When it was announced this past summer that all courses at Yale University would be online and gatherings would continue to be limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Margherita Tortora, senior lecturer in Spanish and Portuguese, had to decide what to do about the annual Latino and Iberian Film Festival she organizes. “I said, ‘I have two possibilities: cancel or do it online,’” said Tortora, though in her heart she knew there was only one choice she could possibly make.
The festival, known as LIFFY, will make its online debut this week, running today through Sunday Nov. 15. The festival will have daily offerings that celebrate films and filmmakers from the many countries where Spanish and Portuguese are spoken. All films and events are online and free with registration, and all films are screened with English subtitles.
This year marks the festival’s sixth as LIFFY, and its first online, and no one is happier about it than Tortora.