14th Cine Latino Film Festival

Light Memories / Eco de Luz is preceded by the short film Jason by Gabriella Canal.

ABOUT LIGHT MEMORIES

Some family stories are repeated until they become part of collective memory. Others are buried in silence, carried across generations as secrets, absences, and unanswered questions. Light Memories is a journey into those forgotten spaces, reconstructing a family history through the fragile traces preserved in photographs. The documentary by Ecuadorian filmmaker and photographer Misha Vallejo, and producer Mayfe Ortega Haboud, begins with the discovery of a collection of abandoned images. Through them, Vallejo encounters the story of his grandfather for the first time—an absent figure whose memory had faded from the family narrative. How do we reconstruct the biography of a family? Where do secrets begin, and how do they shape those who inherit them? Driven by these questions, Vallejo turns his camera toward his own past, exploring his relationship with his father Jorge, and his grandmother fittingly named Luz. Searching through what remains—and what was never recorded—he uses photography as an act of restoration: a way to illuminate hidden histories and return a family the right to its own memory. Winner of the SIGNIS Award and Audience Award at Cinélatino Toulouse, and the Best Documentary Directing Award at the Guadalajara Film Festival, Light Memories goes beyond personal investigation to become a universal reflection on silence, identity, and the ways families carry both wounds and triumphs through time.

Eco de Luz – En español

Algunas historias familiares se repiten hasta formar parte de la memoria colectiva. Otras quedan sepultadas en el silencio, transmitiéndose de generación en generación como secretos, ausencias e interrogantes sin respuesta. Eco de luz es un viaje hacia esos espacios olvidados que reconstruye una historia familiar a través de los frágiles vestigios conservados en fotografías. El documental, obra del cineasta y fotógrafo ecuatoriano Misha Vallejo y la productora Mayfe Ortega Haboud, nace del hallazgo de una colección de imágenes abandonadas. A través de ellas, Vallejo descubre por primera vez la historia de su abuelo, una figura ausente cuyo recuerdo se había desvanecido de la narrativa familiar. ¿Cómo reconstruimos la biografía de una familia? ¿Dónde nacen los secretos y de qué manera moldean a quienes los heredan? Impulsado por estas preguntas, Vallejo dirige su cámara hacia su propio pasado y explora su relación con su padre, Jorge, y con su abuela, llamada acertadamente Luz. Al indagar en lo que perdura —y en lo que nunca llegó a registrarse—, utiliza la fotografía como un acto de restauración: una forma de iluminar historias ocultas y devolver a una familia el derecho a su propia memoria. Ganadora del Premio SIGNIS y del Premio del Público en Cinélatino Toulouse, así como del premio a la Mejor Dirección de Documental en el Festival de Cine de Guadalajara, Eco de luz trasciende la investigación personal para convertirse en una reflexión universal sobre el silencio, la identidad y la manera en que las familias cargan con sus heridas y triunfos a lo largo del tiempo.

ABOUT JASON

Dir. Gabriella Canal • USA • Documentary • 2026 • 14 min • Spanish
A young boy in Miami carries on with his days while the voice of his mother, recently deported, travels through the phone to try to reach him. JASON is about what happens after deportation, the felt absence, the connection that struggles to survive it and the power of a mother’s love.

PRESENTED BY MSP FILM SOCIETY

Cine Latino returns October 7–11 to The Main Cinema for five days of Spanish- and Portuguese-language films, special guests, fiestas, and more! The 14th annual celebration of US Latino, Latin American, and Ibero Cinema honors the longstanding film traditions across these communities, showcasing a richness of stories, the beauty of place, and vibrant cultures through the power of film.