After becoming the Sundance Institute’s first official Latinx partner in 2020, The Latinx House will return to the Sundance Film Festival this year with a full calendar of virtual programming.
Cofounded by activist Mónica Ramírez, filmmaker Alex Martínez Kondracke and entrepreneur Olga Segura, The Latinx House is a nonprofit initiative that aims to change the portrayal of the Latinx community in the U.S. by elevating and amplifying the voices and content of Latinx artists, entertainers, policy experts and grassroots organizers.
“Over the last couple of years, The Latinx House has been able to showcase the unique experiences and perspectives of Latinx filmmakers and creators, while creating a space where our community and allies can uplift and support amazing, not to mention, thought-provoking work,” Segura said in a statement. “Now more than ever, we must continue to build on our presence here at Sundance to share the diverse and unique stories of the Latinx community.”
For its 2020 Sundance event, The Latinx House collaborated with Eva Longoria, America Ferrera and Netflix; this year, as the festival once again goes virtual amid the pandemic, programming will include panels with the casts and crews of The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future and Dos Estaciones.
There will also be a session centered on the stories and advocacy of survivors tied to festival selection We Need To Talk About Cosby, a sit-down with the director and subjects of doc Mija, a conversation exploring truth and healing through storytelling and a panel exploring civic, political and economic power of the Latinx community. These events will help launch a series of critical conversations that The Latinx House will be hosting through their newly created Latinx Learning Lab that is supported and has been co-convened by the Ford Foundation.
“We are pleased to return to the festival this year to celebrate Latinx excellence in film. We are grateful to the festival leadership for responding so quickly to the rapidly changing circumstances related to COVID-19,” says Ramírez. “While we were eager to join this vibrant community again in person, our priority is maintaining our collective health and safety. This is particularly important to alleviate the burdens on the many essential workers, including the Latinx workers, who would have been called upon to staff an in-person festival. We applaud Sundance for its decision to create an opportunity for virtual engagement.”
Source: Hollywood
