So Demián Bichir didn’t take the Oscar for Best Actor, but being nominated is just enough a reason to celebrate Latino films and Latinos in film –and for those of you whose hearts became restless with Bichir, guess what? His talent doesn’t come solo. It’s three-fold. Why? His two brothers, Bruno and Odiseo Bichir are also actors with as much potential to follow in Demián’s footsteps. In even better news, they’ll be attending this year’s San Diego Latino Film Festival, so keep an eye out for them.

They’re not the only special guests to the festival this year, however. Opening up the festival you may have spotted Jorge Salina who was promoting “La Otra Familia” this past Thursday. If you missed him you’ve got another shot at running into him at the Hazard Center during his presentation of “Labios Rojos” tonight. Another guest on this year’s roster is Rafael Amaya, who returns for a third year to the festival. His popularity most recently picked up momentum during his appearance in “Reina del Sur”, one of the highest rated novelas in Telemundo history where he played Kate del Castillo’s drug-trafficking husband. During the festival, Amaya will be featured in “Adios Mundo Cruel” a satire to real life where he explains, “the artist reflects their reality and Mexico as our reality has many stories to tell, in all forms. “Adios Mundo Cruel” is a beautiful orchestration of different elements that serve as tools to tell a story within a chaotic scenario, that of a cruel world.”

A few other recommendations directly from the man who started it all are the “…Chilean film titled “¿Alguien ha visto a Lupita?” starring Mexican pop star, Dulce Maria. And for any zombie lovers out there, don’t miss Juan of the Dead. We’re also going to have great music and dancing at each of our after parties: [the next ones are] Centerpiece Party on March 14, and Closing Night Party on March 17. These parties are going to be lots of fun for everyone” expressed the San Diego Latino Film Festival’s Founder and Executive Director, Ethan Van Thillo.

As for new aspects to look forward to at the festival this year, Van Thillo says “there are a couple of new things at the festival this year. For one, we have a whole celebration of Latinos on TV. Because Lati-nos are underrepresented in the tv industry, we wanted to highlight the great work they are doing and call attention to the fact that they are still contributing wonderful things to US television. We also have a great showcase of New Chilean Directors, made possible in part by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Relations. This is a showcase of up and coming directors from Chile, and they have given us four films that have great stories and great diversity. From a fictional story of the 2010 Chilean earthquake “3:34 Terremoto en Chile”, to a fascinating film about a Chilean immigrant in Nashville “Musica Campesina”, the films represent diverse voices from Chile, which is very exciting to see.”

In the arts scene, Lisa Franek, the festival’s Artistic Director encourages everyone to take advantage of the artistic blend of film and exhibitions throughout the venue, as well as at the parties. “As always, we try to incorporate many different art forms besides film into the festival. We’ll have live music at our parties, as well as in the theater lobby every night from 6-7pm, and there will also be an art exhibit in the theater.”

In case you’re wondering how the festival’s official poster came about this year, Franek explains “this is the third year we’ve had a competition for our poster design, and we received entries from around the world. This year’s winner was chosen by a jury of local artists. The winner they chose was a student from France who is studying in London.”

Overall, if you’re a local the festival is the place to be. If you’re visiting, it’s an event not to miss. It’s really wonderful to see what started as a student film festival nineteen years ago, today has bloomed into a internationally renowned Latino Film Festival just a year shy of celebrating 20 years of dedicated evolution translated into a long list of past, present and to-be special guest appearances, over 3,500 screened films from across Latin Ameri-ca to the United States.

Van Thillo has created mountains and still manages to offer students an array of media options through classes “We will continue our mission to serve the community with our media classes and tech camps for kids and teens, as well as our workshops for adults.” As for future plans he says “We’re also hoping to expand our exhibition programs to be able to screen films year round in our new facility on El Cajon Blvd, in addition to getting ready for our big 20th anniversary coming up for next year’s festival. It’s going to be a big year for us.”

The San Diego Latino Film Festival run March 8 – 18 at the Hazard Center in Mission Valley. For a complete list of featured films and guest appearances, there’s an online catalogue at: www.sdlatinofilm.com.