Marcus Theatres is reviving its CineLatino Film Festival for Hispanic Heritage Month. Here are some highlights to look for.

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Marcus Theatres' CineLatino Film Festival returns after a three-year absence with 15 movies and a slew of events designed to celebrate Hispanic-directed, -written and -focused movies and culture.

Held in April its first three years before the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's festival will run Oct. 5-9, timed to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month, which started Thursday and runs through Oct. 15.

The CineLatino festival is a mix of new releases, Hollywood titles showing in Spanish and some classic movies about the Latino experience. Movies are showing at Marcus Theatres' Majestic, Movie Tavern Brookfield Square, South Shore and Renaissance (Sturtevant) cinemas. A portion of the net proceeds from the festival is donated to local Hispanic health and education initiatives.

For a full schedule, go to marcustheatres.com/CineLatino. Here are some highlights to look out for.

Premiere screening of 'Lyle, Lyle Crocodile' in Spanish

"Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile," the musical adaptation of the beloved children's story starring Javier Bardem with pop star Shawn Mendes as the voice of the title croc, is showing in a fundraising premiere Oct. 5 at the Marcus Majestic in Brookfield. Tickets, including a reception and other activities, are $60, $25 for kids ages 3 to 11, and are available at marcustheatres.com/CineLatinoVIPEvent. The movie opens in wide release, in English and Spanish, on Oct. 7.

Edward James Olmos on hand for a screening of 'Selena'

Edward James Olmos plays Abraham Quintanilla Jr., the father of Tejano singer Selena (Jennifer Lopez) in the 1997 biopic "Selena." Olmos will be on hand for a screening of the 1997 biopic Oct. 9 at Marcus South Shore Cinema as part of Marcus Theatres' CineLatino Film Festival.
Edward James Olmos plays Abraham Quintanilla Jr., the father of Tejano singer Selena (Jennifer Lopez) in the 1997 biopic "Selena." Olmos will be on hand for a screening of the 1997 biopic Oct. 9 at Marcus South Shore Cinema as part of Marcus Theatres' CineLatino Film Festival.

Olmos, the versatile actor who played the father of Tejano legend Selena in the 1997 movie, will be at the Marcus South Shore for a special screening of "Selena" at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 9.

Documentaries on character actor Pepe Serna, Cuban baseball players

Veteran Mexican character actor Pepe Serna, shown at the unveiling of a new mural of Dolores Huerta in California in 2021, is the focus of a new documentary, "Pepe Serna: Life Is Art."
Veteran Mexican character actor Pepe Serna, shown at the unveiling of a new mural of Dolores Huerta in California in 2021, is the focus of a new documentary, "Pepe Serna: Life Is Art."

You may not know Mexican character actor Pepe Serna's name, but you've seen him in scores of TV shows and movies, from "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai" to "Scarface." Serna's career, and how he helped pave the way for generations of Mexican American actors, is the focus of the new documentary "Pepe Serna: Life Is Art"; Serna himself will be on hand for a screening at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at Marcus South Shore.

Also showing at Marcus South Shore: "The Last Out," a documentary following Cuban baseball players who risk exile to chase their dream of being major-leaguers. Director Michael Gassert, formerly of Mequon, will be on hand for the screening at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 8.

$5 classic movies, including 'Real Women Have Curves' and 'La Bamba'

America Ferrera made her debut in the 2002 coming-of-age drama "Real Women Have Curves."
America Ferrera made her debut in the 2002 coming-of-age drama "Real Women Have Curves."

The festival has a handful of standout movies celebrating Hispanic life showing for $5. Among them: the Ritchie Valens biopic "La Bamba," the Mexican comedy "Half Brothers" and "Real Women Have Curves," the beautiful coming-of-age movie starring America Ferrera. (There's also a special screening of "Real Women Have Curves" with screenwriter Josefina Lopez, with standard admission, showing at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at Marcus South Shore.)

Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12. 

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hispanic Heritage Month: Marcus Theatres' CineLatino Film Festival on