Latina Filmmaker Festival Kicks off Today in Boyle Heights

LatinaLista — This weekend in a section of Los Angeles some very talented mujeres are meeting up to share some very important works — their films.
It’s the third annual Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza (BHLIFE) in Los Angeles.

For those who don’t know, the BHLIFE was started by the successful Latina writer Josefina Lopez who wrote “Real Women Have Curves” — the movie that started it all for today’s Ugly Betty’s America Ferrera.
The festival was created as a way to build a network of Latina filmmakers, in turn, showing Hollywood that the number of Latinas in the industry working behind the camera was growing.
What’s so good about having a Latina behind the camera is that they can be the ones to shatter the stereotypical images of Latinas as maids, prostitutes and homegirl gang members on the small and big screen.
This year’s festival has shorts, features, youth media, documentaries and experimental/”new frontier” pieces representing Latinas from New York, Chicago, Boston, Tucson, Houston, Austin, San Francisco, Puerto Rico and Boyle Heights.
Though awards will be handed out, organizers say the grand prize is shared by todas when the Latina filmmakers are unified in “transforming their image to one that empowers and inspires.”
Organizers say that “BHLIFE is a celebration of Latinas, their voices and their visions.”
Since that is the case, BHLIFE will be around for a long, long time.
But for this year, it’s only going on December 7, 8, and 9 at Theatre CASA 0101 in Boyle Heights.