Iowa City’s newest festival takes inspiration from a folk song with deep roots in Latin American Culture.
“No Soy de Aquí, Ni Soy de Allá,” translates to “I’m neither from here nor there.”
That phrase captures what FilmScene’s Aquí y Allá aims to celebrate, embracing the in-between identities and honoring the various cultures in the Iowa City community and globally.
The inaugural Aquí y Allá film festival runs Friday, May 1, through Sunday, May 3, at FilmScene’s Chauncey location. The celebration will showcase feature-length films, a restored film, and a documentary short, along with conversation.
Blending cultures at Aquí y Allá
The idea for Aquí y Allá sprouted when FilmScene’s programming director, Ben Delgado, pitched it in his first week on the job five years ago, drawing inspiration from the AFI Latin American Film Festival.
“Latin American cinema has always been important to me, and so I wanted to bring that here to Iowa, the community, and the surrounding area and the Latin American population here,” Delgado said. “…Now with the heightened awareness on specifically the Latin population here in the United States, the kind of fear of everyday life, it becomes that much more important to celebrate the work that these artists are doing.”
Unlike FilmScene’s annual fall ReFocus Film Festival, Aquí y Allá removes all barriers as a “pay-what-you-can” event.
The festival is run by a committee of local filmmakers from the Latin diaspora.
FilmScene will also hand out its first festival awards for the best Latin American film.
“I think coming to this festival, particularly for anyone who may or may not have great familiarity with Latin American culture, they’re going to see a variety of different films from different parts of the world,” Delgado said.
Three films to take a chance on at Aquí y Allá
Aquí y Allá films will be subtitled in English.
Delgado encourages guests to check out the following three films exclusive to the three-day festival.
‘Un Techo Sin Cielo’ (A Skyless Roof)
Opening the festival is “Un Techo Sin Cielo” or “A Skyless Roof,” at 7 p.m., Friday, May 1, written, directed, and starring Mexican resident Diego Hernández, who will be a featured guest at the festival.
“Un Techo Sin Cielo” follows two friends, one who suffers from constant fatigue, but as he pursues treatment, he only finds emptiness. His friend suffers from insomnia. As the film unfolds, an alliance of opposites forms.
“[Hernández] is up-and-coming, but somewhat of a wunderkind in his filmmaking,” Delgado said. “It’s a wacky, whimsical movie, but also relaxed in some ways.”
A conversation with Hernández will be held after the screening, as well as an afterparty with tunes from DJ moreit and food from Luna’s Tacos, Elida’s Bakery and Acapulco Bakery & Grocery.
‘El Lugar de Ausencia’ (A Place of Absence)
“El Lugar de Ausencia” is a documentary that explores grief, love and the strength of women at 4 p.m., Saturday, May 2. Filmmaker Marialuisa Ernst joins the “Caravan of Mothers,” a group of Central American women searching the migrant trail for their missing loved ones in Mexico and the US.
‘Hangar Rojo’ (The Red Hangar) and ‘Baisanos’
Inspired by true events, “Hangar Rojo,” set for 7 p.m., Saturday, is a thriller exploring the military world in the aftermath of the 1973 Chilean coup d’état. An Air Force logistics officer is ordered to convert a hangar into a detention center, but finds himself at a crossroads.
The short, “Baisanos,” will premiere in the U.S. for the first time ahead of the feature film.
“’Baisanos’ is an interesting connection of here and there, from Palestine to Chile, and then now to Iowa,” Delgado said. “It is the ultimate, ‘here to there,’ we have in our lineup.”
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: FilmScene launches Aquí y Allá, a new Latin American film festival
Reporting by Jessica Rish, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
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