Immigration, the Mirabal sisters & Pablo Escobar featured at NY Int. Latino film fest

Michelle Rodríguez stars in "Trópico de Sangre."

The city’s premier Latino film festival, showcasing more than 100 feature movies, documentaries and shorts in its 11th edition, gets underway next Tuesday.
Running through Aug. 1, the New York International Latino Film Festival will host most of its screenings at the Clearview Cinemas Chelsea and the School of Visual Arts, both on W. 23rd St. For a full schedule.

Here are some highlights:
“El espíritu de la salsa”
(“The Spirit of Salsa”) - Documentary
New Yorkers from various walks of life – from an emergency doctor to an equities trader to a cop – gathering weekly at the Santo Rico Dance School in East Harlem to learn salsa.
Showing outdoors a day before the festival kicks off, next Monday, at St. Nicholas Park, 135th St. and St. Nicholas Ave., 8:30 p.m. (Also airing on HBO, Aug. 9, 9 p.m.) Free.

“Ilegales”
(“Illegals”) - Feature
Set in towns along the U.S.-Mexican border, this work by director Ric Dupont weaves together the lives of five groups of people, examining the broader issue of immigration.
July 28, 4:30 p.m., and July 29, 8 p.m.

“Trópico de Sangre”
(“Tropic of Blood”) – Feature
The well-known story of the three Mirabal sisters, who opposed Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and were assassinated, is the focus of Juan Delancer’s film, starring Michelle Rodríguez and César Évora.
July 29, 7 p.m. at Columbia University

“SINS OF MY FATHER” – Documentary
For the first time since the 1993 death of Pablo Escobar, Colombia’s most notorious drug lord, his only son, Juan, shares what it was like to grow up loving a man who was widely despised.
July 30, 7:30 p.m.

“SOHNOS ROUBADOS”
(“Stolen Dreams”) – Feature
The film festival’s closing night (though the showcase actually ends the following day) features Sandra Werneck’s tale of three struggling, poor teenage girls in Rio de Janeiro who turn to prostitution to survive but still manage to share the joys and dramas of being young women.
July 31, 7 p.m.