to something much darker, how long do you just go along with it? Could you be a perpetrator, as a member of the audience witnessing the horrors on social media, on the internet?” Lerer said.
Ro explained the film’s themes through her character, Carly. “She's very creepy, but she is convinced that she is really doing this to save the world,” Ro said. “And how many atrocities, and how many decisions, and how many awful things and fights and negativity, are we okay with? Or we're sharing, or we subscribe (to), because we think that we are in the right?”
Lerer said the short film has 90 visual effects. Ro added their goal is to expand “Carly” into a longer film.
'Going North' / 'Norte'
Natalia Bermúdez, director
Showing:
Thursday, March 21 at 8:30 p.m. at AMC Mission Valley - Screen 10
Friday, March 22 at 4:30 p.m. at AMC Mission Valley - Screen 10
“Going North” in English, or “Norte” in Spanish, is a documentary debut by Natalia Bermúdez and an intimate look at a personal journey between the filmmaker and her brother, Rodrigo, who wants to overcome his addiction to drugs.
Bermúdez said that early in her career, she felt it was important to speak about the pains that define you. The filmmaker, who was born in Tijuana, explained that “in a family with addicts, everyone is hurt and immersed in their own pain, never questioning the pain of others.”
She added some members of the film’s post production crew are addicts, and what moved them was watching the point of view of the different members of the family and what they feel. But at the same time, she said, the film also shows the pain of the addict.
The film was shot in Ensenada, Mexicali, and Tijuana. For Bermúdez, its inclusion in the festival is significant because her family views the region as a special place, and members of her family from Tijuana, Mexicali and San Diego will all be able to watch the film on the big screen. Bermúdez will be at both film’s screenings.
'Incomplete Lovers' / 'Amores incompletos'
Gilberto González Penilla, director
Showing:
Thursday, March 21 at 9 p.m. at Digital Gym Cinema
Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. at AMC Mission Valley - Screen 11
“Incomplete Lovers," or “Amores incompletos” in Spanish, is a comedy about what happens to José, a newly-widowed 65-year-old who becomes infuriated after learning his wife had three lovers. The loss of his wife and the shocking discovery of her past prompt him to take a road trip through Baja California.
Gilberto González Penilla, the writer and director of the film, said because he is from Tijuana, there was no other place he could think of to film it than the Baja California peninsula. He also said he wanted to make a film about a male character in a vulnerable situation with a touch of comedy. During his journey, José gets to know more about his wife and about himself, and he makes a change in his life. Penilla said in the end everyone laughs, they get uncomfortable, they relate, and they are moved because he is talking about universal things like death, love and family.
Penilla is also proud of the cast of the film which includes Alejandro Camacho, Patricia Bernal, Silverio Palacios, and Hoze Meléndez. The festival is the film’s California premiere, but it has already been shown in other places. Penilla will be at the screening on March 22.
'Javier Bátiz: The Iconic Musician of Tijuana'
Alejandro Tamayo, director
Showing:
Thursday, March 21 at 6:00 pm at AMC Mission Valley
Friday, March 22 at 7:15 pm at Digital GYM Cinema
The life, passion, and talent of Javier Bátiz, an icon of rock and roll and a living legend from Tijuana, is the focus of a documentary in this year’s festival. In the film, Bátiz recalls starting to play music when he was 12 years old and teaching another famous musician, Carlos Santana how to play.
“For him, music is everything,” said Alejandro Tamayo, a cross-border filmmaker and the documentary’s director. Tamayo said he considers Bátiz the pioneer of rock en español, which translates to rock music in Spanish.
Tamayo, who lives in Tijuana but was born in San Diego, also said he never thought about doing a documentary, but he received encouragement from award-winning filmmaker Paul Espinosa during a conversation while on a photo assignment.
Tamayo, who also works as a journalist, said while filming Bátiz at a concert, he felt an immediate sensation to capture the guitarist’s talents and he was inspired after listening to him play a guitar solo.
It’s unclear if Bátiz will attend the film screenings. He’s been battling health complications and a GoFundMe page was created to help Bátiz with his medical costs. Tamayo will be at both film’s screenings.
