WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) returns March 11-20, with virtual and in-person events to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Consuelo Alba, executive director of WFF, said it felt “unreal” to be reaching such a milestone.
“We are incredibly happy to be celebrating 10 years because when we started, we didn’t think we’d be here today,” Alba said. “Our motivation then was to celebrate local stories, the creativity of our community and bring people together—once.”
The festival has evolved into an annual event, also holding smaller events year-round and working closely with other local organizations, school districts, businesses and more.
“I am incredibly proud and grateful for our team, “Alba said, “and for everyone who has been involved in this organization for all this time … but also the new faces as well. It’s just a really, really wonderful feeling to get to this point.”
During the pandemic, WFF launched its own streaming channel, which has allowed the organization to reach an even wider audience.
“[Going virtual] was very hard, we had never done it before,” Alba said. “In 2020 we experimented with different formats, and then we started working with our own platform. We’ve been learning a lot in the process.”
Also last year, WFF created Cine Se Puede, a fellowship aiming to support emerging local filmmakers. The first seven fellows will be introduced at the festival’s in-person event on March 12.
“We have an incredible first cohort of filmmakers,” Alba said. “We will be working with them for 13 months. We’ll have more opportunities to support these filmmakers after the festival … But this way, people can recognize them as the inaugural fellows.”
More than 30 films will be available to watch for free online during this year’s festival. Many of them are locally made by filmmakers from hubs such as Digital NEST, and the majority of them are made by women.
One of these films, “Fruits of Labor,” takes place in Watsonville. The acclaimed documentary directed by Emily Cohen Ibañez follows a teenager named Ashley who is balancing school, applying for college, and personal life while also working in the fields and local factories to help support her family.
Other films include “The Mole Agent,” an Academy Award-winning documentary from Chile about an elderly person who takes a job as a detective inside an assisted-living facility; and “Treasures,” a film from Mexico about a family who moves from the city to a small fishing town, where they connect more closely with each other, the community and the environment.
For the first time, the festival is collaborating with PBS’ award-winning documentary series “POV,” which Alba said will help promote the festival within its networks.
On March 12 at 6pm, WFF will host an opening night event at the Henry J. Mello Center—the location of the inaugural festival 10 years ago. A screening of the award-winning film “Real Women Have Curves,” which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, will be held. Playwright and screenwriter Josefina López will be the guest of honor.
Alba said she is grateful to be back in person, at least for part of the festival, to celebrate 10 years.
“We invite people to come to the event early to reconnect,” she said. “We haven’t been able to see people in this setting for so long.”
Looking ahead, Alba said her hope is that WFF will help make Watsonville become a hub for filmmaking.
“My hope is that we continue our program, that we can celebrate the great stories and artistry of Latino filmmakers for years to come,” she said. “And that our festival brings people to Watsonville. We’ve always been about promoting the talent, the potential, the economic development of Watsonville. We want to put it on the map as a place to watch amazing films.”
The Watsonville Film Festival will be held March 11-20. To register for the March 12 event, view a full schedule or donate visit watsonvillefilmfestival.org.
