The city of Philadelphia is preparing to kick off the summer with its 10th annual Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (PHLAFF).

However, despite many restrictions being lifted, the festival’s organizers have decided to remain virtual for the protection of locals.

“All of our offerings will be available virtually, and people have the capacity now to gather with folks and host watch parties,” Marángeli Mejía-Rabell, the program’s director, told NBC 10.

This year, the organization will be airing movies centered on Latin women.

The selected films will highlight the struggles that Latino families go through in real life.

“There are plenty of topics that are impacting the quality of lives in our community, women’s issues, and immigration,” she said.

In its decade of existence, PHLAFF has evolved into an international film festival that brings the best Latino stories to a broad audience.

For 2021, the festival has expanded from four days last year to eight this year, and is including over 150 films as part of its lineup.

Some of the movies and documentaries that will be showcased are as follows:

Rita Moreno- Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It - A documentary on the Puerto Rican native as she talks about her rise to stardom and the racism she has experienced as she made her way to become an EGOT winner.

#Whitina- Inspired by coming of age cult classics, #Whitina is a film about exploring the crossroads of the inner and outer struggles of being Mexican-American against the backdrop of a social media obsessed society.

Fruits of Labor- A documentary about a high school senior and second-generation Mexican-American in an agricultural town in California. She must divide her time between school and supporting her undocumented family by working in the strawberry fields.

La Casa De Mama Icha- Temple University alum, Óscar Molina, created a documentary in 2013 highlighting a Colombian immigrant who goes to America to help her daughter with the care of her grandchildren. Now, as she is getting older and heads back to her hometown of Mompox, Colombia, she soon finds out the struggles that lie within her in the South American country.

The program will also provide a series of Q&A greenroom sessions, work-in-progress labs, a youth salon, and other unique offerings to filmmakers and fans.

PHLAFF was established in 2012 and has become the Greater Philadelphia region’s only festival showcasing the innovative work of emerging and established Latino and Latinx filmmakers.

Tickets are on sale now; individual screenings start at $10, film bundles at $20, weekend passes are $100, and festival passes are $250. 

For full schedule, tickets and passes, visit phlaff.org.