The Latin-American Cinemateca of Los Angeles (LACLA) is a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) viewer-sponsored film exhibition and cultural organization dedicated to supporting and cultivating every aspect of Latin-American cinema and the moving image in all its forms, from its beginnings to the present.
* TO PROMOTE AND INCREASE the visibility of Latin-American cinema.
* TO SHOWCASE the established and up-and-coming Latino cineastes from the United States and Latin America.
* TO ENCOURAGE youth from Los Angeles and Southern California to pursue careers in film and media studies.
* TO STIMULATE a dialogue about the artistic merits of Latin-American cinema.
One of the principal goals of The Latin American Cinemateca is to provide scholarship assistance to Latino youth studying film. The screening of Spanish language films on a year-round basis serves as the fundraising tool to achieve this goal.
LACLA’s "Scholarship Program" was launched in November of 2000 in conjunction with the screening of the 1960 Mexican classic film, Macario, at the George Lucas Theater, USC School of Cinema-Television. Under the auspices of the Mexican-American Alumni Programs of the University of Southern California, the first LACLA scholarship funds of $4,500 were awarded in July of 2001 to two students attending the USC School of Film and Television. Scholarship assistance also was provided in the year 2003. In 2004, five students of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) School of Film/Video received the LACLA scholarship funds.
LACLA Scholarship Recipients
USC School of Cinema-Television
Angel Gomez
Victoria Mendoza
Jose Arinaga
Fabian Lopez
California Institute of the Arts School of Film/Video
Jasser Memberno
Luis Ricardo Lopez
William Franco
Omar Rodriguez Diaz
