HBO Max, WarnerMedia OneFifty Partner with Latino Film Festivals to Expand Latino Short Film Competition
Streaming service HBO Max and WarnerMedia OneFifty, announced the launch of their newly "revamp" Latino Short Film Competition, with submissions open as of yesterday and closing on May 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
HBO Max and WarnerMedia OneFifty are partnering with six film festivals from across the U.S. to expand their annual Latino Competition.
The film festivals include New York Latino Film Festival (NYLFF), Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), Georgia Latino Film Festival, Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, Houston Latino Film Festival, and Miami Film Festival, per Deadline.
Candidates interested in participating in the competition can enter via any of the six festivals and the search will span across the top film festivals in one of the 50 United States, Washington, D.C., or Puerto Rico.
This year's event will seek films that address the concept of "Community" through the unique perspective of a Latino American filmmaker.
Presented by HBO Max, the new competition has been restructured to allow the streamer to tap into the massive networks of each of the six participating film festivals, allowing it to continue to elevate diverse Latino voices.
As leaders in the media and entertainment space, both streaming platforms seek to expand the competition's reach and visibility so that Latino filmmakers can continue to have a platform where their voices and stories are being heard, especially stories that reflect everyone's experiences, not just Latino ones.
According to Jessica Vargas, Multicultural Marketing Director at HBO Max and HBO, "We're thrilled to be announcing the revamp of our Latino short film competition that goes hand in hand with the one year anniversary of Pa'lante!."
"HBO Max Pa'lante!" is a social-first audience initiative for Latino audiences that aims to break down barriers for new voices and raise awareness of culturally relevant programs on HBO Max.
Joey Chavez, Executive Vice President of Drama at HBO Max and HBO, said that it brings them "great pleasure" to be able to expand their original programming with seven new films developed by outstanding individuals.
Seven winners will be selected, and they will have the chance to premiere their work on the streaming service.
To reach bigger audiences, HBO Max subscribers will also have access to the six-film festivals' networks.
Official rules for complete details can be read at hbomaxlatinoshortfilm.dja.com.
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Is 2022 The Year That Hollywood Rewrites Its Latino Storyline?
"West Side Story" and "Encanto," both Walt Disney Co. productions centered on Puerto Rican and Colombian characters, respectively. Both received many nominations across categories, as did "Nightmare Alley."
Hispanic and Latino audiences made up the largest per-capita attendance in U.S. movie theaters among ethnic groups between 2017 and 2020, according to the Motion Picture Association Inc.
However, an analysis of the 1,300 highest-grossing films over 13 years found that the ethnicities, which comprise nearly a fifth of the U.S. population, have been underrepresented on screen and behind the camera.
For decades, Hollywood has struggled with representation, with recent scrutiny heightened in the aftermath of the rising #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, which began in 2015. With films like "Get Out," "Black Panther," "Coco," and "Crazy Rich Asians," the industry has begun to pivot.
However, as Felix Sanchez, chair and co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, pointed out, there is still work to be done.
According to Sanchez, Latinos have a slim chance of landing those leading roles, and the ones they do get are frequently for marginalized people.
"What we're looking for is presenting U.S. Latinos in more three-dimensional roles," he said.
For Hollywood to enact real change, the writer for Los Angeles Times newsletter "The Latinx Files," Fidel Martinez, said, it would have to see a flourishing of more projects, not just recognition at award shows.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Jess Smith
WATCH: 2020 Latinx Short Film Competition Winners | Meet The Directors - from HBO Max