Join us on Saturday June 28 starting at 11am for special screenings as part of the 2025 Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival.

Programming:

@11am Cold

Cold tells the story of Carmen, a Latina woman who wakes up in a strange house and is given 1,000 days to fix the vehicle in her driveway or spend the rest of her life in purgatory. Throughout the film, Carmen must battle her harsh environment, isolation, and her rapidly declining mental and physical health. Cold is a story of depression, loss and trauma re-lived on repeat day after day after day. As such we want the audience to feel Carmen’s frustration and pain while on the hamster wheel of despair. Cold explores the pain of losing a child to suicide and a mother’s struggle to move on.

@11:45am Un Actor se prepara

En plena crisis venezolana, Roque, un actor shakesperiano adicto al crack, ve desvanecerse su sueño de interpretar Hamlet. Tras la huida de su productor, Roque enloquece y asesina a su casera y su hija. Atormentado por la culpa y los fantasmas de sus víctimas, finge inocencia hasta que sucumbe a la locura.

@12:45pm ROCKOLANDIA: LAS CABRITAS

ROCKOLANDIA is a Spanish language animated musical series, set in a fairytale world, where classic characters come to life and embark on funny musical adventures.

The first season, “Las Cabritas”, focuses on 7 little goats who outwit the villainous, dopey, and hungry Big Bad Wolf. Join the fun and laughter as the little goats, along with their family and friends, sing and dance their way through this musical world.”

@1:45pm Hotel Amor

When the hotel where workaholic Catarina works is sold, she must prove her competence in managing unprofessional staff, catering to the whims of eccentric guests and dealing with ghosts from the past brought back by an unexpected friend. Can she keep her position as manager?

@3:30pm Action & Thriller Shorts Block

The Inconvenience Store
In the year 2065, planet Earth is plagued by toxic air and brutal climate conditions, making daily survival a struggle. At a remote gas station in Nowheresville, California, a shopkeeper, Hiro; a stranded traveler, Tonya; and a gruff trucker, Ron, clash in a heated altercation. As tensions boil, an emergency broadcast warns of extraterrestrial craft overhead, pushing Ron to flee—until a bleeding stranger, Antonio, blocks his path, claiming he saw aliens. Izzie, Hiro’s daughter, helps Antonio just as an ominous green light beams directly at them. Now the group must decide whether to trust the approaching beings or prepare for a fight that could change the fate of the universe forever.

The Super
“The story of a brutal killer and the person he fears most.” The Super, a deadly tool, forged by years of abuse. He carries out his daily tasks while avoiding the ire of the woman he fears most.

The Humming Grows
Breaking into her sister’s home, MMA fighter Jodie realizes she must free her chained niece from a brutal captor and family secrets as she fights for their escape.

Stumbling upon a photo, unveiling signs, Jodie is thrown into a horrific dynamic and forced to double down on their decision to break into the house. Starring Jewelianna Ramos-Ortiz (Cobra Kai, Black Panther), a stunt performer delivering a “dynamic performance… reshaping action cinema” (Black Belt Magazine), supported by the talents of Cade Shepard (Stranger Things), Isla Grace Sosa (Stranger Things), and popular TikTok creator Kendra Liz Blanco, the vibrant ensemble cast brings to life a captivating array of secretive characters in this refreshingly original and immensely entertaining cinematic puzzle.

Writer-director Aughbar blends twists, visuals, and cinematic techniques in a project that is “more than just an action movie” (Georgia Entertainment), debuting an honest take on the action genre, grounding it in traditional cinema techniques and a dark visual style. The film amps up the suspense, weaving in elements to captivate audiences as they navigate through the whirlwind of plot twists, ensuring they’re hooked and keeping pace. “The Humming Grows” experience feels like a studio project like no other student short films do.

Río Blanco
In his quest to hunt a pig, a man finds himself trapped on a hill.

@4:15pm Anna Mariani – Photographic Notes

The uniqueness of the architecture of the Brazilian northeastern hinterland is at the heart of the work of the photographer Anna Mariani (1935-2022). “Anna Mariani – Photographic Notes” retraces the dirt roads the artist followed between the 70s and the 90s, when she published her most famous works and helped an entire country rediscover the richness of the facades of popular houses as a phenomenon of visual perception and cultural identity.

@6:30pm Technology Influenced Shorts Block

Asterion: or, (if you mess with the bull…)
Ricky, a 30-year-old police officer, rents a hotel suite beyond his means to celebrate a role he will play in a big Hollywood movie. He spends the night indulging in alcohol and food, streaming Instagram Live videos for his “fans,” showing off the room and talking about his future on the big screen. As the night unfolds, he receives calls—some congratulating him, others criticizing his reckless behavior. Slowly, his world begins to spiral out of control.

FRANCISCAN CONTRADICTIONS
Ink and celluloid unravel the fraught dialogue between Franciscan friars and Nahua scholars, where conquest bleeds into the codices. Weaving found footage with personal reflection, this film reanimates histories of resistance and erasure, tracing the ghostly imprint of empire in Latinx memory.

All Meat Diet
ALL MEAT DIET follows Miles as he embarks on a journey to become his “best self” through fitness. As he entrenches himself in an online community of fitness fanatics that mirrors his ambitions, Miles also finds the shame he harbors reflected back at him through the voices of several of his most fervent peers.

@7:15pm Of Lore and Life Shorts Block

YANGA
In “Yanga,” a young woman embarks on a transformative journey along the Oaxacan coast, where the boundaries between dreams and reality blur. As she navigates her personal landscape of pain and loss, she discovers a vibrant ritualistic world that intertwines her experiences with the legacy of Yanga, the first liberator of African slaves in Mexico and America. Through the rhythmic pulse of cumbia, the film explores themes of resilience, identity, and the struggle for freedom. The spirit of Yanga serves as a guiding force, illuminating the strength found in community and the enduring quest for liberation. As the protagonist immerses herself in this rich cultural tapestry, she learns to embrace life’s complexities, finding hope and vitality amidst the shadows of history.

“Yanga” is a celebration of heritage and an homage to those who fought for justice, to the afromexican communities around the country.

Ilhéus
Ilhéus (The Islanders) tells the story of Esther, a young girl, living on an island, who acquires special skills after being saved from a mysterious accident at sea.

Nightmare of La Lechuza
In a sleepy town, an ancient owl known as La Lechuza swoops down on Fern’s humble abode, then transforms into Primitiva, an immortal, witchy owl woman. Enter Chello, an overeager Lechuza-in-training, crashing the hunt. Chaos ensues as Fern turns the owl-witches against each other with a dash of wit and a pinch of salt. As tempers flare and feathers fly, Chello finds her voice against the critical Primitiva. But when Primitiva refuses to retire from her South Texas post, Chello questions her future as a fearsome Lechuza in Rio Grande Valley.

Yaa Ye’e: Deidades de Cuarzo
Mixtec-Zapotec antiquity reverberates in an instant. Their ancient voices whisper the memory of time and invoke deities that reveal deep secrets etched in stone. Quartz Deities is a look at the ungraspable, a liminal window that leads to mineral memories where the apparent univocal directionality of time is interrupted, diluted with the forces of nature and the cosmos.

@8pm Julia VIVE

“Julia de Burgos (a free spirit light-years ahead of her time), broke the mold that 20th century society had set for women. Born & raised in the rural poverty of 1914 Puerto Rico, Julia surmounted many challenges, becoming a renowned poet & journalist, an assertive freedom fighter and a brave defender of workers’ & women’s rights. 

“Julia VIVE” is a feature-length dramatic documentary which harmonizes the narrative lyricism of fiction with the educational lineament of the documentary genre… a joyous artistic convergence that honors the life, work & legacy of the iconic Puerto Rican poet JULIA DE BURGOS (1914-1953), nurtured by the historical & socio-political contexts of her life in Cuba & New York from 1939 until her untimely death in 1953.

Our film’s documentary thread is fueled by elements of Julia de Burgos’ brief -but intense- life and her posthumous fame, validated by interviews with important international academic & cultural experts on her legacy, and supported by abundant archival photos & footage (from 1920s – 1950s Puerto Rico, Cuba & NYC).

They are enriched by fiction vignettes of Julia’s life (well-crafted 1930-50’s period recreations) that portray her intense spirit, sensibility, passions and the splendor of her poetic work, featuring a talented cast, meticulous period styling & production values that proudly honor her legacy. We are very honored and grateful by the generous & enthusiastic support of Julia de Burgos’ family to our film. “

Learn more and secure your tickets at https://phlaff25.eventive.org/schedule

Related Events

• 

  Winter Holiday Party & Fundraiser: Share Your Story

  December 12 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm