CineFestival Announces 42nd Annual Festival  with Support from the National Endowment for the Arts

San Antonio's original Latinx film festival returns this July 7th through 11th at the Historic Guadalupe Theater with a large Texas filmmaker presence. Featuring 80 films with 60% from the Lone Star State,a??CineFestivala??is the first of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's programs to be held entirely in-person after the pandemic lockdowns. This year, the return of the festival is made possible with a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

"This year's program includes an unprecedented number of Texas and San Antonio films,"a??saida??CineFestivala??Programmer Eugenio del Bosque. "It is very important fora??CineFestivala??to receive support from the NEA,a??especiallya??after reshaping the program of the festival to focus sharply on local and regional talent. What we see in these films is a generation of Latinx and Native American filmmakers who are connecting their local narratives with universal storytelling, creating the opportunity to connect with worldwide audiences through stories that are truly based in our communities' experience."

The program includes 11 feature films made in or closely related to Texas, and of these seven are closely related to San Antonio. In addition, a staggering 42 short films made in or related to Texas will screen, of which 23 have close ties to San Antonio. These include fiction and documentary shorts made by beginning, upcoming, and established filmmakers, as well as youth films made by artists 18 years old or younger. The program also includes US Latinx and Mexican feature films that are relevant to Texas and short film sections dedicated to US Latinx and International filmmakers for a total of 80 films.a??

42a??CineFestivala??will presenta??severala??world premieres, some of which have specifically chosena??CineFestivala??to release their film for the first time. A special panel of industry professionals and scholars will serve as members of the jury to choose the winners ofa??CineFestival'sa??Premio Mesquite Awards in different categories, and the festival will also bestow Audience Awards to eligible films.

CineFestival is among the more than 1,100 projects funded by the National Endowment for the Arts across America totaling nearly $27 million that were selected during a second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2021 funding.a??"As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations such as the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center reengage fully with partners and audiences," said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers.a??

The 42a??CineFestivala??is also supported by the San Antonio Film Commission, the City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture, the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation.a??The Historic Guadalupe Theater is located at 1301 Guadalupe Street, San Antonio, TX 78207. For more information call 210.271.3151, email anair@guadalupeculturalarts.org, or visita??www.guadalupeculturalarts.org/cine-festival/.

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