Perseverance: A Hallmark of the OLA Film Festival
- Beth Young
- Sep 20
- 5 min read
If you’re feeling powerless about the state of the world today, the team at the Latino advocacy group OLA of Eastern Long Island is hoping that you’ll join this coming week in a shared experience of great international cinema that tells stories of strength and perseverance.
Pictured Above: A Still from “La Ola (The Wave),” a Chilean film that will have its New York premiere at the OLA Film Festival on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at the Southampton Playhouse.
Wednesday through Saturday, Sept. 24 through 27, OLA’s 22nd Annual Latino Film Festival of the Hamptons is partnering with four venues throughout the East End to share what OLA Executive Director Minerva Perez calls “one of the best slates of films we’ve had, all in one festival,” including the New York Premiere of the Chilean film “La Ola (The Wave).”
This is not a fundraiser for OLA — tickets range from free to $12 — but rather a chance for the community at large to enjoy great cinema together, keeping with one of OLA’s core missions of celebrating Latin American culture. All of the films are shown in the original Spanish, with English subtitles.
“Show up, not for the money, we’re not making money off a $10 ticket. Show up because you can. Show up because someone else can’t, and fill those seats,” said Ms. Perez. “We are committing to the fact that culture, storytelling and Spanish language cinema is not dead. It’s not on the chopping block.”
The festival is partnering with the Southampton Playhouse, the North Fork Arts Center, LTV Studios and the Sag Harbor Cinema, all of which have opened their arms wide to this mission.
Ms. Perez says working with these venues is “like building a family.”
The festival kicks off on Wednesday evening, Sept. 24 at the new Southampton Playhouse with the screening of “La Ola,” a musical drama in which a Chilean student finds herself becoming a central figure in a feminist movement at her university.
A reception will be held at 6 p.m., followed by the screening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 and are available at southamptonplayhouse.com/movie/la-ola.
“The Southampton Playhouse is proud to partner with OLA of Eastern Long Island for their opening night of the Latino Film Festival,” said Southampton Playhouse Executive Director Maria Ruiz Botsacos. “This partnership reflects the Playhouse’s mission that the arts are not only for entertainment, but also for building bridges, sparking dialogue, and strengthening the fabric of our community. We are honored to celebrate OLA’s vision and to be part of their meaningful work on Long Island.”
Here’s what Academy Award winning director Sebastián Lelio has to say about having the New York premiere here.
A Still from Queens (Reinas)
Building a Family in Greenport
On Thursday, Sept. 25, the North Fork Arts Center in Greenport will screen “Reinas (Queens),” a 2024 film about two Peruvian sisters who are about to leave their country forever when they unexpectedly reconnect with their absent father. The evening begins with a 6 p.m. reception, followed by the film at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and are available at northfork-artscenter.org/events/ola.
“This is a bittersweet family story and it’s beautifully done,” said Ms. Perez. “Not a lot of films come out of Peru, and the fact that this was filmed in Peru is a nice treat.”
“Partnering with organizations like OLA to bring Latin American films to Greenport is one of the ways we practice our commitment to programming that represents the diversity and richness of our local community, says North Fork Arts Center Executive Director Tony Spiridakis. “This Hispanic Heritage Month, we are proud to support the work that OLA does to uplift Latino communities across the East End.”
OLA is also partnering with the North Fork Arts Center on an art exhibition, “The Worker,” opening Oct. 18, featuring artists’ interpretations of what it means to be a worker.
“This came about after a conversation in East Hampton Village about all the ways you can criminalize someone for using a landscaping tool,” said Ms. Perez.
“We’re proud to partner with OLA for a second year,” agreed NFAC Director of Operations Liz Gillooly. “Their work to foster inclusion and celebrate the contributions of the Latino community aligns closely with NFAC’s role as a gathering place for arts and culture. This year, we’re donating 100% of the profits back to OLA as a way to honor and strengthen that shared commitment.”
We’ll have more details about the exhibition soon.
A Safe Place for Families
On Friday, Sept. 26 at LTV Studios in Wainscott, families are invited to a free evening of children’s films, including the animated 2017 “El Libro De Lila,” about a little girl who is a a character in a storybook who suddenly falls out of her paper world and ends up trapped in a place where she doesn’t belong.
The 2024 short film “La Gran Hazaña (The Great Feat),” about a little boy trying to find his missing pet chicken, will also be screened.
While tickets are free, families can preregister online here.
“We’re hoping people will feel safe and good to come out and see these films — The films are beautiful, and the little ones will have fun. It’s an environment where kids can come in their pajamas, and sit up on the platform by the screen, they can walk around with their family and get up to go to the bathroom or get popcorn,” said Ms. Perez.
The closing night film, 2024’s “Corina,” will be shown at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Sag Harbor Cinema. Tickets are $10, and can be reserved at sagharborcinema.org/ola.
“It’s a Mexican film about a woman in her 20s who is agoraphobic, her life is very set and ordered, and then something happens that requires her to leave her four-block radius and set out for parts unknown,” said Ms. Perez. “It comes back to our theme of strength and perseverance. We wanted to show the strength in all these characters — the lead character in “La Ola” is a powerhouse. If you saw these films, you could leave and say, ‘this lifted me a little bit.’ We need a lot more of that.”
Ms. Perez says people who don’t speak Spanish are going to love being in the audience at the festival.
“This is the tradition of great cinema. If would see a French film or a German film, you’d know it’s going to be subtitled,” she said. “The difference here, as opposed to sitting in a room on Netflix, is you’re going to be seeing this film when at least half the audience is going to be a native Spanish speaker, so whatever jokes or pathos you’re experiencing, you’re going to experience along with people who are native speakers, and may be from countries where these films are shot. You’re going to be experiencing things with people who have a different connection to it.”
“These are just great films,” she added. “Most of their medium is visual. You’re going to get it all. Nothing is going to be lost.”
For more details and links to tickets on the partner venue websites, visit OLA’s website.
Comments