A new film festival celebrating Latino culture and community is coming to Iowa City this weekend. The inaugural Aquí y Allá Latin American Film Festival takes place May 1-3 at FilmScene’s Chauncey cinema.
The festival will screen six new feature films, one short film and one repertory title over the course of three days. It will also include panel discussions, art displays, poetry readings and receptions with complimentary food for attendees. All events are free, with a “pay what you can” ticket donation option available.
The opening night screening of Un Techo Sin Cielo (A Skyless Roof) includes an in-person Q&A with Mexican director Diego Hernández. All films will have English subtitles, and in-person festivities will be presented in both English and Spanish.
Aquí y Allá is Iowa’s second dedicated Latin American film festival, the first being the Des Moines Latino Film Festival. FilmScene, the nonprofit movie theater that’s hosting the event, credits an $8,000 grant from Johnson County for helping make it possible. The festival is the third in FilmScene’s roster, joining the Refocus Film Festival and the Iowa Disability Film Festival.
What to know about Aquí y Allá
The festival name translates to “here and there,” which comes from an Argentine folk song by Facundo Cabral called “No Soy de Aquí, Ni Soy de Allá." Translated as “I’m not from here, nor am I from there,” the song — and festival — speaks to the experience of Latinos from different cultures and communities and honors their multicultural identities.
“I thought it was a nice melding of the way in which Latinidad, or Latino culture broadly, is both specific to regions and cultures and also blended in different geographies,” said Festival Director Ben Delgado. “It's just all the intricacies of the cultural heritage.”
Delgado, who has dreamt of bringing this festival to life since 2021, called Aquí y Allá a “festival of discovery.” All the new releases at the event are Iowa premieres, with one U.S. premiere lined up as well. He said featuring a broad range of Latin American cultures was key to curating the festival’s inaugural year. A total of 12 countries are represented among the eight films set to screen over the weekend.
Another central goal Delgado wanted to achieve with Aquí y Allá was to connect communities. To make that happen, he assembled a group of 10 community members to help choose the films and spread the word throughout Iowa City.
“We wanted to make sure that we were reaching out to the communities who are on screen directly and having them in the audience,” Delgado said. “Establishing this committee that we did for the festival, I think, was key.”
Ariana Martinez has been on the festival committee since last fall, when members began planning for this weekend. As a film studies graduate student at the University of Iowa, Martinez paid close attention to the types of movies they selected. It was important to the committee to include different artistic perspectives while still being accessible to the different audiences attending the festival.
“I think that it's a great range — meeting these audiences where they are and helping them feel like they are learning something,” Martinez said. “There's a lot that we have in common, and I think that these are just really beautiful films that are unique from each other and have very different techniques, but all just showcase so much passion and love and emotion for this community.”
Both Martinez and Delgado recognize the charged political climate that some Latino families in Iowa City have experienced recently. With intensified immigration enforcement and counter protests for immigrants’ rights happening more often, they say a festival like this offers the community a place to celebrate what makes them unique in a safe and welcoming environment.
“All of this was made with love, and I think visibility is important,” Martinez said. “It's not running into the shadows. It’s reminding people that this is our space.”
For Delgado, it goes back to the key purpose of Aquí y Allá: connecting communities and celebrating multicultural identities.
“We’re hoping that, as much as we can, we can spread the word to the Latino community who may not be aware of FilmScene, but then also really try to make sure that our audience we already have — our core audience — realizes that the festival is also for them,” he said. “It's for all of us. It's for everyone in the community.”
As the inaugural festival weekend approaches, Delgado is thankful that his dream of five years has taken shape and will bring people together for a fun, free and food-filled celebration of cinema.
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FilmScene is a sponsor of Iowa Public Radio.
