NFMLA’s 2022 InFocus: Latinx and Hispanic Film Festival Lineup Includes ‘Pool Boy’ and ‘Bertie the Brilliant’

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles is back with the 2022 InFocus: Latinx and Hispanic Film Festival, and the lineup includes exciting short films like Luke Willis’ “Pool Boy” and Gabriela Garcia Medina’s “Bertie the Brilliant.”

Running from Sept. 23-24, the two-day festival will return in person for the first time since 2019 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

With three short film programs, the festival, co-presented by The MBS Group, will feature screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry development programs and educational panels.

One don’t-miss panel will center around PBS’ newest POV film The Last Out by Oscar-nominated Sami Khan and Tribeca Film Festival Special Jury Mention winner Michael Gassert.

NFMLA’s InFocus: Latinx and Hispanic Film Festival is all about finding emerging talent covering different genres, storytelling styles and narratives from filmmakers from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela and the United States.

This year’s program includes work by NFMLA alum and DGA Award-winning director Andrew Reid, whose movie “Noche Del Infierno (Hell Night)” screened at the 2022 Slamdance Film Festival and received the award for Best Narrative Short at the 2022 San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Other highlights include the Los Angeles Premiere of Gabriela Garcia Medina’s “Bertie the Brilliant,” a short film made in collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery OneFifty and Latino Public Broadcasting.

By partnering with the Academy, NFMLAn connects industry professionals, executives and creatives to foster and support the filmmakers involved in the festival and their projects.

Industry professionals involved this year include Alex Gutierrez from Warner Bros. Discover OneFifty, Alexander Zahn from Netflix, Annie Chang from Universal Pictures, Beatriz Sequeira from Blumhouse Productions, Christine Davila from Ojala Productions, Cristina Garza and Endeavor Content, Crystal Caicedo and Matt Martin from CAA, Dana Jackson from Echo Lake Entertainment, Georgina González Rodriguez from HBO Max, Jessica Rose from Open Road, actor Jon Huertas, Paul Perez from Perez Pictures, Roberto Larios from Verve, and Sandra Condito from Eva Longoria’s production company UnbeliEVAble.

“This program is incredibly special to the NFMLA community and to Los Angelenos. We’re honored to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and Latinx talent in partnership with the Academy. It’s a way to showcase the powerful Latinx talent locally and internationally. The Academy’s involvement helps to provide access for these filmmakers at another level and we’re forever grateful for this collaboration,” said NFMLA programming director Bojana Sandic and executive director and co-founder Larry Laboe.

See the full lineup of short films playing at the 2022 festival from NFMLA below, and get tickets here.

“Pool Boy” (Dir. & Writ. Luke Willis)

“Any Place” (Dir. Minerva Rivera Bolaños, Writ. Fanie Soto, Minerva Rivera Bolaños)

“No Soy Óscar” (Dir. & Writ. Jon Ayon)

“Ember” (Dir. Manuel Del Valle, Writ. Alexandra Segel, Manuel Del Valle)

“Aion” (Dir. & Writ. Giulio Meliani)

“All Because Of The Damned Blonde’s Son” (Dir. Danilo Vargas Martinez, Cristian Roberto Hernández Figueroa, Writ. Cristian Roberto Hernández Figueroa)

“Breathe” (Dir. & Writ. Victor Velasco)

“Preggers” (Dir. Sylvia Ray, Writ. Marco Antonio Parra)

“Tundra” (Dir. José Luis Aparicio, Writ. Carlos Melián)

“Who? How? And Where?” (Dir. & Writ. Victoria Garza)

“Mancha” (Dir. Nicole Mejia, Writ. Nicole Mejia, Don DiPetta)

“I’m A Vampire” (Dir. & Writ. Sofia Garza-Barba)

“Noche Del Infierno (Hell Night)” (Dir. Andrew Reid, Writ. Jesenia Ruiz, Vee Saieh)

“Bad Hombrewood” (Dir. & Writ. Guillermo Casarin)

“Más Latina” (Dir. & Writ Janeva Adena Zentz, Tim Young)

“Sabor Ártico: Latinos En Alaska (Arctic Flavor: Latinos In Alaska)” (Dir. & Writ. Indra Arriaga Delgado) ● Tejano Night (Dir. & Writ. Alexander Rosales)

“Bertie the Brilliant” (Dir. Gabriela Garcia Medina, Writ. Gabriela Garcia Medina, Joshua Sankar)

Main Image: A still from Luke Willis’ “Pool Boy” courtesy of NewFilmmakers Los Angeles