This year's Chicago Latino Film Festival will feature "Tal Como Somos," or "Just As We Are," a documentary that originated in IHRP research.

The film will premiere Friday, April 11, at 8:30 p.m. at the Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio, Chicago. It also will be screened Tuesday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Instituto Cervantes.

Jesus Ramirez-Valles [1], associate professor of community health sciences, partnered with Chicago-based Juneteenth Productions to produce the film with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health. The film examines the stigma of being gay, bisexual or transgender in the Latino community.

The film originated in Dr. Ramirez-Valles's research at IHRP on HIV/AIDS and Latino gay and bisexual men and transgender people throughout the United States.

Dr. Ramirez-Valles and Junteenth Productions plan the film to be a centerpiece of educational materials and activities that address negative stigma faced by gays in Latino communities.

A trailer of "Tal Como Somos" can be seen at the Juneteenth Productions website at http://www.juneteenthproductions.com/ [2].  Download a flyer about the screening here [3].