\u201cI watched the industry try to close ranks and not allow my dad to be a part of it. He just kept showing up. He did not stop. He became undeniable at a certain point,\u201d said Trejo.<\/p>\n
The event sold out, said Da Silva. \u201cIt was mind blowing because we were just like, \u2018Let\u2019s throw our money here and see what happens.\u2019 Then I remember Gilbert being like, \u2018Hey, Shepard Fairey\u2019s here.\u2019 I was like, \u2018What?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mariana Da Silva and Gilbert Trejo, photographed at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
(David Butow\/For De Los)<\/p>\n
Now in its seventh year, El Cine has hosted dozens of screenings and community events \u2014 including partnerships with the Los Angeles Public Library and the UCLA archives, a series on Roberto Gavald\u00f3n<\/a> with the Academy Museum and a collaboration with Mexican archivists like Permanencia Voluntaria to bring little-known films to L.A.-based audiences. <\/p>\n Many of El Cine\u2019s events take place at Heavy Manners Library, an arts space in Echo Park, and the Philosophical Research Society, a multicultural arts nonprofit in Los Feliz. El Cine hosts a monthly short film screening called \u201c$horty,\u201d which showcases work by Black and brown filmmakers in Los Angeles. The organization is also prepping for its annual Halloween programming, perhaps El Cine\u2019s most busy time of the year. (\u201cOur community loves genre and camp,\u201d said Da Silva.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to Trejo and Da Silva to diversify El Cine\u2019s offerings, appealing to casual moviegoers as well as niche film lovers like themselves. Their programming highlights little-known international films, past and present blockbusters and films made by the local L.A. community. El Cine screenings show English subtitles on Spanish-language films, as well as the inverse. This is to accommodate the multigenerational audience that flocks to its events, where parents and grandparents may not speak English, or first-generation children may not speak Spanish. <\/p>\n \u201cMy dad had Spanish beaten out of him in school and he carried that shame well into his adulthood. He was in his 40s when I was born and he was still so terrified that I would be treated the way that he was when he was a kid that he made a point of not teaching me Spanish,\u201d said Trejo, who learned Spanish later in life.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything I do is bilingual. I think bilinguality is a language that we speak here,\u201d said Da Silva. \u201cI also think it\u2019s something that was shamed for so long, but it was shamed because of its power. By being international, multilingual and multicultural, we have so much power.\u201d<\/p>\n Accessibility is at the core of El Cine\u2019s programming. When introducing movies at a screening, Da Silva focuses on making sure she doesn\u2019t isolate an audience by using \u201cinside baseball\u201d film school or industry language. She believes the reason that Spanish-language and Latin films are not as prevalent in industry conversations is deeply rooted in a lack of Latin history education \u2014 even in a place as diverse Los Angeles \u2014 leading all the way up to film school. Even if Latin filmmakers receive more shine in their college curriculum, those can be inaccessible to lower-income families and first-generation college students, who make up some of El Cine\u2019s audience. <\/p>\n Da Silva feels especially close to this cause. As a once undocumented immigrant, she was not able to go to film school due to her immigration status. For years in her early 20s, instead of film school, Da Silva laid low in Atlanta, watching as many movies as possible to educate herself.<\/p>\n Outside of film screenings, El Cine hosts educational events geared at the next generation of Latin filmmakers. Think DIY film school. \u201cThere\u2019s this view that we\u2019re the hands, not the minds, of the film industry,\u201d said Trejo.<\/p>\n Set at accessible pricing (typically around $20), El Cine\u2019s events have focused on topics like how to safely document an arrest and how to make a horror short. There are also workshops for directing music videos and body movement classes for performers. \u201cI hope that every time you leave an [El Cine] event, not only do you feel like you can make a movie, but you also feel like you learned something about yourself,\u201d said Da Silva.<\/p>\n Da Silva is now working on El Cine full-time, with hopes to grow the brand and host more events, secure large partnerships and raise money through private donors and grants to power it all. The organization has a well-rounded slate of programming this fall, as well as a new podcast<\/a>, which you can follow on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Attend an upcoming El Cine event<\/p>\n \n