This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month offers a special mix of music, movies and making community connections.

The annual event runs through early November.

One of this year’s unique activities is a Night of Latin Jazz, which will be performed by the Richmond Jazz Orchestra at 6 p.m. Monday, September 29, in the Whitewater Hall Lobby.

“Jazz music has been transformed by the influences of Latin music, and Hispanic Heritage Month is the perfect time to celebrate that influence,” said Jessica Raposo, assistant professor of music and music program coordinator at IU East. “We are so glad that the Richmond Jazz Orchestra is joining us as a part of the campus programming.”

The orchestra is made up of amateur and professional musicians and music educators.

“Music is such a unifying force in the world, with the power to bring people together, and the IU East Music program is always seeking ways to bring music to our students and community,” Raposo said.

Another special event brings Director Rosario Jiménez Gili to talk after the Chilean drama-romance movie “Camila’s Awakening” is shown on October 10. The web site Letterboxd gave the following synopsis of the film: “Camila loves swimming and doesn’t know failure. However the water, that has given her success in the recent past, now leads her to the biggest setback of her life: An accident will force Camila to reinvent herself with courage, humor and love.”

Other Hispanic Heritage Month events include:

• Huevos verdes y jamón (bilingual storytelling): This seventh-annual venture between the library and literacy movements delivered books and packets to IU East students, who then read and spoke to classes at Fairview Elementary and Elizabeth Starr Academy in Richmond. Those schools have large populations of children who are designated ELL (English Language Learner). IU East students can choose to continue working on this project for course service learning requirements.
• The Day of the Dead Altar Building Competition is scheduled October 15. Spanish classes at IU East will create the altars and campus community members are also invited to contribute photos of loved ones. The classes will present their altars and speak about Day of the Dead via the Hispanicampus gallery project.  A vote will be taken to select their favorite altar. The events and activities are offered by the World Languages and Cultures department and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
•  IU East Spanish Film Festival: Jiménez Gili will take part in a question-and-answer session of the Chilean movie Camilia’s Awakening (El Despertar de Camila) after a showing at 5 p.m. Thursday, October 10, in Room 124 of Tom Raper Hall. The 88-minute 2018 film will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles.Two other movies are scheduled as part of the Hispanic Heritage Month events. Chinese Take-Away (Un Cuento Chino) will be shown at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 24, in Tom Raper 124. Sebastian Borensztein directed the 2012 movie from Argentina. It is 98 minutes long and will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles.

  Eternal Amazon (Amazônia Eternal) will be shown at 5 p.m. on Monday, November 4, in Tom Raper Hall Room 124. A panel will discuss the film. On the panel will be Wazir Mohammed, associate professor of sociology, and Steven Aldrich, associate professor for Earth and Environmental Systems at Indiana State University. This event is Supported by funds from Mindful Explorations. Belisario Franca directed the 2013 release from Brazil. It is 88 minutes long and shown in Portuguese with English subtitles.

  The Spanish Film Series is a collaboration with the World Languages and Cultures Department, IU East’s School of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and Mindful Explorations Funds. The Spanish Film Club series was made possible with the support of Pragda, The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain, and SPAIN arts & culture.

• Previously, Promesa Indiana featured IU East Spanish Department faculty working with third-graders about Hispanic culture and the Spanish language as part of the Randolph County Promise “Walk Into My Future” event held on campus on September 13. IU East students earned credit for service learning during the event.