2018 MSU Latinx Film Festival Report
By all measures, the inaugural edition of the MSU Latinx Film Festival (LxFF) was a smashing success.
Turnout exceeded expectations, with several of the film screenings at or over capacity. Attendees included a mix of MSU students, faculty and staff, community members from the greater Lansing area, as well as denizens of Grand Rapids, Saginaw and Mt. Pleasant. It was common for people to attend multiple screenings on different days and to combine a screening with one of the special events. People enjoyed the festival atmosphere, the opportunity to meet the invited filmmakers, and the post-screening panels and director Q&As that provided attendees with the chance to engage in dialogue about the films and the issues they raised. The enthusiasm for a festival with an exclusive focus on Latinx cinema was palpable and welcomed as a breath of fresh air by the regional Latinx community. The energy around LxFF was a mixture of excitement, celebration and a genuine interest in the festival films and special events.
The selection of films proved appealing in terms of national, cultural and linguistic diversity, as well as genre. While the majority of the films were serious dramas, the lineup also included two documentaries – one of which focused on music – a thriller, and a satire. The festival featured films from seven different countries in three languages, as well as a short film produced especially for LxFF by several members of the LxFF organizing committee. Likewise, the choice of venues was a success, offering a variety of strategic locations that attracted different audiences and spread the festival to various settings across campus and the city, raising the visibility of the festival and making it more inclusive and accessible than it might have been if it had been held entirely on campus or in only one or two locations.
In terms of community impact, the festival built bridges between MSU and the greater Lansing area by establishing strong ties with community partners such as The Robin Theatre, Casa de Rosado, the East Lansing Film Festival and Studio C! The collaborative spirit driving the festival translated well to these off-campus experiments and the community organizations we approached received the festival with open arms. LxFF also benefitted from collaborating with the MSU Film Collective, MSU Libraries and the MSU Residential College in the Arts & Humanities.
A variety of faculty and community members were invited to participate in the interactive post-screening panel discussions, which attracted individuals from different campus units, in addition to members of the local Latinx community. The festival created a space for dynamic public debate that took place beyond the classroom and lecture halls and encouraged intellectual exchanges between people that might not otherwise interact. Along those lines and as a sign of the future collaborative potential for the festival, LxFF was invited to host an encore screening of As I Walk Through the Valleyas part of the Latin IS America Festival organized by the MSU College of Music in April 2018.
Finally, LxFF received extensive media coverage through a cover story in City Pulse, a feature in the Lansing State Journal, articles published by both the MSU College of Arts & Letters and the MSU College of Communication Arts & Sciences’ DocLab, as well as two episodes of the MSU Collaborative Edges podcast.
2018 LxFF BY THE NUMBERS
4 Days
7 Venues
7 Feature Films
1 Short Film
3 Languages
3 Invited Directors
642 Attendees
6 Organizing Committee Members
17 MSU Sponsors
5 Community Partners
6 Volunteers
21 Post-Screening Panelists/Director Q&A Moderators
2018 LxFF BUDGET
$12,300 Total Funds Raised + $1,250 Fee Reduction Grant
$4,000 MSU Office of Inclusion & Intercultural Initiatives
(Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant)
$2,000 MSU Romance & Classical Studies (Seed Funding)
$6,300 MSU Co-Sponsors (15 units)
$1,250 Pragda Grant (Performance Rights Fee Reduction)
2018 LxFF PROGRAM & TURNOUT
Film Screenings & Special Events Venue Attendees
THURSDAY, FEB 1
The Second Mother(Brazil) MSU Library 35
Sealed Cargo(Bolivia) Wells Hall 76
FRIDAY, FEB 2
NN(Peru) RCAH Theater 56
Opening Reception Lookout! Gallery 60
Bad Hair(Venezuela) RCAH Theater 116
SATURDAY, FEB 3
Tempest(Mexico) The Robin Theatre 70
Meet & Greet Casa de Rosado 45
As I Walk Through the Valley(U.S.) The Robin Theatre 64
SUNDAY, FEB 4
The Cliff(Spain) Studio C! 90
Closing Reception Studio C! 30
2018 LxFF ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Scott Boehm – LxFF Director, Assistant Professor of Spanish &
Global Studies (Romance & Classical Studies)
José Adrián Badillo-Carlos, Ph.D. Candidate in Hispanic Cultural
Studies (Romance & Classical Studies)
Claudia Berrios-Campos, Ph.D. Candidate in Hispanic Cultural
Studies (Romance & Classical Studies)
Miguel Cabañas, Associate Professor of Spanish (Romance &
Classical Studies)
Judit Fuente Cuesta, Ph.D. Candidate in Hispanic Cultural Studies
(Romance & Classical Studies)
Osvaldo Sandoval, Ph.D. Candidate in Hispanic Cultural Studies
(Romance & Classical Studies)
2018 LxFF MSU Sponsors
Department of Romance & Classical Studies
Office for Inclusion & Intercultural Initiatives
College of Arts & Letters
College of Communication Arts & Sciences
Global Studies in the Arts & Humanities Program
Film Studies Program
Chicano/Latino Studies Program
Citizens Scholars Program
Council of Graduate Students
Residential College in the Arts & Humanities
James Madison College
MSU Libraries
Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies
Center for Gender in Global Context
History Department
Julian Samora Research Institute
Peace & Justice Studies
2018 LxFF Community Partners
The Robin Theatre
Casa de Rosado
Studio C!
East Lansing Film Festival
Lansing Public Media Center
2018 LxFF Volunteers
Andrew Bentley
John Brown
Virdiana García-Hernández
Mary Ann Lugo
Julio César Paredes
Connie Rojas
2018 LxFF Post-Screening Panelists/Director Q&A Moderators
Peter Beattie (History)
Claudia Berrios-Campos (Romance & Classical Studies)
Scott Boehm (Romance & Classical Studies)
Miguel Cabañas (Romance & Classical Studies)
Elizabeth Drexler (Anthropology)
Yomaira Figueroa (English)
Joseba Gabilondo (Romance & Classical Studies)
Stephen Gasteyer (Sociology)
Saulo Gouveia (Romance & Classical Studies)
Erin Graham (History)
Tama Hamilton-Wray (Residential College in the Arts &
Humanities)
Alexandra Hidalgo (Writing, Rhetoric & American Culture)
Laurie Medina (Anthropology)
Danny Méndez (Romance & Classical Studies)
Rael Mora (Wayka.pe)
Rocío Quispe-Agnoli (Romance & Classical Studies)
Osvaldo Sandoval (Romance & Classical Studies)
María Serrato (Capital Area Latina Youth)
Leonora Souza Paula (Residential College in the Arts &
Humanities)
John Valadez (Media & Information)
Jeff Wray (English)
2018 LxFF Invited Directors
Helena Taberna, The Cliff(Spain)
Charlie Vela & Ronnie Garza, As I Walk Through the Valley(U.S.)
MSU Latinx Film Festival 