On March 6 and 13, the annual Cinefest will present the Hispanic Film Festival featuring four feature films and one documentary.

The film festival's mission is to cover a broad spectrum of topics that represent Latino culture. Some of the topics the films presented will feature include immigration, environmental exploitation, coming of age and cultural identities. Cinefest's mission is to give voice to the unheard stories of many different cultures in the Spanish-speaking world.

Among the films being presented at the festival are Venezuela's critically acclaimed festival darling "Pelo Malo." The movie made its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it scored rave reviews and later went on to play at a number of festivals worldwide, including San Sebastian and Montreal Festival of New Cinema. The film tells the story of a nine-year-old boy's preening obsession with straightening his hair. This elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother.

The festival will also include "Los Analfabetas" starring Paulina Garcia ("Gloria"). The movie tells the story of Ximena, an illiterate woman in her fifties who has learned to live on her own in order to keep her illiteracy a secret. The Chilean film was critically acclaimed when it premiered at the Gramado Film Festival and also played at the Chicago, Sao Paulo and Mar del Plata Film Festivals.

Mexico will present "Quien es Dayani Cristal?" by Marc Silver. The movie stars renowned actor Gael Garcia Bernal ("Rosewater," "Amores Perros," "Babel"). The documentary made its world premiere at the Sundance Film festival and later played at the Miami Film Festival as well as the Cork International Film Festival. "Dayani Cristal" explores an anonymous body in the Arizona desert, which sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for identity leads back across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo.

Meanwhile, Ecuador will be represented by "El Facilitador" directed by Victor Arregui. The film had its premiere at the Festival de Cine la Orquidea and become a popular hit in Ecuador. The movie has not obtained a lot of exposure outside Latin America so a screening in New York will definitely give the movie a boost.

The final film of the festival will be Bolivia's "Yvy Maraey, Tierra Sin Mal." The movie was directed by Juan Carlos Valdivia and premiered at the Canada International Film Festival, as well as Havana and Mar del Plata Film Festival. The movie stars Valdivia in the lead role and it marks the director's fifth film. The film tells the story of a filmmaker tracing the steps of Swedish explorer Erland Nordeskiold, who travels with a Guarani Indian from the highlands of La Paz to the swamps in the forests of South Eastern Bolivia, a place where uncontacted indigenous still exist.

The CineFest 2015 is sponsored and is made possible by Pragda, the Embassy of Spain in Washington, D.C. and the Secretary of State for Culture of Spain. The Government of Spain - through the Cultural Department of the Consulate General of Spain in New York City, and the network of organizations supporting Spain's culture and language wants to promote culture and art, and strive to strengthen bilateral cultural, artistic and academic exchanges.

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