NEWARK - Every year, there are flag raisings for Hispanic Heritage Month, the Puerto Rican Day Parade and the Latin Festival in New Jersey’s largest city, where over one-third of its residents identify as Latino or Hispanic.

But for Newark native and filmmaker Ramon Nazario, he saw something missing from these annual festivities showing pride in the Latin culture – something artistic that speaks to the diverse narratives of his community.

“I am passionate about my city and my culture,” Nazario said. “But when it comes to the Latino community in Newark, I saw there was no film element, even though there are other film festivals, like the Newark International Film Festival and Newark Black Film Festival.”

That’s how the Newark Latino Film Festival was born: to give independent Latino an

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