SF Latino Film Festival —Bay Area Shorts Program – Arts & Culture

The Bay Area is home to many artists. This showcase introduces us to a few established and emerging talent in the performing and visual arts. Their identity as immigrants and POC is reflected in their work. 

Filmmakers invited. Q&A after the screening.

Mouth of A Shark
Cuba/USA
Director: Jamaica Itule Simmons
Runtime: 34m
Synopsis: Ramón Ramos Alayo, a native of Santiago de Cuba and long time Bay Area resident is many things:  Like many immigrants, Ramón Ramos Alayo lives in two worlds physically and emotionally. He carries his Cuban homeland in his heart and in his work- as a choreographer, dancer, teacher and founder and artistic director of Alayo Dance Company and CubaCaribe.. Simmons captures the source of his creative inspiration and the creation of dance piece “Mouth of Shark” as performed by Alayo Dance Company.

A Place to Call Home: An Inside Look at La Peña’s Rotating Mural Project
USA
Director: Clara Perez Medina
Runtime: 10m
Synopsis: Three generations of artists map the contours of their communities onto a rotating mural wall in the Latinx community center La Peña Cultural Center.

Por El Pueblo, The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya
Director: Claudia A. Escobar
Runtime: 15m
Synopsis: For nearly five decades, Malaquías Montoya’s posters, graphic prints, and murals have been instrumental in articulating the Chicano identity and advocating for political and social justice causes. Montoya continues to inspire younger generations within the Chicano community and beyond, leaving behind a powerful legacy of activism and public service.

Parole
USA
Director: Lazaro González González
Runtime: 25m
Synopsis: Amidst the bustling streets of San Francisco, WhatsApp audio messages become my sole connection to my mother after several years of exile. Now, her yearning for reunion hinges on the fragile hope of the Biden Administration’s Humanitarian Parole for Cubans. Despite everybody around her leaving, she urges me to listen to what I left behind. As I wrestle with the dissonance of academic challenges and the relentless hum of rent worries, my response takes the form of a love letter that echoes my present.