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U.S. Census Inspires Film Festival Line Up
SAN DIEGO -- The theme of this year's San Diego Latino Film Festival is Latinos in the U.S. - a first in the festival's 19-year-history.
Organizers were inspired by the results of the 2010 Census, which revealed just how large the U.S. Latino population has grown.
“We all kind of internally thought: 'Wow, why did we never think of this before?'” said Lisa Franek, the festival’s artistic director. She said the festival's focus has long been on bringing international Latino films to a U.S. audience.
But this year it will highlight films about the Latino experience in the U.S. and feature nightly events with Latino television stars.
“Arts and culture is where you see what’s happening with people. That’s what they do when they’re having fun," Franek said. "So I think that the culture is where we see where we’re going in terms of who we are.”
The festival runs through March 8 - 18 at the UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas.