College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

By Devin Chivers ’27

Communities in Action, a Latin American film festival hosted by the University of Dayton, provided space for the greater Dayton community to engage with Latin American and Latinx narratives centered on agency and collective action.

The film festival, Jan. 30-Feb. 27, presented five Spanish-language films at the Dayton Metro Library and campus locations including the Roger Glass Center for the Arts, Sears Recital Hall, Fitz Center for Leadership in Community and ArtStreet.

Arne Romanowski, associate professor of Spanish, said the festival’s goal was to portray Latin American communities as active agents of change.

“We want to show communities from a perspective of agency,” she said. “It’s about showing them as empowered individuals.”

Selected films, including The Infiltrators, Guie’dani’s Navel and Sun and Daughter, emphasized themes of teamwork and perseverance.

Carlos Gardeazábal Bravo, assistant professor of Spanish, said the selected films highlight stories where communities come together to address their challenges, particularly those related to social justice.

“You see characters leading the way to find a resolution to their problems, to improve their situation,” he said. “It could be in a very small setting, within their family for instance, or on a larger scale. They’re trying to change what they find out is unfair in their society.”

Beyond the films themselves, the festival fostered an engaging atmosphere to connect diverse audiences, with many screenings featuring conversations with directors or individuals directly involved in the issues depicted.

“Directors love hearing what people have to say about their films,” Gardeazábal Bravo said. “This is something that usually only happens in these kinds of settings. It creates a level of intimacy, but also a connection between audiences and the film.”

Romanowski said hosting the screenings at various locations and providing bilingual promotional materials helped create an accessible environment for a broader audience.

“We saw with our first screening that people from both UD and the Dayton community came together to experience the screening, to communicate with a director and with each other,” Romanowski said. “I think it certainly makes UD a more welcoming institution.”

Romanowski said forming partnerships and maintaining a presence in community spaces strengthens the connection between UD and the broader Dayton community, which is a key aspect of the University’s mission.

Collaborations with organizations such as the Dayton Metro Library and Latinos Unidos Dayton, a nonprofit that provides support to the Latino community, played a key role in the festival’s success. The library partnership, in particular, allowed the festival to extend its reach to the greater Dayton community.

“It's a way of opening the University to the community and the community was very receptive to these events,” Gardeazábal Bravo said.