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Latinx Representation in Film

This guide, curated through the Hispanic Reading Room, includes filmographies, interviews, filmmaker resources, and scholarship to help researchers navigate the complex histories of Latinx/Latine representation in the film industry.

Introduction

Rita Moreno singing “America” with other members of the “Sharks” on movie set for the musical “West Side Story”. 1961. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZ62-116064. Courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios.

Latina/o/x voices have been historically underrepresented in film, both in front and behind the camera. Latinos have always been present in motion pictures, mostly through stereotypical or reductive depictions. Aiming to document, highlight, and facilitate users' access to these histories and voices, the Latinx Representation in Film Research Guide presents a first-of-its-kind curated multimedia tool to the past, present, and future of Latinx cinema.

Cine Latine: Shaping Latino Representation at the Movies

This guide is one of a two-part project titled Cine Latine: Shaping Latino Representation at the Movies implemented by Junior Fellows, Mateo Arango, Karla Camacho, and Madeline Griffin along with their project mentor Dani Thurber of the Latin American, Caribbean, and European Division (LACE) in collaboration with the Moving Image Research Center, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The second component is the Cine Latine Interview Series.

For the first phase of the project, the team developed this guide consisting of a comprehensive filmography of Latinx representation in film, a brief history of Latinx representation in film, curated chronological and thematic filmographies, and a compilation of relevant resources for filmmakers and researchers such as organizations, networks, film festivals, and reading material. Karla, Madeline, and Mateo surveyed the Library’s collections, conducted extensive research to identify a full list of Latinx films, spoke to experts and professionals in the field, read academic texts on Latinx film, and wrote essays for the guide.

For the second phase of the project, the team developed the Cine Latine Interview Series with emerging and established Latina/o filmmakers. The team initiated relationships with filmmakers and their representatives, conducted in-depth research into the filmmakers’ careers and projects, and drafted interview questions. These efforts culminated in a series of six virtual interviews with Alexis C. Garcia, Aitch Alberto, Alejandra Vasquez, Patricia Cardoso, Alex Rivera, and Gregory Nava.

How to Use this Research Guide

The Latinx Representation in Film Research Guide highlights narrative feature-length films, short films, documentaries, books, posters, interviews, and external websites, all carefully selected to increase understanding and access to moving images representing Latinos. Researchers will find Library of Congress collections highlighted throughout this guide's pages. Please keep in mind that not all films included in the various filmographies are part of the Library's collections. Contact the Moving Image Research Center to confirm availability of films and how to access them. Film titles, books, and other print materials that have been cataloged link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. We invite you to explore the pages within this guide, and remember to reach out via our Ask a Librarian service for further assistance.

Terminology

This guide relies on various terms to describe US-based Latino/a(s) and members of Hispanic American communities, including the gender-neutral forms Latinx and Latine(s).

External Links

Links to external website and resources are provided when available, and included in this guide as a convenience to users. Please note that links to external websites on this guide do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. The Library of Congress bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

How to Access Films That Are Part of the Library's Collection

Please note that not all films listed in this guide's filmographies are cataloged or searchable in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Similarly, some movie titles included in this guide are not part of the Library's collections. Most films, videos, and DVDs that are in the Library's vast moving image collections have not been fully cataloged. As there is no single comprehensive catalog for the Library's holdings, searching for moving image material in the Library of Congress may involve the use of one or more catalogs, internal databases, and finding aids. Please contact the Moving Image Research Center to confirm availability of film titles and the best way to gain access. The Moving Image Research Center provides access to film and video recordings in the Collection. Please contact the Research Center below for research assistance, as collections are stored off-site, and advance notice is needed to prepare items.


We also recommend visiting the Moving Image Research at the Library of Congress Research Guide, linked below, for additional tips and resources to access the Library's moving image collections.

Acknowledgments

The Cine Latine team would like to acknowledge the invaluable guidance and support from the following individuals.

Dr. Mirasol Enríquez, Dr. Charles Ramírez Berg, and Dr. Robert K. Chester for imparting their knowledge of Latinx film history, inspiring the research and methodologies for this project.

Grant Kittleson and María Peña, colleagues from across the Library who directly improved the quality of these unprecedented resources.

We could not have completed this project without the enthusiastic collaboration between the Latin American, Caribbean, and European Division and the Moving Image Research Center and colleagues from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and National Film Preservation Board, namely Laura Jenemann, Steve Leggett, and Stacie Seifrit-Griffin.

We sincerely thank the filmmakers and their teams for facilitating and participating in the Cine Latine Interview Series, and for sharing their perspectives, experiences, and insight into their work with us.

Project Team Members

Mateo Arango

Junior Fellow Mateo Arango (he/his) is a PhD student in American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research looks at embroideries, music and film as a form of documenting marginalized histories in Latin America.

Karla Camacho

Junior Fellow Karla Camacho (she/hers) is a recent graduate from Yale University from Brownsville, Texas. She studied Ethnic Studies and Education Studies with a concentration in Latine borderlands history. Her interests include the history of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, the history of education in Texas and Mexico, and the public humanities.

Madeline Griffin

Junior Fellow Madeline Griffin (she/hers) is a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, where she is completing a Master's Degree in Latin American Studies. She is pursuing a concentration in Conflict, Peace, & Rights, and her current research centers on late twentieth century political protest posters in the UNM Sam L. Slick Collection.