Latino Film Festival Draws Record Crowds

Record crowds attended the third annual Latino International Film Festival that ended Sunday, showcasing new films from first-time directors throughout Latin America and Spain.

Though final numbers were not compiled by Sunday, festival co-founder Edward James Olmos estimated that nearly 25,000 people attended the 10-day festival, compared to about 15,000 last year.

More than 70 films were screened at the festival, which was held at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The large selection points to the revival of cinema in countries that had suffered through years of creative and financial difficulties.

Saturday night, two Mexican films by first-time directors were singled out for the festival’s Rita Award, given to the movies that best captured the spirit of Latin culture: “Santitos,” directed by Alejandro Springall, and “Bajo California,” directed by Carlos Bolado Mun~oz.

Veteran Argentine filmmaker Fernando Solanas captured an award for best screenplay for his contemplative film “Las Nubes (The Clouds).”

But perhaps the highlight of the evening was the U.S. premiere of Spanish director Carlos Saura’s (“Tango”) film “Goya in Bordeaux.” The film, which explores the final years of Spain’s acclaimed painter Francisco Goya, was written by Saura and photographed by Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who won Academy Awards for “Apocalypse Now” and “Reds.”

Saura was honored with the festival’s Gabi Award, named after noted Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (“The Night of the Iguana”). He was selected for his lifetime achievement, having directed more than 30 films in a career that spans nearly four decades.

“I’m really moved to have been honored tonight,” said the 66-year-old filmmaker. “Making films, for me, is like a small miracle. . . . This festival is like a gathering point that reflects the grand diversity of Latin America. Los Angeles is indeed the center of all of Latin America.”

The Los Angeles International Film Festival--co-founded by Olmos, music producer George Hernandez and filmmaker Marlene Dermer--is one of the largest festivals in the U.S. that showcases only Latin American and Spanish films.

Since none of this year’s films, except “Santitos,” has received distribution in the U.S. the festival is one of the only places audiences here may see the movies, Olmos said. “Santitos,” a blend of magical realism and romantic comedy that won the Jury Prize in Latin American Cinema at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, will be released here in November.

“There is no desire from the part of the industry and society as a whole to allow any cultural diversity in the art of cinema into the United States,” he said.

“I believe there’s a big market for these films. When we put these films on the screen, hundreds and hundreds of people come.”