CINESOL: Festival opens Friday night

There's will be no giant, pink dress, dancing or giant party, but their will be a lot of movies for the CineSol Film Festival's quinceañera. And in a true sign that it is in its teenage years, the festival is starting to do things it has never done before. 

At its conception, CineSol, which starts tonight at Cine El Rey in McAllen, was meant to showcase outstanding Latino films. Fifteen years later, Programming director Henry Serrato said while their roots remain Latin, it's time to "broaden the scope."

Among the more diverse offerings being screened are a horror flick from Thailand, a documentary about marijuana enthusiast Doug Benson (seen on VH1's Best Week Ever) and several animated shorts.

The move is a small and steady step CineSol is taking to distinguish itself. But earning full-fledged festival status ­­-the Valley's answer to, say, South by Southwest - would require giving awards to the featured films, as all the big ones do.

"We've always discussed it, but we've never followed through," said Serrato, who has volunteered with CineSol since its second year. They currently only offer only one award, the Raggio de Luce, or ray of light, which is given to Latino people in the industry.

Workshops, which would have run concurrent to the festival, had been planned but Hurricane Dolly left intended venue in Harlingen damaged. Organizers were forced to cut them from the program because the new venue did not have enough space. They plan to resume the workshops next year.

While improvements and changes will likely pepper the festival's existence in years to come, Serrato said organizers will always keep in mind the goal at hand.

"I want the film industry to blossom down here the way it should be," he said. "It's all about great films - films you're not going to see anywhere else. You're not going to see these at Cinemark."

At tonight's festival opening, actress Veronica Loren, a McAllen native and star of "August Evening," will be a special guest.

The festival will run for two weeks, with its final screening at 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 27. For a full schedule, visit cinesol.com.

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Sandra Gonzalez covers general assignments for Festiva. You can reach her at (956) 683-4427