Latino culture honored in the ’Burg
Film festival aims to educate community,  bridge ethnic gaps
By Rebecca Elmo, contributing writer
Posted on October 2, 2006

“Community cannot long feed on itself — it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond: their unknown and undiscovered sisters and brothers,” said Howard Thurman, famed civil rights leader. 

The idea of respecting and honoring diversity within communities is one of the main reasons why Harrisonburg’s Court Square Theater chose to have a Latino Film Festival Oct. 3 through Oct. 8. 

The festival, sponsored by the Arts Council of the Valley, is an opportunity for students to support the arts in the community off campus. “The Arts Council of the Valley is the premiere advocate for the arts in our community,” said JMU professor and director of the festival, Karina Kline-Gabel. “Diversity in the arts is, of course, a part of that mission.”

According to Kline-Gabel, the Latino Film Festival seeks to screen award-winning films from various Spanish-speaking countries. The Arts Council wants these films to educate the community and help bridge the gap between cultures. Kline-Gabel also said she believes these films are important because they generate discourse about other cultures and can provide an opportunity for students to listen to actual spoken Spanish and how it can sound differentfrom country to country.

This year, the festival offers students a chance to see films from Cuba, Argentina, Mexico and Bolivia. The four main films being screened have all won major awards from festivals all over the world. 

Kline-Gabel chose Latino films because it is a genre that is not intimidating for people to come out and watch. However, it can do a lot to promote discourse on the many topics that affect the community.

One of the films Kline-Gabel decided to show is a documentary on immigration, “Crossing Arizona,” on Wednesday. Nominated for three awards and winner of the “Best Documentary” award from the Arizona International Film Festival, this documentary gives personal accounts from frustrated ranchers, humanitarian groups, political activists and others about this controversial issue.  “We will have discussions following both screenings of ‘Crossing Arizona,’ so both sides can be aired in a more analytical format,” said Kline-Gabel. 

During the festival, the Latin American Committee is sponsoring, “The Devil’s Miner,” a film from Bolivia, on Thursday. According to Kline-Gabel, the film has won many awards for Best Documentary recently due to its amazing content and photography of this mysterious culture, Kline-Gabel said.   

“The Latin American committee at JMU has sponsored a film for two years now because they see the importance of this community event,” said Kline-Gabel. “It draws so many together outside the classroom for interesting discussions after the films and further discussions in class.”

The two other films being shown are “Habana Blues” from Cuba and “Kept and Dreamless” from Argentina. To enhance the experience, during the Friday showing of “Kept and Dreamless,” the theater will be serving wine and empanadas.

Tickets cost $4 for students and a schedule of events and film times can be found at courtsquaretheater.com.