Since its inception in 2019, the Latino Arts Project has worked to showcase the art, history and voices of the Latino community. This year, during Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latino Arts Project is launching an ambitious new endeavor during the State Fair of Texas. Throughout the 24-day run of the fair, the Latino Arts Project will host its first film festival, titled Mundo Latino, at the Hall of State on the Fair Park grounds.

The free films will be shown from 10:15 until 6:30 p.m. daily through the run of the fair in the air-conditioned auditorium in the Hall of State. Baldor hopes people will take a break in their busy fair visit to acquaint themselves with the creativity and diversity of the Latino film community and to vote for The Mourning Of for consideration with the Oscar nominating committee.

The impetus for this ambitious free festival came when Latino Arts Project founder Jorge Baldor met Dallas-based filmmaker Merced Elizondo, whose work The Mourning Of  is an Oscar®-qualifying short film. Baldor hopes to bring attention to that film through showings at the State Fair of Texas to create a greater buzz leading into the 2026 awards season. The 16-minute film tells the story of a woman who grieves the tragic loss of her mother by secretly attending the funerals of strangers, until her inability to move on finally catches up with her.

For the festival, Baldor has surrounded showings of The Mourning Of with 10 additional films by Latin American directors and writers, including Alma Caribe, Crystal City 1969, Flores y Calaveras, Is It Still Me? From the World of Beatin, Juana Inés: the Child Who Loved to Read, La Llorona, Noche de los Mayas, ¡Payosos.Clown!, Raincheck and Searching for the Six Flags of Texas. Synopses and trailers for each film can be found here. Five of these films are from Dallas-based Cara Mia Theatre.