East Stroudsburg University celebrates Latino Heritage Month with its 11th Latino Heritage Film Series. The festival will be held on Saturday, September 21 in Beers Lecture Hall on ESU’s campus. The festival is co-sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages, Philosophy, and Religion; the Office of the Provost; the College of Arts & Sciences; the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice; the ESU Foundation; and Kemp Library.
Kicking off the film festival will be Problemista at 2 p.m. Problemista, shown in Spanish and English with subtitles, is about Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, who is struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream. From writer/director Julio Torres comes a surreal adventure through the equally treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration System.
A Thousand Pines will be shown at 4:30 p.m. in Spanish and English with subtitles. A Thousand Pines is about a crew of Oaxacan guest workers who plant trees throughout the United States over the course of a grueling eight months. This intimate portrait shows how hard it is to balance the physical demands of reforestation and extreme isolation while staying connected to the family back home. There will be a Q&A with the director, Noam Osbond, following the screening.
Both films are free and open to the public. For further information visit esu.edu/latinofilmseries or contact Annie Mendoza, Ph.D., professor of modern languages at (570) 422-3842 or email amendoza@esu.edu.