Two dynamic film festivals are set to ignite San Antonio’s cinematic spirit this summer, promising a celebration of local and international filmmaking excellence.
CineFestival takes place July 11-14, with screenings at Carver Community Cultural Center and Alamo Drafthouse Park North. San Antonio Film Festival runs July 30 to August 4, with screenings at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and Radius Center.
With over 350 combined films highlighting diverse voices from around the globe, both festivals encourage cinephiles to experience a breadth of storytelling that includes everything from acclaimed documentaries to compelling dramas and exhilarating comedies.
CineFestival
In its 45th year, CineFestival is the country’s longest-running Latinx film festival.
“There are more Latinx filmmakers now than ever before, but we’re still not a part of the mainstream,” said CineFestival director Eugenio del Bosque.
Presented by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, CineFestival digs deep into Latinx, Chicanx and Indigenous stories in San Antonio and beyond in both Spanish- and English-language showings.
But Del Bosque said, “there’s something for everyone. It’s not a closed circle of artists or only for Chicanos or Latinos.”
While a strong emphasis on regional cinema has been a programming mandate for years at CineFestival, Del Bosque said that doesn’t mean these stories don’t translate to broader audiences.
“There’s this fragmentation in the film industry — with wages, artificial intelligence, and theatrical exhibition on the verge of dying for so many years. All of these factors make it difficult to define what’s happening in the industry,” Del Bosque said. “What is important is when local stories connect with universal themes. That’s something that we try to cultivate.”
Serious films and documentaries touching on the issues of addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, human trafficking, migration, cartel violence and femicide in Mexico, and environmental segregation exist alongside uplifting coming-of-age narratives like Lorence’s Baby Boots / Botitas and Alexander Rosales’ Search & Destroy. Refreshing comedies like Isaac Rodriguez’s Tamale Season are also sprinkled in.
“Comedy helps relieve everyday stress, and I wanted a different adventure. I wanted to expand my genre as a filmmaker,” said Tamale Season producer Cynthia Bergen.
Mario Stecher, producer of Ayahuasca Now, said San Antonio represents a unique opportunity for Argentine filmmakers like himself. His team’s film follows a group of U.S. veterans affected by the traumas of war traveling to the Peruvian Amazon.
“From the figure of Manu Ginobili on the Spurs to the stories in common with our own Malvinas veterans who also suffer from PTSD, there are a series of invisible ties that make this city a very valuable place for us to reach out to with Ayahuasca Now,” he said.
From July 11 to 14, CineFestival will show 108 films will at the Carver Center and Alamo DraftHouse Park North. The full festival lineup and schedule are available online.
All-access CineFestival passes can be purchased for $45, getting attendees into any viewings of their choice. Tickets to many screenings are free, and viewers are encouraged to donate what they can.
San Antonio Film Festival
To festival founder and director Adam Rocha, the San Antonio Film Festival is “the Sundance of San Antonio.”
With an international focus, the festival draws filmmakers from across the country and continues to grow every year.
In 2018, the festival showed around 150 films. Rocha and his team of volunteers plan to present around 250 this year, with an exact number still pending finalization.
Rocha, who also teaches cinema at Northside Independent School District and holds a film degree from the University of Texas at Austin, said he’s most excited about the festival’s scholarship program. Two $2,500 rewards will be given to filmmakers this year, one to the best San Antonio-based filmmaker and the other to the best high school filmmaker.
Lennon Maldanando, feature film programmer, notes the Filipino erotic drama “Your Mother’s Son” by director Jun Lana and the award-winning documentary “Powerlands” by Navajo filmmaker Ivey Camille Manybeads as standouts.
“This is the year the world is coming to San Antonio,” he said.
Other countries represented at the festival include Mexico, Switzerland, Cuba and South Africa
The 30th iteration of the San Antonio Film Festival, presented by the nonprofit of the same name, kicks off July 30 and runs to August 4.
Screenings will be held at the Tobin Center and Radius Center, with additional screening locations to be announced. The full lineup and schedule can be found on the festival’s website.
