Report: Prime Latino Media Salon - Latino Documentary Filmmakers (June 2013)

On Thursday, June 20, 2013, NALIP New York, Tío Louie, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA), and the New York Chapter of the United Latino Professionals of New York (ULP-NY) presented the June edition of the Prime Latino Media Salon. This edition took place at Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) El Barrio Firehouse Media Center in Manhattan's El Barrio neighborhood and was filmed for posterity and future airing. The topic of the salon was "Latino Documentary Filmmakers". Moderated by Louis Perego Moreno (Tío Louie), the panelists included Miguel Picker, director of Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging A Media Stereotype; Mónica Gutiérrez, director of The Face of a Woman; Melissa Montero Padilla, director of Isabel Rosado: Nationalist; and Marcelo Bukin, director of Dreaming Nicaragua.

Prior to the live recording, as is common at a Prime Latino Media Salon event, there was time to network and reconnect with other Latino actors and multimedia-makers. Once the recording began, Tío Louie spoke with Picker, Gutiérrez, Montero Padilla and Bukin  individually, and showed clips of the respective project of each director. With each, he posed previously-prepared questions from the audience. The common theme among all the documentarians was the difficulty in finding funding for their funding, whether the subject matter dealt with four children living in poverty in Nicaragua, a 105-year-old Puerto Rican nationalist, a Dominican woman whose face was disfigured by an abusive ex-boyfriend, or the struggles with the media's portrayals of Latinos/Hispanics.

After wrapping up the taping with some closing remarks, Tío Louie lead everyone outside into the lobby where people had an extended networking session. HOLA would like to thank so many people for making the event a success– including Iris Morales, Betsy Salas and the staff of the MNN El Barrio Firehouse Media Center; Jorge Álvarez; and especially all the Latino actors and multimedia-makers in attendance.