By Gabrielle Yanovitz, Antonio Schoenhardt
Hofstra University is set to host the first-ever New York Central American Film Festival International over three days in various spaces around Hempstead and Nassau County. The inaugural festival brings together Honduran, Salvadoran and Guatemalan filmmakers and creators from across the globe to share their original works in narrative and documentary cinema. The artists will offer Long Islanders the chance to engage with often overlooked stories and cultures of Central Americans.
Morning Wake Up Call co-director Gabrielle Yanovitz,spoke with the director and creator of Caffein, poet and filmmaker Daniel Flores y Ascencio, as well as photographer and professor Tesora Garcia to explore some of the central themes of the festival, including migration, marginalization, identity and family. Lawrence Herbert School of Communication Vice Dean and professor of radio, tv and film, Mario Murillo joined the conversation, as he was an integral part of bringing the festival to Hofstra.
Both Flores and Garcia emigrated from El Salvador to the U.S. Yanovitz began by asking them about their journeys and what brought them into the world of filmmaking.
