As the University of Mississippi observes Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated Sept. 15-Oct 15, the Department of Modern Languages looks to spread awareness through the silver screen.
Thursday, Sept. 15, marks the beginning of the Hispanic Heritage Fall 2022 Film Series.
In collaboration with the Center for Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Engagement and the Croft Institute for International Studies, the series seeks to acknowledge the contributions of the Hispanic culture through various acclaimed contemporary movies from numerous countries.
The annual event returns after a three-year hiatus. Film committee leader and University of Mississippi Instructor of Spanish Gabriel Garrido sought to reinvent the series by expanding the breadth of the initial idea.
In addition to selecting five Latin American titles, the committee also worked alongside graduate students to showcase three LGBTQ+ films that tie into Hispanic heritage.
The most notable inclusion is the iconic 1990 documentary “Paris is Burning,” which chronicles the intersection between ball culture and the transgender community in the 1980s. “Paris is Burning” concludes the series on Nov. 10.
“We thought about the concept of minority representation as a main topic, whether it could be racial representation, sexual orientation or any underrepresented part of the community,” Garrido said. “Bringing people who don’t typically work together under a common idea was a wonderful opportunity.”
The eight-part series kicks off with “Los Lobos,” a highly praised 2019 Mexican drama about the conflicts that arise following a family’s recent emigration to the United States.
“We try to select films that bring up topics that will make students think about what is happening in the world south of the Rio Grande,” Garrido said. “We were able to choose two films from Mexico, one from Brazil and our first from the Dominican Republic — ‘Miriam Mente,’ screening Oct. 13.”
Garrido is particularly enthusiastic to screen the Brazilian title “Alice Júnior” on Oct. 20, which expands the organization’s language roots into Portuguese.
The movies showcased are thanks to Pragda, a service that offers a vast Hispanic film catalog and granted funding to the Department of Modern Languages. Trailers for the films in the fall 2022 screening series can also be found on their website.
One unique attribute of the series is that the films showcased are often difficult to see elsewhere, with the film committee — composed of Hernán Garrido, Maiyojanna Pelayo and Diane Marting in addition to Garrido — encouraging students who are unable to attend to reach out to the Department of Modern Languages for screening links and more information about the individual movies.
“We hope students embrace the opportunity and keep the tradition of the series alive for the years to come,” Garrido said.
The Hispanic Heritage Fall 2022 Film Series will be held at 6 p.m. Thursdays in Bryant Hall. Admission is free. All films include English subtitles. For more information, visit the Department of Modern Languages website.
