The University of North Georgia is currently hosting its 8^th annual ¡Cortos! Latin American Short Film Festival. The festival is this week on UNG campuses, Gainesville and Oconee hosted on Tuesday, and Cumming hosted on Wednesday. Dahlonega is hosting the final day of the festival at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 7 in the Hoag Student Center auditorium. All films have English subtitles for those not fluent in Spanish.

The festival director and Associate Spanish Professor of UNG, Ary Malaver, coordinates the event on all four campuses while also organizing the planning committee. He says, “Every year I work with an organizing committee made up of students from the Department of Spanish. Because of the nature of our festival, it is important that the students are bilingual and bicultural, that is culturally competent in their understandings of the cultures of the US and the Spanish-speaking world.”

Malaver says the purpose of the event is to educate and entertain students, faculty, staff, alumni and the general public in Cumming, Oconee, Dahlonega and Gainesville. He sasys the festival offers a look at current and award-winning short films directed by up-and-coming Latin American filmmakers. This year’s lineup features six short films from three countries: Argentina, Mexico and Peru.

According to Malaver, while the festival celebrates Latin culture, it also celebrates LGBTQ+ awareness and diversity. “It is not uncommon for us to have very honest and illuminating conversations with our audiences during the Q&A. They often comment on the cultural diversity of the Spanish-speaking world in Latin America as well as the complexities and challenges the LGTBQ communities encounter in that part of the world,” says Malaver.

The festival started in 2016 and has included collaborations with institutions from Buenos Aires, Argentina; Havana, Cuba; Lima, Peru; and Mexico City.