The Katra Film Series in New York City brought out emerging talent from all walks of life for a memorable film fest like none other. In over six years, the Katra Film Series has become a hub for up-and-coming filmmakers of the indie film scene. Filmmakers Soleidy Mendez, Jasmine Romero and Adrienne Lovette were part of this year’s lineup as they showcased their exceptional projects. The good folks at Katra Film Series gave ‘LLERO an all access pass so that we can chat it up with these three very talented and diverse Latina filmmakers about their careers and their projects.
Best known for her role as Sophia on Sesame Street, Jasmine Romero hails from South Central L.A. The daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, Romero found solace from the direful South Central streets in an after school theater program. “I completely fell in love with [theater]. I think that being in a neighborhood that was a little dangerous during the 1990s, the theater program allowed me to find a home and have a place to express everything that I was feeling,” she told ‘LLERO.
Later in life, Romero transitioned from theater to film, coming together with her acting course classmate, Taylor Coriell, to create the comedic web series You’re The Pest, which they showcased at the Katra Film Series. The seven-episode-long series follows the lives of childhood friends Marissa, a former beauty pageant queen, and Alex, an NYPD academy flunkee, as they reunite to run their deceased dads’ exterminator business. Romero and Coriell came up with the storyline after meeting a pair of exterminators and inquiring about the number of women in the extermination industry. To their surprise, the number of female exterminators was virtually non-existent. “A light bulb went off for both of us. We thought, This is a field that’s super underrepresented for women,” Romero explained, adding, “We wanted to write characters that existed in a world where women exist everywhere. You’re The Pest was born out of that idea. They grew up in this because their dads owned the business, so they don’t feel weird around the extermination business. And, it wasn’t only about giving them ownership of that space, but also about making them girls that we recognized.”
With a storyline ready, Romero and Coriell now needed to put together a team to bring their project to fruition. Made up of an almost all-female crew, among the many talented team members brought onboard was director Adrienne Lovette. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the actor, screenwriter, producer, director ventured into the world of acting and directing in a similar way as Romero. Beginning in musical theater while attending the Dr. Phillips High School of Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida, Lovette oftentimes switched from acting onstage to working as part of the crew doing tech work, designing sets and many other crucial off-stage duties. Switching to TV and film wasn’t an easy task for Lovette, though.
“I was always in love with TV and film. One of the reasons why I never pursued it from the get-go was because I was told that because of my look and because of my size that I would never make it in TV and film. Being a Latina woman and plus size there were slim chances at that time that I would be seen or get work,” Lovette said. It took a motivating agent to push Lovette to pursue her passion. “I had an agent who really believed in me and believed that I could be on TV and film as an actor and as a filmmaker, and I booked my first job where I was a strong supporting actor in an indie feature [titled Sunlight Jr.] starring Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon. That opened my mind, and it also put a stamp on the thought that OK. This is what I should be doing.”
At the time she took on the director role for You’re The Pest, Lovette was pitched some other series to direct, but this one stood out the most to her. “That was the one that stuck out the most, because it was about two women. I liked that it had two female leads, and there’s no love story,” she said, adding, “It’s just them reconnecting as best friends and trying to run a business together. I just loved it. I hadn’t read any shows about women exterminators. I’ve never seen it. This was a different type of show, so I came onboard.”
Another Latina who wowed the audience at the Katra Film Series after the jump…
Another Latina who wowed the audience at the Katra Film Series with her film The Things We Don’t Say was Soleidy Mendez. Born in the Dominican Republic, Mendez says that her passion for filming was inspired by the 1980s Mexican telenovela, El extraño retorno de Diana Salazar, starring Lucía Méndez (who is of no relation to Soleidy). “It was very cinematic. It was a period piece, and they had a lot of CGI and graphics. I was surprised. I hadn’t seen that before, and that caught my curiosity—how they created fire and how her eyes would change, because it was about telekineses. It was very interesting,” the filmmaker says of the soap opera she watched as a little girl.
Mendez’s penchant for film led her to the New York Film Academy. “I wanted to know acting from both perspectives – both in front of the camera and behind the camera – so I decided to take a 12-week course at the New York Film Academy, and I got hooked!” she said. “I really liked the control you have, the way that I love telling stories with my own perspective, how I see things and try to influence people in a positive way—and I love the control that creating your own film and creating your own content gives you.”
Her first film project as part of her course didn’t go off as well as she hoped, though. “My first film project was a very short film. It was very funny because we did it with my neighbors. We did it in my apartment, and we used everyone that we knew. Right then, I began to understand all of the challenges in filmmaking—how you have to plan ahead, and have a budget, and have control over time, and cast real actors, not your friends,” she quipped. “My first project was about a learning experience.”
By the time The Things We Don’t Say came around, Mendez was better prepared for the challenge. For this film, her focus were on the trials and tribulations of the elderly—something that she tells us she is very passionate about. The film tells the story of Pierre, an elderly man who believing his life is coming to an end, decides to have a long overdue conversation with Rose, his deceased wife.
“[The Things We Don’t Say] talks about depression in old age. I was raised by my grandmother, who was a very strong, independent and positive woman. A lot of who I am is because of her. The way I see the elderly is with different eyes. I don’t like how society sometimes ignores them and mistreats them. I want to raise awareness that these people are a part of our lives, and we shouldn’t neglect them or forget them,” Mendez passionately expressed.
Every filmmaker brought with them their own past experiences and their own unique storylines to put forth must-watch projects. And these were only a handful of the talent showcased at the Katra Film Series. If you missed out on Katra, don’t fret. We’re told that the Katra organizers will be holding another festival – the Bowery Film Festival – running from August 15-18. If you’re looking to discover more emerging talented filmmakers, make sure not to miss out on this exciting film fest.
