Des Moines Latino Film Festival

The Des Moines Latino Film Festival salutes Mexican-American veterans from the Des Moines metro with a screening of the documentary short Heroes Around the Corner on Veterans Day. Vince Valdez, the film's producer, will talk about the twenty-three minute film and answer audience questions. Singer-guitarist Karin Stein, of Artes Latinas, will also be on hand to perform some Latin songs.

Valdez is a lifelong resident of West Des Moines. He is a film producer focusing on documentaries about the residents of Valley Junction, now known as West Des Moines. Mexican, Italian, Serbian and Polish immigrants were a few of the groups of people who helped build what is now West Des Moines, alongside a prominent community of African Americans. Since 2008, he has produced films for the Des Moines Art Center’s Day of the Dead celebration, honoring Hispanic Americans who have contributed to the community. He has also created documentaries and promotional video projects for the Taste of the Junction, the Historic Valley Junction Foundation, and the Des Moines Botanical Gardens.