Cinephiles and “occasional (movie) critics” Jhon Hernandez and Tony Nguyen noticed something missing from the Dallas film scene. Sure, outlets like the Oak Cliff Film Festival and the Dallas International Film Festival had introduced the city to some great films.

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But movies by Central and South American filmmakers just weren’t receiving the spotlight Hernandez and Nguyen believed they deserved. 

“It feels like there is only one movie per country featured in the U.S. market per year,” Hernandez, director of the inaugural Latin American Film Festival of Dallas (LAFFD), said. “There ware so many movies that get lost in the shuffle.” 

It inspired the duo to launch the LAFFD at Spacy, the 35-seat microcinema in Tyler Station founded and operated by Nguyen.

This year’s festival, running from Feb. 29 through March 3, will feature 10 films hailing from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and the U.S./Mexico border. While Nguyen said he felt the team did a “good job” of lining up a variety of films, adding to the lineup’s geographic representation in fests to come is an “area of opportunity.”

The majority of the films are Spanish, but the Brazilian film The Invention of the Other takes place in the Amazon rainforest and is told through Portuguese and indigenous languages.

“The ethos of the festival is about these really incredible films that need a spotlight not just in Dallas, but the U.S.,” Nguyen said. “We’re trying to include more events (at Spacy) such as the Latin American Film Festival because I think it’s filling the gaps of what’s missing right now.”

The lineup boasts one North American premiere, two U.S. premieres, and three Texas premieres. A “slam dunk” acquisition, Hummingbirds, showed in several festivals across Texas but never made its way to Dallas. The 2023 film takes place along the U.S./Mexico border. 

“The fact that we were able to get premieres means we were able to do what we wanted to do, which is look where other people aren’t looking,” Hernandez said.

Still, the duo aims to keep the festival “accessible” for casual movie lovers, too. There is a “film for everyone,” Nguyen said.

Tickets are $10 and sold individually for each movie. Showtimes can be found here.