DIFF INSIDE FILM: “A Conversation on Latino Cinema”
The DIFF INSIDE FILM Screening and Talk Series was pleased to present three award-winning Latino film insiders for a special Hispanic Heritage Month program on Monday, September 30, 2024.
The program, “A Conversation on Latino Cinema”, included a screening of works by Lizette Barrera, Giovannie Cruz, and Merced Elizondo, followed by a conversation moderated by James Faust, DIFF Artistic Director, and Dr. Alex Garcia Topete, Lead Programmer, Latino and International Programming.
GUEST BIOS:
LIZETTE BARRERA is a writer/director and producer whose films have played at festivals and networks worldwide, including her HBO previously-licensed short films MOSCA (FLY) and ¡CÓME!, the ESPN-licensed short documentary film MR. PASTOR JONES, and her short film CHICLE (GUM), which had its world premiere at SXSW. She received the 2020 Austin Film Society’s Development Grant for her upcoming feature CHICLE (GUM) and participated in 2023’s Austin Film Society’s Artist Intensive hosted by Richard Linklater. She is also a recipient of WarnerMedia’s 150 Grant and the 2021 SFFILM Rainin Grant and is a past participant of the 2022 Gotham Market for the anthology feature Untitled Texas Latina Project.
She has been a showrunner’s assistant to Kat Candler on the UNTITLED JOSHUA JACKSON & LAUREN RIDLOFF Project by ARRAY/WarnerBrothers/STARZ. In addition, Barrera has produced and directed branded content for the Emmy-award-winning production company Prelude Films and Lowtown Studios. She received her MFA in Film Production at the University of Texas at Austin and has previously served as a Senior Lecturer and Adjunct Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington.
https://www.lizettebarrera.com
GIOVANNIE CRUZ was born on an American military installation in Wuerzburg, Germany to parents from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Her family relocated to Texas where she grew up and she eventually attended the University of North Texas College of Music where she got her Bachelor’s Degree in Opera & Early Music. In the years since, Giovannie has worked in film, television, and as an anime voice actor & music director for Sony’s FUNimation Productions (now Crunchyroll Productions).
In 2019 Giovannie appeared in back-to-back Warner Brothers blockbusters, “The Suicide Squad” (directed by James Gunn), and “Reminiscence” (directed by “West World” Co-Creator Lisa Joy-Nolan) where she appeared on screen across Hugh Jackman. She’s also made TV appearances in “Queen of the South”, “Queen Sugar”, “NCIS: New Orleans”, and more.
During the devastating C19 Pandemic, Giovannie had the fortune to be called up by James Gunn again to work on “The Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” and its accompanying “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special”. She also was invited back to work with Horror Film icon Barbara Crampton on Crampton’s second undertaking at producing; the subsequent film, “Suitable Flesh” (directed by Joe Lynch) made its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival where it opened to much acclaim.
She recently appeared in the 2024 Netflix film, BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F.
MERCED ELIZONDO is a Mexican-American filmmaker based out of Texas and Los Angeles.
After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin in 2016, Merced launched his filmmaking career by working on multiple productions all across Texas and served as a Producer with both AMS Pictures and DHD Films. Since then, he has devoted his attention to independent filmmaking, commercials, and branded content. The Mourning Of, a proof-of-concept short film for Merced’s debut feature, won Silver at the Young Director Award Dreampitch Competition (Cannes Lions) and was awarded a NewNarratives Filmmaker Grant through NewFilmmakers Los Angeles and Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022. It’s currently on the 2024-2025 film festival circuit.
Merced was selected as a Directing Fellow for Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative in 2022, which is a program dedicated for emerging TV directors. In 2021, Merced was nominated for an Imagen Award and selected as a fellow for the Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today program, presented by WarnerMedia and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. He has also been shortlisted for a Young Director Award at Cannes Lions and was selected as a mentee for the AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers) Mentoring Program, where he was paired with a mentor from Park Pictures. He was also honored as “Person of the Year” by the National Hispanic Institute in 2021.
https://www.mercedelizondo.com
Special thanks to Violet Crown Cinema Dallas, host of this presentation of DIFF INSIDE FILM, https://dallas.violetcrown.com/
This program was made possible in part through the support of the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Moody Fund for the Arts.