OC Film Fiesta Celebrates Cinema, Music, Food, Latino Jews and Rita Hayworth in Santa Ana

A late summer-through-fall season of film festivals kicks off Saturday with the third annual OC Film Fiesta in downtown Santa Ana. Over three weeks, the Artists Village will be overtaken by a cinematic celebration that this year includes nods to "Tin Tan," indie rockers, silent bonds, young farmers, lucha libre, non-toxic pottery, unbreakable artistic dreams, screen siren Rita Hayworth and Latino Jews (Or should that be Jewish Latinos?).

Presented in partnership with the city, The Road Less Traveled, Grand Central Art Center, United Artists of Santa Ana, the Mexican Consulate, OC Weekly, MX Live, Stay Connected and Aztec GoldTV, the Film Fiesta includes free screenings at various downtown locations, with live music and tasty food served up to accompany certain titles.

Indeed, there is so much deliciousness packed into director Sandra "Pocha" Peña Sarmiento's program, which runs in conjunction with downtown Santa Ana's massive annual Fiestas Patrias Mexican Independence Celebration, that we won't dare try to present it all in depth here. Instead, you'll get the immediate highlights first, a brief overview of what else is coming to end this post and updates as the festival drags on with more specifics about events later in the program.

And away we go . . .

OC Film Fiesta kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday with live music by the Moan and the Tequila Worms in the Second Street Promenade, off Broadway, to properly usher in the 8 p.m. outdoor screening of Akira Boch's tragicomedy that "follows the ups and downs of the greatest band in the world ... that no one's ever heard of." Set in Echo Park, the film stars Teresa Michelle Lee, Katie Hipol and Jeff Torres
.

From emerging director Stephen Crutchfield and acclaimed writer Stephen Metcalfe (Pretty Woman, Mr. Holland's Opus) comes this 20-minute drama about an autistic boy who strikes up an unusual friendship with an elderly Mexican migrant worker. Film star Louie Olivos Jr. attends the 1 p.m. Sunday screening in the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
, 117 North Sycamore, Santa Ana.