“For All of Us”: An Interview with Philly-based Cultural Organizer Marángeli Mejía-Rabell
“For anybody to feel welcome, you have to be able to see yourself and [to] see yourself as belonging,” says Marángeli Mejía-Rabell, festival director for the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (PHLAFF). Such are the inclusive spaces where representation and community are not just priority, but rather, inextricable from one another. Under Marángeli’s leadership, the festival is guided by a fluid, often intuitive sense of the needs and aspirations of creatives and audiences alike. “Si es para nuestra comunidad, si está centrado en ese compromiso, esa intención, ese amor—it’s not only talking about it, it’s everything you do.”
Marángeli says she experienced this ethos upon arriving in Philadelphia from her native Puerto Rico in the late 1980s. “It was a group of folks that gave me that sense of extended family that very clearly made the difference between me [staying] here.” She cites Johnny Irizarry, former executive director of Taller Puertorriqueño, among many, many other mentors, as an early and lasting influence. “At the center of everything he did was the community.”
Marángeli has been creating space for others ever since, bridging the divide between Puerto Rico and Philadelphia, Latinx and Latin America, and so on. Though she acknowledges its definition and origin may be disputed, she eschews the ‘ni de acá, ni de allá’ narrative in favor of the Taíno word ‘caicu,’ which roughly translates to narrow land bridge. “That’s where I live, in that land bridge between two spaces,” she says.
In 2005, for example, she founded AFROTAINO (formerly AFROTAINO Productions) alongside creative partner Rahsaan Lucas. More than fifteen years later, AFROTAINO has matured into a multidisciplinary and collaborative platform for arts and cultural programming. “Philadelphia has become my home during this period of time. It's at the core of the work both with AFROTAINO and PHLAFF, that intersection between community and arts and culture, and also understanding the transformational power of film, music, and art [...] It is an honor to be in a position to share and to do that.”
Initially, her work with PHLAFF began in 2012 as a collaborator. That year, she recalls a screening of the Brazilian film Found Memories, in which director Júlia Murat tells the story of a fictional village called Jotubaba where the inertia of routine provides comfort to mostly elderly residents. This includes Magdalena, whose quiet death closes the film. Afterwards, the tone and subject matter weighed heavily as a sense of inconsolable anguish took hold of Marángeli. Her thoughts turned to her last conversation with her mother, who she had spoken to that night over the phone, just as she did most days. “‘She was telling me towards the end of the call, “You know, I'm very proud of you and I'm very proud of how you combine your work ethic and what you have learned and also pursue your passions.’”
The next morning, she received the news that her mother had passed away in Puerto Rico. Her caretaker explained that Marángeli’s mother had insisted on going to the salon that day, refusing pleas to schedule an appointment for the next day. Much like the woman in the film, she accepted her transition with grace and foresight.
For Marángeli, it is one of several moments over the years, deeply personal in this instance, that captures the power of PHLAFF to create a meaningful space, as well as the power of film to provide a transformational experience. “Timing and alignment are critical,” she adds.
The next year, Marángeli helped promote the festival, but ultimately kept her distance to mourn the one-year anniversary of her mother’s passing. Then, in 2014, she was invited to join the festival’s board. By the end of the year, the festival co-founders, David Acosta and Beatriz Vieira, had moved on and Marángeli took over as director.
Like Marángeli, others involved with the festival have seen their roles evolve and expand over the years. PHLAFF programming director Kristal Sotomayor, for example, began as a volunteer on the PHLAFF social media team. The following year, she screened a short film entitled To My Motherland as part of the 2017 PHLAFF Youth Salon. The next year, at a happy hour, Marángeli approached Sotomayor to share remarks on opening night of the festival as an alumni filmmaker. “She said, ‘sure.’ And then she's like, ‘but I want to do more.’” So Marángeli invited her to join the programming team, a creative intergenerational partnership that has blossomed into a mutual learning experience for the two as they meet regularly to hang out and discuss films. This year, Sotomayor will give a sneak preview of their next project, Expanding Sanctuary.
Leslie Rivera is another example of the festival’s commitment to fostering talent within the scope of community. “Leslie Rivera begins the journey with PHLAFF facilitating workshops for our Youth Salon.” Later, Marángeli recalls a pitch from Rivera for a film inspired by the B-movie horror films of the 1950s and 60s. The result, Papi Ramirez vs. The Giant Scorpions, would premiere at PHLAFF with Puerto Rican actress Aris Mejías, who Rivera had met the previous year at the festival, in one of the leading roles. “So it was like a PHLAFF baby. Of course, we're going to premiere it,” says Marángeli.
Like the previous year, when COVID-19 forced cancellations and postponements, the upcoming 10th edition of the festival will be held online and center on the theme of women. “El rol de la mujer es crítico en nuestras comunidades…y decimos que este es inclusive of everyone who identifies as femme,” says Marángeli.
As always, the festival theme is reflected in the official selections and the 2021 LOLA Award winners, which include La nave del olvido, a story of unexpected love between two Chilean women; Negra, a documentary feature on the experiences of five afro-descendant women in southern Mexico; and four short films: Joyride, When You Clean A Stranger’s Home, #Whitina, and Superestar.
The creative team, Marángeli notes, is composed of three women, adding another layer to the theme selection: herself as festival director, Kristal Sotomayor as programming director, and Laiza Montañez, who has been with the festival since 2015, as digital and social media director.
Programming will take advantage of more sophisticated streaming options to offer multiple ways of accessing screenings. More than 100 films will be screened over the course of 8 days, as well as a free Youth Salon showcase and an opening kickoff co-presented by AFROTAINO. Films will be presented in blocks, available for 72 hours, except in the case of Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It (dir. Mariem Pérez Riera) and The Horror Crowd (dir. Ruben Pla), which together will close out the second weekend of the festival. Moreover, the option to present the festival virtually is something Marángeli prefers regardless of a return to in-person events. “I know that we will keep it because it provides access to people at different points and flexibility for audiences.”
In general, flexibility has always been key to making the festival a responsive and proactive space, especially during critical moments. In 2020, this meant adapting to the pandemic to ensure filmmakers and artists a platform, as was the case for Neyda Martinez-Sierra and Vivian Vázquez Irizarry, two members of the production team behind Decade of Fire, which focuses on the fires that ravaged the South Bronx in the 1970s and 80s. Their master class, along with a film whose subject matter reflected much of what fueled the George Floyd protests, i.e. structural racism and state violence, was held as the sound of choppers, sirens, and chants could be heard outside, recalls Marángeli. She remembers later being asked if PHLAFF had shuffled its programming to respond to the protests, when, in reality, the space and intention to address such issues had existed prior and could be found throughout the 2020 programming, just as they were coming into focus on a global scale. “For me, it's always about how you carry yourself and the spaces that you create.”
This year, it is the world premiere of Calle de la Resistencia that represents PHLAFF’s sense of creative innovation and spontaneity with regard to curation. According to Marángeli, the film, which is directed by Denise Blasor, began as a musical featuring 20 original songs written by siblings Milton and Maritxell Carrero and that narrate the events of el Verano Boricua in 2019, when massive protests on and off the island ousted Puerto Rican governor Ricky Rosselló. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, upended plans for a live performance. “They ended up shooting this as a film in three days in a theater in California, and now, we're sharing it,” explains Marángeli. “It's a really interesting piece…We’re super honored to have the world premiere of the film.”
Moving forward, the reality of in-person gatherings will offer opportunities to both continue and expand festival offerings throughout the year, as well as develop cross-platform programming between PHLAFF and AFROTAINO. One example is Diverse Unique Latino Cinema Encuentros, or DULCE, which Marángeli explains as an attempt to deepen community engagement and incorporate participatory filmmaking in areas like South Philly and the Norris Square neighborhood. “Of course we want to hang out and show films [...] But what else can we do that builds capacity in a community and opens dialogue in a community? That makes that community part of our family in a way that they see themselves?”
Other initiatives include GUSTO!, which highlights Latinx culinary artists in Philadelphia, and This is Nuevo, a virtual musical platform derived from Nuevo Fest, which celebrates Latinx and Latin American music—both of which fall under AFROTAINO’s programming.
Overall, PHLAFF has organized one of the most diverse, inclusive, and accessible events to feature Latinx and Latin American filmmakers. “The fact that we explore and present film in a way that really centers around community, where [people] can just relax, have a good time, and connect with people that they enjoy and meet new people—I have seen beautiful things emerge through that process,” says Marángeli.
“I'm excited about the fact that we're celebrating this ten years and we can look back, but at the same time, we're embracing where we are and excited about the ten years ahead for the festival, for our communities, for our creatives—for all of us.”
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The 10th annual Philadelphia Latino Film Festival will take place online from May 30 to June 8. For tickets, film schedules, and more information, visit: https://www.phlaff.org/
Néstor David Pastor is a writer, translator, and editor from Queens, NY. His writing has appeared in Latino USA, REMEZCLA, OkayAfrica, and The Nation, among other publications. His previous experience includes NPR’s Radio Ambulante, Feet in 2 Worlds, and the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, in addition to past work for the Afro-Latino Festival of NYC and the Loisaida Festival. Currently, he works with the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) and is the founding editor of Huellas, a bilingual magazine of crónicas narrativas. He holds degrees in Spanish and English from SUNY Binghamton and obtained an MA in Spanish from Queens College (CUNY).