San Luis, Arizona- The program for the 11th Annual San Luis Film Festival was announced on Friday, August 25th, 2022, by the planning committee, during a press conference.
Mr. Antonio Carrillo, President and Founder of the event, along with City of San Luis, Arizona representatives, volunteers, and sponsors said the festival is working to bring movies from all over the world to continue promoting culture and art through film making appreciation.
“We are glad to invite the communities from both sides of the border to our event to be held from November 15 – 18, at 6pm, at the Cesar Chavez Cultural Center, which is still at no cost to the public, since our mission is to contribute with the promotion of cultural events for everyone”, said Carrillo.
The film “Utama,” directed by Alejandro Loayza Grisi; a 2022 co-production from Bolivia, France, and Uruguay, that feature the story of an elderly Quechua couple in the middle of a dilemma, either resist or be defeated by the environment, was confirmed by the planning committee.
“Utama” has won 17 awards including Best Film in 2022 at the Beijing International Film Festival, Best First Feature, Best Script at the prestigious Guadalajara International Film Festival in 2022, Best Film at the Malaga Spanish Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, among others. It is also nominated for another 7 international awards.
Mr. Carrillo said San Luis Film Festival will soon confirm the additional films. These films are co-productions between Mexico and the US. The topics include racial discrimination again Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the border of Texas, United States; another film includes the celebration of Saint Juan the Baptist in a small town of Mexico. Another film includes the story of a fight between a Mexicans of a region resisting against big tourism businesses that want to destroy their natural environment.
An extremely important component of the festival includes the on-line screening of the international short film competition. The short film competition has received almost 200 entries from Brazil, Argentina, Iran, England, Australia, United States, India, Ukraine, South Africa, Mexico, France, Colombia, Chile, Russia, among others.
Best Picture, Best Actor/Actress, Best Director, Best Cinematography and People’s Choice will be awarded.
San Luis Film Festival is organized by the Yuma County Arts and Cultural Group, and sponsored by the City of San Luis, Arizona, Riedel Construction, Regional Center for Border Health, La Cocina by Somerton Main St. Café, Mexican Consulate of Yuma, Arizona, DS Design, San Luis AZ News, and CNT Marketing.
For more information please visit www.sanluisfilmfestival.com.