Festival Review: NYLFF Is PR Pride
For years, I have screamed from the mountain tops. NYLFF is one of the funnest film festivals. Of course, I love being Latina, and inherently think we are a good time. Yet, seeing the Warner Bros backed festival grow has been fun. It is nice to have a moment where you feel special, celebrated.
From , the films this year ranged from heartfelt documentaries to future blockbusters. Red carpets, panels, and VIP lounges swept a week full of pure, film love and a sincere question that has plagued our community since… forever… ¨How do we get more representation? What does represent us?¨ In this sense, NBC truly came through with some fun, insightful forums that discuss the blocks we have always had: as the biggest ¨minority¨ part of our systemic erasure, in this country, is lack of representation. After all, you cannot be the majority or a big group, if we never see you. Yet, the openness in the festival to see how our many definitions all lead to cheer is what moved me, and NBC, particularly via their panel, A Filmmaker’s Guide to NBCUniversal, gave us a blueprint.
Bad Bunny said is so perfectly, ¨Ahora todos quieren ser Latino, pero les faltan sazón!¨ It is true! Latinos have a certain flavor to us, and our optimism and cheer, which is often either bullied or criticized, is the very heart of that sazón. A history of extermination and endangerment has not killed that we know how to party and crack a few jokes in between, which is something I hope NYLFF considers adding in the upcoming years, especially with HBO´s involvement… some Latin Standup…. and some music too. Alright, I’m getting greedy, but here is why.
Of the many film festivals that I have seen, I do wish NYLFF got bigger in every way. Tribeca and NYFF have added music, fashion, and food , and frankly that would the creme de la creme of NYLFF. It is too fun not to go bigger, to joyous and genuine in its celebration of us to not broaden its display of our facets, and I think it can conquer the world in the same way it shows, via film, the world has never conquered us. Wrapping the event was a celebration of the Puerto Rican diaspora, in cinema, that was enough to ignite WEPA´s across the universe. Check pics above
