This September, join us for "Crucemos al Otro Lado”, a film series that embraces stories made by Latin American filmmakers, films about Hispanic protagonists, and contemporary short films from the Latino film community across Chicago. We’re screening two unusual takes on the western genre, with Alejandro Jodorowsky’s psychedelic cult film EL TOPO making a rare appearance outside of a midnight timeslot, and Robert M. Young’s landmark of Chicano cinema, THE BALLAD OF GREGORIO CORTEZ, starring Edward James Olmos as a farmer on the run from Texas Rangers, screening in a 2016 restoration for the first time at the Music Box. Finally, the fifth iteration of the shorts program  “Life Within the Lens” will showcase short films which explore familial ties, with filmmakers in person for post-film Q&A. 

Salvador Salazar is a Latino film director, programmer, and media educator from Chicago. He has taught several introductory filmmaking courses to both elementary and high school-aged students. He co-created and co-organizes the "Cariño Festival De Cine," an annual youth-focused film festival that brings together students from various Chicago schools to screen their work and receive critiques from industry veterans. All of his films have been told through the eyes of elementary-aged children and explore Chicago’s unique Latine immigrant urban culture with themes of social difference, identity, and adolescence coming of age.