The sixth annual Boston Latino International Film Festival (BLIFF) opened last Saturday and is showing films through Oct. 21 at theaters around Boston. The festival is the creation of Jose Barriga, a producer raised in Peru who immigrated to the United States 11 years ago.
According to the festival's Web site, BLIFF features 77 films covering many different aspects of Latin American culture, including films produced by Latinos and those "pertaining to social issues of Latino communities in the [United States] and Latin America." The films come from more than 16 different countries.
"There are a lot of misinterpretations and misconceptions about Latinos in the United States, and one of our objectives was to bring ... a more precise, a more accurate picture of what Latin America is culturally and socio-economically," Barriga said.
According to Barriga, by the end of the festival, more than 7,500 people will have attended. He is excited about; the festival's growing popularity since its creation five years ago.
The films will appear in many different venues, including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Coolidge Corner Theater, Harvard Film Archives, Kendall Square Theater and the Howard Thurman Center at Boston University.
Some highlights from this coming weekend include "Bragging Rights: Stickball Stories" (2006), an hour-long film directed by Sonia Gonzalez, which will be shown at the Howard Thurman Center. The film tells the story of a few amateur players from the Bronx and how their experiences with the game changed not only their perception of other races, but their lives. "Bragging Rights" will run today at 6:30 p.m. in the Howard Thurman Center. All films at this center are free and open to the public.
Also notable is "Lost and Found in Mexico," directed by Caron Cross. Winner of Best Documentary of the festival, the film tells the story of a couple that vacationed in Mexico and then decided to move there and retire early. "Lost and Found in Mexico" is also playing tonight at the Howard Thurman Center at 8:00 p.m.
Selena Acosta's 50-minute short called "Democracy in Action: Venezuelan Elections 2006" will show at Boston University on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. A question and answer session with the director will follow.
BLIFF required an impressive budget of $127,000 this year; however, the festival is completely arranged by volunteers.
"The most important resource for the festival is the human resource," Barriga said.
Barriga's mission for BLIFF is to reach out to the Latino community in Boston, a group that he characterized as first-generation. He also expresses an interest in reaching a wider audience. According to Barriga, a film festival is a cultural experience, for it increases media representation of the Latinos in Boston.
Barriga's personal résumé reflects his interests in promoting Latino culture through a variety of media. Barriga has now worked in film and television for 11 years, beginning in Los Angeles after his move from Lima, Peru at the age of 21. Since then, he's done work for Telemundo, Fox Latin America and La Opinión newspaper.
Starting out as a circulation manager for La Opinión, Barriga eventually came to produce television shows. He also runs his own small marketing company, Viceversa Communications, which caters to the Latino demographic in the United States.
After working in Los Angeles, Barriga decided it was time for a change and moved to Boston where he started working for Acorn, a nonprofit social justice community action organization with initiatives in the Boston Area. Just six years ago, Barriga was knocking on doors in housing projects and inner-city communities. He tried to do whatever he could as bilingual community director for the Chelsea area just outside of Boston.
Throughout his life, Barriga says that he tries to reduce the racial profiling and stereotyping he formerly perceived to be prevalent in American media portrayals of Latinos.
After experiencing many cultural perspectives, his current goal is to try and increase overall knowledge of Latin American culture with BLIFF.
