Fifth Annual San Antonio Sci-fi Film Fest “Raza Cósmica” Now Open for Submissions
Introduced in 2021 by MonteVideo, San Antonio’s Latinx-centered, international-scale sci-fi film festival “Raza Cósmica” is returning for its fifth year this fall, and the deadline for submissions is quickly approaching.
The “Raza Cósmica” film festival, whose name comes from a 1925 essay by Mexican philosopher José Vasconcelos, was created by indie filmmaker Manuel Solis (founder of MonteVideo) as both an outlet for BIPOC and Latin American-descended filmmakers to showcase their work at various non-traditional film venues in San Antonio, and as a way to provide free and accessible film screenings to underserved communities in the city. Venues from festivals prior have included the Central Library, Artpace, the Arthouse at Blue Star, Cassiano Park, Mission Marquee Plaza and various other free spots that may not typically be associated with film events or screenings. The festival is also open internationally, and previous years have seen filmmakers hailing from all over the globe, including Brazil, Puerto Rico and The Democratic Republic of the Congo, to name a few.
“Raza Cósmica” is scheduled for October 9th through the 11th of this year, and submissions are due by this Friday, May 9th. For extenuating circumstances, late submissions will also be accepted through June 6th. The festival specifically spotlights projects with a sci-fi component, whether that be films about alien encounters or future dystopian realities or anything in between, “Raza Cósmica” is the sole festival in San Antonio dedicated specifically to sci-fi and speculative films. The only other rules for submissions to qualify for entry are that the film (either short or feature-length) must have been completed sometime within the past two years (any time after Jan. 1, 2023), it must have English subtitles if the dialogue is in another language, and it must have been created by Latinx or BIPOC filmmakers in order to be considered.
Since the festival is still a few months out, in the meantime MonteVideo will be hosting a free satellite screening in Austin on Thursday, May 29th at 7pm, where several films from previous years will be shown, including “En Memoria” (which was selected to be part of the prestigious Sundance Film Festival) and “A Haunting Across the Galaxy.” Sharon Arteaga is hosting the event, and UT filmmakers Miguel Alvarez and Edwin Raul Olivia will also be joining the Austin screening as special guests, where they will be answering questions about their respective career trajectories and about filmmaking in general.
If you or anyone you know has a film eligible for “Raza Cósmica,” submit it now, before the deadline this Friday HERE.
