Houston native launches film production company to elevate Latino stories on screen – Houston Public Media

Earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for dramatic films was a movie called In the Summers.

The film tells the story of two sisters and their somewhat tumultuous relationship with their father as they spend time staying with him over several summers.

The movie was produced in part by the production company Luz Films, which was co-founded by Houston native Sergio Lira and his partners Lynette Coll, and Cristobal Güell.

The company was created earlier this year with the goal of telling stories from the Latino perspective and mentoring debut filmmakers, as was the case with the Columbian-American director of In the Summers, Alessandra Lacorazza.

Lira, who spent several years as a development and production executive at the independent film and television company A24, recently spoke with Houston Public Media producer Daisy Espinoza about this new venture and the film. Lira also explains how growing up in southeast Houston shaped his desire to tell stories about the Latino experience.

You can hear their conversation in the audio above.

In the Summers is showing at Houston’s AMC Gulf Pointe 30 theaters beginning Oct. 4 and also at the newly reopened River Oaks Theatre Oct. 3-10.

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