Latino Film Festival at Court Square

Court Square Theater will host the Latino Film Festival of Shenandoah Valley as it returns for its ninth year of entertainment. The festival will run from October 6 through October 9, 2011 and feature films from Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, and Columbia. For specific dates and up to the minute showtimes, please see courtsquaretheater.com. Find the full weekends “LFF Passport” at the website, as well. Tickets for all showings are available at the door for $7 or $5 with a student ID beginning at thirty minutes before curtain. For more information call (540) 433-9189 x 2.

Holding the Latino Film Festival annually brings a sense of unity to the large Latino population in the Harrisonburg area. The Arts Council of the Valley sponsors the annual festival, a brain child of JMU foreign language professor Karina Kline-Gabel, in downtown’s Court Square Theater. “My mission, as the festival’s creator…is to continue to bring films that celebrate the Latino culture as well as educate on issues that impact directly or indirectly all of us.” said Kline-Gabel.

Each film has received international acclaim. Kline-Gabel chose them to represent a variety of Spanish-speaking countries and themes and the Arts Council brings them to Harrisonburg with hopes of increasing cultural events in the local community. In addition to providing an opportunity for Latino families to enjoy native language programming, the festival is popular with college communities in the area; provoking great discussions in and out of the classroom.

Court Square Theater opened in 1998 and has since been dedicated to bringing the best of theatre, film, live music and dance to downtown Harrisonburg. By bringing in a diverse mix of acts and films from around the world, Court Square Theater has deepened the downtown cultural environment. With these films, manager Noah McBrayer Jones continues the first run of Independent and Foreign Films at the local art house which is the staple of CST’s programming. With its single screen, Court Square Theater hopes to expose the Shenandoah Valley to the richness of cinema which is available, but rarely at the local multiplex. Says Jones, “Court Square Theater welcomes cinema from all areas. From Disney’s latest documentary to sponsorship of the local art film movement, we hope to foster the community’s love for the motion picture.”

A complete listing of the film times, titles and ratings is below. More information for each film can be accessed at courtsquaretheater.com.

10/6 7:00pm Habana Eva (Cuba) [NR] 10/7 9:30pm

10/7 7:00pm Hermano (Venezuela) [NR] 10/9 4:30pm

10/8 2:00pm Letters to Elena (Mexico) [NR] 7:00pm

10/6 9:30pm The Colors of the Mountain (Columbia) [NR] 10/9 2:00pm

Court Square Theater receives generous event support from Crutchfield and seasonal support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. The JMU Latin American Studies Committee continues their sponsorship; underwriting the film Habana Eva.