Now in its fifth year, the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival gets started later this week with three days of screenings free and ticketed alike, at two locations on Broad Street: The Kimmel Center and University of the Arts' Terra Hall. And what's on offer is a pretty great sampling of docs, dramas, comedies and shorts from all over the Spanish-speaking world, and then some. Keep an eye on Nikkei, a doc that tells of one family's epic journey from Japan to Peru to Venezuela during the WWII era, and Los Vacas Con Gafas/Cows Wearing Glasses, a Puerto Rican dramedy that seems to hit a variety of notes in a Gondry/Allen/Almodovar sweet spot.
Not to be outdone, the Black Star Film Fest, another groundbreaking upstart in Philly's growing film fest scene, just announced its partial lineup and August 4-7 dates this morning. Notable in this year's program: A tribute to director Julie Dash and a festival-wide theme of "Migration." More info is sure to come — Black Star's opening night party will be at Johnny Brenda's on August 4th.
