Christmas and the holiday season are important to Latinos, traditionally and culturally, and that being so, it's amazing to see Latinos on screen, portraying interesting and intelligent characters in films about the season. While there needs to be more seasonal films where Latinos are the lead, there are a number of films that Latinos can refer to when they want to see themselves represented on screen.  

Christmas Bounty

Francia Raisa stars in Christmas Bounty, a film about a bounty hunter-turned- elementary school teacher, who tries to keep her past life as a bounty hunter a secret. But, she's forced to reluctantly return home during the holiday season so that she can help save her family's business by catching a runaway bounty. Unbeknownst to her, her fiancé follows her home for Christmas. Shenanigans follow as Raisa's character and her family try to hide her bounty hunter past, while her ex-boyfriend tries to bring it to light.

Nothing Like the Holidays

The dysfunctional Puerto Rican Rodriguez family reunite and fight for the first time in years in Alfredo De Villa's Nothing Like the Holidays.  John Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez, Elizabeth Peña, Luis Guzmán, Jay Hernandez and Melonie Diaz appear as the Rodriguezs, gathering for Christmas in their family home in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood. Actor Freddy Rodriguez plays the youngest sibling of the clan, who's returning home after being overseas at war. He desperately attempts to rekindle things with his former beau, and has to interact with sibling and parents who are facing personal struggles of their own. His older sister is a failed Hollywood actress, his older brother is a high-strung businessman, and his parents drew the kids home for the holiday season to drop a potentially devastating bombshell. Nonetheless, the family strives forward; healing through laughter and community.

¡Feliz Christmas, Merry Navidad!

Spanish-language ¡Feliz Christmas, Merry Navidad! directed by Luis Palomo, stars Tere López-Tarín, Carlos Soriano, and Angelina Cruz. The family-friendly magical-realistic holiday film tells the tale of three children who overcome differences in the interest of friendship.  The inspiration Christmas movie exposes the true meaning of Christmas, and the value of interpersonal relationships and family.

The Holiday

Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet appear in The Holiday as two women on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean who've become dismayed by romantic partners. When worn down by life and love, the two women temporarily exchange homes to escape their heartache during the holiday season. The romantic comedy follows the women as they take to new countries, new ways of life and new men. The holiday chick flick shows that sometimes a little break from our overwhelming lives is exactly what is needed to have a wonderful wine-filled holiday.

Holiday in Handcuffs

Mario Lopez and Melissa Joan Hart star in Holiday in Handcuffs, a holiday film about a miserable and lonely waitress and aspiring painter who kidnaps a customer from her job, so that she can introduce him to her family as her boyfriend. Mario Lopez plays the kidnapped fake boyfriend, kept hostage and forced to commit to holiday plans in a secluded cabin. Hijinks ensue as the police show up, the two begin to fall in love, and Christmas dinner erupts with spontaneous confessions from all around the table, as family members admit to being gay, quitting law school, and other outbursts.

Christmas Cupid

Christina Milian stars in the goofy but enjoyable TV film made in the vein of A Christmas Carol. Christmas Cupid features Milian as a Hollywood publicist who visits her past relationships with the ghost of a recently deceased client, Caitlin. Through these trips to the past, Milian's character is able to find true love, and the spirit of Christmas. -----Milian also stared in another Christmas movie by the name of Snow Globe, a film where a magical snow globe transports her character to another land, where holiday wishes and dreams come true.

This Christmas

Laz Alonso and Lupe Ontiveros star in the African American holiday comedy-drama This Christmas, a film about the Whitfield family. The estranged family gathers under the same roof for the first time in seven years, and the attempt to rekindle broken relationships. Discoveries and confessions prompt verbal and physical fights, and the bittersweet reunion makes the family appreciate and loathe the season.

 

Dear Secret Santa

Tatyana Ali stars in Dear Secret Santa as a workaholic who breaks up with her boyfriend and moves back to her childhood home. While there, she revisits memories that she shared with a recently deceased friend by the name of Jack. She then begins to receive letters from a secret admirer, someone who knows intimate details about her, and reminds her of her late friend Jack. Ali's character begins to wonder if she's, in fact, receiving the letters from Jack.

The Christmas Hope

Madeleine Stowe leads in The Christmas Hope, a film about a woman who losses her son, devotes herself to finding needy children homes, and takes in a nine-year-old girl. The made-for-television heart-tugging film offers the message that hope and love are the most important aspects of the holiday season.