PARRISH ART MUSEUM PRESENTS AWARD-WINNING FILMS IN THE OLA FILM FESTIVAL, AND FAMILY ACTIVITIES, SEPTEMBER 25-27. The Weekend Features Acclaimed Latino Cinema, Live Music and Dance Performances, Poetry Readings, Art Projects, and More. The 12th Annual OLA Film Festival, co-founded by Isabel Sepulveda-de Scanlon, and co-presented by the Parrish Art Museum and the Organización Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island (OLA), will take place September 25-27 at the Parrish Art Museum, which has hosted the event for seven years.

Still from La Once (2014, Chile); film poster for Venecia (2014, Cuba)

This year, in addition to the showcase of award-winning recent Latino cinema for a broad audience, the weekend includes a day of family activities open to the public, including dance performances and instruction, art projects, and poetry readings. Tickets for each film, screened in the Museum’s Lichtenstein Theater, are $10, free for Members, students, and children. A live performance on Friday evening by Mambo Loco and all family activities on Sunday are free with Museum admission.

The Festival opens on Friday with La Once (2014, Dir. Maite Alberdi, 80 minutes, Chile,) the story of five women who have gathered for tea once a month for 60 years. As they reminisce about their common past, their lives are revealed through stories colored by the radical historical changes they’ve experienced. Following the screening on Friday, Mambo Loco will perform its blend of classic Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican music on the Mildred C. Brinn Terrace from 7-8:30 pm.

On Saturday, September 26, a Spanish language tour of the Museum’s permanent collection and special exhibitions is offered from 3-4 pm. Short films screened at 4pm include Melody (2015, Dir. Marialy Rivas, 8 minutes, Chile), a documentary about students in a youth orchestra program in Chile who pursue their love of music to escape poverty. Nana (2015, Dir. Diego Luna, 5 minutes, Mexico), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015, reveals an intimate portrait of nannies working in Mexico. Las Ventanas/The Windows (2014, Dir. Maryulis Alfonso, 21 minutes, Cuba) tells the story of Lucía, a craftswoman who manufactures clay dolls and dreams on her fortieth birthday about what she might have done with her life. And lastly, Danzak (2008, Gabriela Yepes, 18 minutes, Peru) focuses on ten-year-old Nina, whose father, a master dancer, asks her to fulfill his last wish. The film is inspired by the short story Agony of Rasu Niti, by the acclaimed Peruvian writer José María Arguedas.

Sunday, September 27, is family day, with activities on the Terrace from 1:00-3:00 pm. The Herencia Caleña Latin Dance Company will perform Salsa, Mambo, and Bachata at 1:00 and 2:00 pm. After each performance, the instructors will teach the dance steps while DJ Chile spins popular music selections.

Throughout the afternoon, families can participate in Latin American-inspired art projects including a Mapping Art Workshop with East End artist Darlene Charneco, among others. Poetry readings are scheduled in the Theater at 2 pm, featuring NYC-based poet Yesenia Montilla and local students.

The festival ends with a 4 pm screening of Venecia (2014, Dir. Kiki Alvarez, 74 minutes, Cuba), about three friends from Havana who work at a hair salon who have a night out on payday, and dream of Venice at dawn. The film, which presents an unfiltered, tough version of the lives of working-class Cuban women, was screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival

Calendar of events:

Friday, September 25
5:30 pm: La Once (2014, Dir. Maite Alberdi, 80 minutes, Chile)
7-8:30 pm: Mambo Loco performance. Guests are invited to bring chairs or blankets and to enjoy food and drink from the Golden Pear Café at the Museum.

Saturday, September 26
3-4 pm: Spanish language tour of the Museum
4 pm: Screening of short films

Sunday, September 27
1:00-3 pm: Family activities/art projects
1:00 and 2:00 pm: Herencia Calena Latin Dance Company; music by DJ Chile
2:00 pm: Poetry readings with Yesenia Montilla and local students
4:00 pm: Venecia (2014, Dir. Kiki Alvarez, 74 minutes, Cuba),

Throughout the Weekend
Identity collages by East Hampton High School students on view

The Museum’s programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the property taxpayers from the Southampton School District and the Tuckahoe Common School District.

Friday Nights are made possible, in part, by the generous support of The Corcoran Group and Bridgehampton National Bank. Public Funding provided by Suffolk County.