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(L-R) Producer Elizabeth Gardener, actress Melodie Diaz and founder of the NY International Latino Film Festival Calixto Chinchilla attends the opening night of the festival held in 2008. Now, after 13 years the festival is no more.
On Sept. 4, Calixto Chinchilla, founder and co-executive director of the New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF), announced it would end production after 13 years, citing financial troubles.
Two days later, NYILFF co-executive director Elizabeth Gardner refuted Chinchilla's claims of financial woes.
"This was not a decision based on (the) economy, nor the company's financial status, which, in fact, is healthy," Gardner said in a statement. "We end with neither debts, nor liabilities."
It was the public emergence of an apparent behind-the-scenes problem.
The conflicting statements disrupted what should have been a graceful exit for the NYILFF team. Instead the festival's end was overshadowed by an unfortunate blame game.
Gardner said that it was her decision to move on that ultimately led to her partner's choice not to continue with the festival.
Both Chinchilla and Gardner refused to comment further on their statements.
"Things do come to an end and I think that both were ready to seek new adventures," said Gabriel Reyes, president of publicity firm Reyes Entertainment and the 2012 managing director for NYILFF.
But if the partners' conflicting announcements were any indication, both parties seem to want to seek those new adventures far away from the other.
"The directors both had their own personal reasons for moving on," Reyes added.
The festival was not only an accomplishment for the Latino community in New York, it was an organic, artistic representation of the global Latino experience.
"It's a huge loss. It was the soul of the Latino film community every summer," said Juan Caceres, Director of Programming for NYILFF.
Lyndon McCray, NYILFF's head of multimedia, echoed Caceres' sentiments, calling the end of the festival "temporarily catastrophic."
Along with strong sponsors, the festival had a steady stream of partners, volunteers and patrons.
"Their dedication and commitment was admirable and often not for a lot of money," Reyes said.
Sonia Juarez is one of NYILFF's faithful and an example of how the festival reached beyond film.
After interning in 2004 and volunteering in 2009, Juarez was hired in 2010 as the manager of partner/client services for NYILFF, and her newly-formed company, SKA Events, was given the task of producing several festival events.
"I always knew I wanted to be a part of that again. I felt an attachment to it. It felt like it was for me; a bicultural, bilingual Latina," said Juarez.
NYLIFF was one of the few independent ventures that not only had their finger on the elusive bi-cultural identity that is so integral to the Latino experience, but did so with the backing of major corporate sponsors like American Airlines, NBC/Telemundo and its main supporter, HBO. The Daily News was also a strong supporter over the years.
"The festival offered something unique because it was so community-centric, yet at the same time had the outer appeal of something corporate and commercially driven," said McCray.
When a business becomes more than just an operation; when it becomes a cultural marker; a look into the psyche of a population; a symbol of empowerment; it stands to reason that its end should be marked by something other than statements that fuel gossip.
When asked if the owners of NYLIFF had a responsibility to the Latino community to provide the festival with a better send-off, McCray simply answered: "Yes."
But he remained optimistic about the future of Latino film in New York City.
"Something else will emerge," McCray said, "and the festival will serve as the inspiration."
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