Mendoza Secures Grant Funding for Third Annual Latino Heritage Month Film Festival

Posted by: admin on September 23, 2015, No Comments

Annie Mendoza, Ph.D., is accomplishing what seemed like an impossible feat in 2013. She never expected an organization to fund a three-week Film Festival for East Stroudsburg University, where Mendoza is an assistant professor of modern languages. But it happened. And for the third consecutive year, it’s obvious that Dr. Mendoza is doing something right.

Every year, East Stroudsburg University celebrates Latino Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15. The Latino Heritage Month Film Festival is a new addition to this celebration, thanks to efforts made by Mendoza.

She first heard about the grant in the Spring of 2013.

“A colleague told me that a New York City based group named Pragda was offering to help fund Film Festivals with movies from Latin America and Spain,” Mendoza said.

The word hesitation does not exist in Mendoza’s vocabulary. She completed the paperwork immediately and applied. Weeks later, she discovered that the film festival grant was hers. Mendoza applied for the grant for a second time in 2014, which led to another film festival for ESU. Could she get it a third time?

“Earlier this year I figured, ‘What’s the worst that could happen? I’m going to try and get this grant one more time,’” Mendoza said.

The odds were in her favor. Mendoza managed to secure the film festival grant for three years in a row. Mendoza also received $1,000 from ESU’s Center for Research and Economic Development (CFRED) after submitting an application to their Entrepreneurship Across the Colleges program.

Starting September 24, students and community members will be able to view six movies absolutely free at Pocono Community Theater in East Stroudsburg. If a student is unable to get to the theater, there will also be free screenings on campus.

“We are trying to make it as convenient for the students as possible this year,” Mendoza said.

Even if a student is unfamiliar with foreign films, Mendoza still encourages them to make the most of the free screenings.

“These films are a wonderful way to open students’ minds and see what it really means to be Latino,” she said.

Unfortunately, this is the last year that Mendoza can receive the grant from the Spanish Embassy funded group Pragda. Mendoza plans to apply for similar grants to support future film festivals.

“The festival helps people appreciate the importance of film as a cultural production and the diversity of human beings.”

The complete schedule of films, beginning September 24th, is available online from the Modern Languages department. Aramark will provide free popcorn for the campus screenings.

Mendoza secured funding in the amount of $662 through the ESU Foundation after submitting an application to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. This Third Annual Latino Heritage Month Film Festival was supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.