It was an honor to screen my film at Maryland University. I had to take the opportunity and make the trip to Washington DC. Also, it was pretty cool that I went to another state to screen my film. Much love to the Latino Student Union for making it happen. Go Terps! They really came through and supported.
For me it was an opportunity to get a different perspective of people from the East Coast. I've learned that Latinos on the West Coast are totally different from the East Coast. And what I learned from the audience, they were being exposed to a different type of Latino movement in the West Coast. For the most part their are two Latino groups that are present in the West Coast ... Mostly, Mexicans and Salvadoran/Central Americans come in second in a good medium size. Their are other latino groups of course, but they do not come in numbers like the two groups I mentioned. Compared to the East Coast ... Latinos are "one" for the most part. They are very meshed together. In DC, Salvadorans are the most populated Latinos, but at the same time there are a good size of Dominicans, Peruvians, Columbians, and Mexican. So for the most part it is mixed. It is not so much mix in the West Coast. And because of the mix culture in DC, the Latino Experience is probably a lot different ... I find that very interesting and I am learning that myself. I just wanted to point that out. But it was cool that the audience learned a different side and something new. They seemed to be intrigued so thats good! Nothing wrong with a little education.
And of course people were interested in the Spanish Hip-Hop. Its always been my hook! The audience were not aware of Salvadorans being part of the underground hip-hop scene. I always get excited when I expose something new to people. Overall, everything went well, I was happy with the turnout and happy to see people were curious. Little by little the film is growing. Washington D.C. will always have a special place in my heart.
