OLA of Eastern Long Island's Latino Film Festival of the Hamptons will celebrate its 20th birthday with screenings of four features and one animated short, from Thursday through Sunday, at the Sag Harbor Cinema, the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, and a family day event at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.
"It will be quite a celebration," said Minerva Perez, OLA's executive director, "presenting five culturally rich and hopeful films representing five countries. . . . This film festival remains at the heart of OLA's cultural programming, as it allows for a shared experience through storytelling that connects us all, just when we need it most."
The series will launch Thursday evening at 8:30 at the Sag Harbor Cinema with "Ana and Bruno (Ana y Bruno)," a 2017 computer-animated Mexican horror-comedy-drama directed by Carlos Carrera. Ana is a strange little girl who escapes from a mental institution to search for her father, in order to save her mother. She encounters strange creatures as she explores.
The film has won three best animated feature awards, including one from Mexico's 61st Ariel Awards, where it was also nominated for adapted screenplay and original score. Tickets are $10.
"The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future (La vaca que canto una cancion hacia el futuro)," a Chilean film directed by Francisca Alegria that premiered at Sundance 2022, will be shown Friday at 7 p.m. at the Parrish Art Museum.
The film blends magical realism and environmental activism. Magdalena, left for dead years before, emerges from the depths of the Cruces River, where fish have been dying. When she returns to her family's farm, her husband has a heart attack upon seeing her, and their daughter returns home to care for him.
A live Zoom interview with the director will follow the screening. Tickets are $16, $10 for members and students, $5 for children.
The festival will return to the Sag Harbor Cinema on Saturday for the U.S. premiere of "The Sense of the Chords (El sentido de las cuerdas)," a 2021 drama from El Salvador directed by Marcela Zamora Chamorro.
In El Salvador, in a correctional center for girls, members of two gangs, who are enemies on the streets, find behind bars a way to live together and respect one another after being brought together in a symphonic orchestra.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. screening are $10.
Sunday's program in Westhampton Beach will feature the U.S. premiere of "Frida in the Sky (Frida en el cielo)," a 2023 animated short from Ecuador and Canada, and the New York premiere of "The Pink Lagoon (La laguna rosa)," a 2021 feature from Mexico.
Directed by Dani Sadun, ""Frida in the Sky" is the story of an 8-year-old engineering prodigy who builds an airplane behind her mother's back.
"The Pink Lagoon," directed by Juan Arce and Francisco Gallo, is the story of an independent, ballet-loving young woman with Down syndrome who is invited to participate in a dance exhibition. When she goes to her estranged brother for assistance, his initial reluctance gives way to reconciliation.
An in-person conversation with Mr. Arce and his sister, Monica Arce, who is the film's lead, will follow the 2 p.m. screening. Tickets are $5.
All films will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles. The films set for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are not recommended for children under 13.
