The Urbanworld International Film Festival has revealed its much-anticipated 27th edition lineup, boasting a variety of titles from Latin American and the Latinx diaspora. This year’s UrbanWorld Festival will run from November 1-5 in New York City at AMC 34th Street and SVA Theater, featuring films from Argentina and the U.S. Southwest, with Latin American and Latinx subjects in front and behind the camera.
The festival will host the World and U.S. premiere of the Argentinian film Chronicles of a Wandering Saint (Crónicas de una santa errante) directed by Tomás Gómez Bustillo. The film follows Rita Lopez, the chapel manager in Santa Rita, Argentina, who engages in daily battles of piety with other elderly women. The town is shaken by an unexpected miracle and a sudden death, which unravels the true reasons behind Rita's intense devotion, exposing her profound loneliness and longing for connection. A thought-provoking cinematic experience, the film explores topics of obsession, jealousy and faith.
This year, Disney+ will showcase six shorts from its Disney+ Launchpad incubator program of diverse filmmakers whose unique and evocative voices bring new perspectives to storytelling, including Beautiful, FL directed by Dominican filmmaker Gabriela Ortega. The short follows a girl in her quest to win an ice cream competition with a flavor inspired by her late Tia Abuela's Puerto Rican treats. The determined teen girl seeks the help of her trailer park neighbors to create the winning recipe.
The Festival’s POV Showcase, which is presented by WNET, will show the documentary short Sol in the Garden, directed by Emily Cohen Ibañez and Débora Souza Silva. The doc short follows Sol as she seeks freedom and self-discovery after 16 years in prison, with the help of a community gardening collective of formerly incarcerated horticulturalists in East Oakland.
The festival also includes a great selection of narrative shorts from Latinx filmmakers premiering at Urbanworld. Choices directed by Justin Luis Denis will have its world premiere at Urbanworld. This program also includes the U.S. premiere of My Two Left Feet by Damian Gonzalez. Amongst the shorts having their New York Premiere are Don't Wait Up For Me directed by Alain Alfaro, Homing directed by Puerto Rican filmmaker Ricardo Varona, Jerome directed by Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz. Included in this category is Spaceship directed by Mexican filmmaker Jorge G. Camarena. The short tells the story of a Latina trans woman in East LA facing her deepest traumas and fears as she fights to keep her daughter from being taken by child services.
“For close to 30 years, Urbanworld has remained true to its mission of providing a platform for historically excluded filmmakers to tell their stories,” said Karen McMullen, who was recently promoted to Festival Director of Urbanworld in addition to her role as Head of Programming, her position for last year’s festival. With nine titles in four different categories, the festival gives space and a platform for new up and coming Latinx filmmakers.
