Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
The 5th annual Raza Cósmica film festival kicks off in San Antonio Oct. 9 to highlight sci-fi films by Latinx and BIPOC filmmakers. The free showcase runs Oct. 9-Oct. 11 at Arthouse at Blue Star and at Central Library downtown.
Texas Public Radio’s Marian Navarro spoke with Manuel Solis, the founder of MonteVideo and the programmer of the festival.
Solis spoke about what inspired him to launch the festival in 2021.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
SOLIS: It pretty much all started with receiving a grant from NALAC — the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures. The idea behind it was, you know, as a film programmer, I wanted to take independent films directly to the community. So, Raza Cósmica is actually MonteVideo’s signature program to provide that — to provide independent films for underserved communities here in San Antonio. We wanted to make it as accessible as possible and so we thought sci-fi would be a great genre to kind of focus on.
We as Latinos growing up in households — like going back as far as the '60s — that watched Star Trek and the Twilight Zone, and also talking to our filmmakers, that science fiction was just something that was prevalent, and that was often kind of passed down from one generation to the next, whether it was tíos or tías. Also, just the fact that it really allows Latino filmmakers, BIPOC filmmakers, to just create new worlds and create new narratives and these new worlds and new narratives often center on Latino stories. That’s a really big plus to the genre and its accessibility.
NAVARRO: How has the showcase grown and changed since you first started it? It is in the fifth year. So, what have you seen throughout the five years of putting on Raza Cósmica?
SOLIS: Originally, it was kind of more like a film series spread over the month of October in different venues across San Antonio.
In 2023, we really embraced the concept of making it a film festival. We were able to expand to include Indigenous filmmakers, Black Filmmakers, different showcases that revolved around those films. And then I think this year, what really is taking place is that we're having access to just some really strong films that have screened at some big festivals. Raza Cósmica is also part of bringing these films to San Antonio because our audiences deserve to see them as well.
NAVARRO: The showcase runs three days, and each day has something different. So, tell us a little bit about what people can expect to see and the type of films that you're highlighting.
SOLIS: Everything kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 9, with Un Futuro Brillante — A Bright Future. This is a film that we're really excited about that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, where it won the Viewpoints Award. And it's directed by Lucia Garibaldi, who's from Uruguay.
I think it's a really great example of science fiction allowing filmmakers to create new narratives and create new worlds. So, in this specific film, Lucia wanted to tell the story of the last young girl in her neighborhood. In order to do that, she needed to use science fiction to create this world that's reflected in the film. So, I think it's a great example of how the genre can allow these filmmakers to craft stories from a fresh perspective.
NAVARRO: On Saturday, you have films that touch on the theme “Excursions in Afrofuturism.” Tell us a little bit about that.
SOLIS: Yes, the festival continues on Friday, again at Art House at Blue Star. The program begins that evening with “Excursions and Afrofuturism.” This is a collection of short films by afro, Latino and Black filmmakers that explore different themes, like movement, family and hope. A lot of it centers on family, but from different perspectives, where you have, you know a son who's grieving his mother, you have a filmmaker who's talking about divorce with Harlem as a backdrop. You have a very hopeful film called Granada that touches on the subject of infertility, which is something that you never really see in Latino short films or Latino cinema. So, we're really excited about screening this short showcase.
It also includes this really great film, Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky by Aisha Bolaji and she is actually based in Ireland. The program closes at night with Barrunto by Emilia Beatriz, and this is a very interesting, nonlinear narrative that is kind of infused by poetry and touches on different topics, like diasporic distance, military occupation of different countries, nuclear contamination in Puerto Rico.
So, it's a very interesting narrative. It's very challenging and also very rewarding for viewers. It's definitely something that the filmmaker encourages to be felt as well as seen.
NAVARRO: Then on Sunday, you're wrapping up with activist and musician Joaquín Muerte, who's actually hosting a live episode of his podcast, Xicanx Versus Aliens . So, tell us a little bit about that.
SOLIS: Xicanx Versus Aliens and Joaquín Muerte have been partners with Raza Cósmica from the beginning. We love the energy of the podcast, and we're really excited to be able to have some San Antonio guests for that.
This includes Amalia Ortiz, who's an amazing author, poet, writer. She has a play called The Canción Cannibal Cabaret. She worked with Texas filmmaker Pepe García Gilling on a series of music videos. That's one of the projects that we're going to be highlighting. And Amalia is going to be talking about her work. Another of the guests is Rodrigo Rendon, who's the editor of one of the new tabloid zines here in town called Oculto that kind of focuses on the paranormal and the weird that's out there in San Antonio. He's going to be joining Amalia and Joaquín to talk about Latino science fiction
As part of that program, we have some other really strong films. This includes Illegal Alien by Pamela Martinez Barrera. It's a film that focuses on three women who are basically exploring the stories of migrant violence, Venezuelan women through found objects.
One of the other strong films in that program is MisTik and that's by Jules Arita Koostachin, who's a Cree filmmaker from Canada. So, this film talks about Cree twins who are carrying less healthy trees on their back in hopes of saving the world. So, the themes kind of in this program deal with kind of the dystopian kind of futures, but optimistic futures. And so, we're really, really excited about the conversation about sharing the films.
NAVARRO: What do you want people to take away from attending Raza Cósmica, from seeing these films. What do you think people can take away from all this?
SOLIS: Raza Cósmica is an event that is open to the entire community. All of our events are free because we want to make them accessible to the community.
With science fiction, I think it can often reflect the anxieties and it can reflect the challenges that people are facing, but I think it also allows us to, you know, be optimistic and to look towards brighter futures, so to speak. I think that's definitely one of the other aspects of the genre that we push forward is just the hope, the energy, the ability to dream and imagine new possibilities.
Again, we just hope that it's something that is able to provide some optimism and some encouragement to continue forward in what some of these filmmakers would even maybe think are dystopian times.

NAVARRO: You mentioned, this is a free event. How can people attend? Where is it going to be held? And do you need to register ahead of time?
SOLIS: So, our opening night, Thursday and also Friday, is taking place at Art House at Blue Star, which is in the Blue Star Arts Complex in Southtown. Saturday will be taking place at Central Library, and that's a partnership with the Latino Collection Resource Center.
So, all events are free. We just ask that folks RSVP so they can go to our website and once you RSVP and reserve your spot, that's pretty much all you need. We're really excited to be able to partner with MACRI, the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute and AIT, American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions, as well.