For This Year's Outfest LA NALIP was Paired With Vida for a Special Screening & Panel

“Vida” is a new STARZ Original series about two Mexican-American sisters from the Eastside of Los Angeles who couldn’t be more different or distanced from each other. Circumstances force them to return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past and by the surprising truth about their mother’s identity. Catch an exclusive overview of the entire show along with the season finale episode.

NALIP joined Outfest LA and viewed some of the amazing works by creators highlighting LGBTQ+ voices. Catch highlights of the 'Latin American Shorts” that screened, including Tailor, Elena, Profane Cow, Julia’s Piece, Afronte, Naranja, and Sandra Calling.

On Tuesday, July 17, Outfest’s Latin American Shorts showcased the intersectionality of being part of the Latinx community and the LGBTQ+ community, bridging the gap in a deep, emotional level. Covering various aspects of these communities, these films delved deep into ideas about discovering and dealing with your identity.

Tailor, mixed simple, colorful animation, with real-life stories to tell the varying struggles of transexual men and women in the biggest country in South America. This Brazilian short film delved into stories about dealing with your identity in a country where not everyone has become fully comfortable with the expression of identity. Stories about motherhood, hiding your name, and even buying medicine, reflect the extent of progress that still needs to be made in society and highlight the difficulty in being able to express your own identity.

Elena deals with Elena’s exploration and discovery of her own identity amidst her extremely religious grandmother who attempts to limit her. The arrival of Elena’s cousin Julia and the discovery of a new bar opens Elena’s world, awakening her to express her identity and discover who she is. She lets herself go, embraces who she is, and doesn’t look back, choosing to accept her identity and who she wants to be.

Profane Cow tells the story of  Nadia, who struggles to achieve her dream of being a mother. She has the baby’s dress ready and is constantly waiting for the moment that the woman who lives down the hall will sign the papers giving Nadia custody of the woman’s daughter. After countless times of being promised, countless times crying, she finally gets the opportunity to accept the rights to the little girl in this heartwarming story about motherhood across identities.

Julia’s Piece is a warm, cozy short film about a little girl struggling to explain to the world that she has two mothers. While not ashamed of the fact, Julia is unsure of how to approach her instructor when she directs Julia to make signs for her parents who will be coming to see her ballet recital. The confidence Julia’s mother gives to Julia should serve as a way to aspire individuals to be confident in oneself and be  brave in expressing their identity.

Afronte offers insight into what it means to be member of the LGBTQ  community from African descent in Brazil and the struggles that they have encountered in the country. In this short film, we see one member of the community comment on the difficulty of being a drag queen due to the lack of opportunities available for them and their perception in the community. Regardless of how these individuals are perceived, in a positive or negative manner, they continue to celebrate their culture and have no problem expressing themselves to the world.

Naranja, an short animated film, shows a woman, colored in orange, walking to work as she usually does. Throughout her walk, males continue to look at her due to her physical features, adding spots, adding frustration to the woman until she shouts in despair.  The next day as she walks to work, she is unfazed by the male onlookers and serves to empower women to be confident in themselves and to be resilient to the people around them.

Sandra Calling connects two young men after spending a night together as they recount the stories of their deceased mothers. In talking about their experiences with their mothers, the two discuss freedom, mourning, and love as they connect beyond the physical connection they had the previous night. The two men explore the ideas of belonging and identity and how it is affected by our family members to show the deep connection everyone has to their mother.

NALIP is proud to support these filmmakers as they show that there are many identities within the identity of “Latino” or “Latina”. These filmmakers are pushing themselves to tell stories that go beyond providing entertainment. They’re describing people and showing how members of the Latino community face various different issues regarding identity. NALIP will continue to support filmmakers that are pushing their narrative and want to tell a story.

NALIPsters and Executive Producers: Pau Brunet and Jana Diaz-Juhl

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More info at Outfest.org