Samuel Douek and The Hola Mexico Film Festival
As the founder of the Hola Mexico Film Festival, Samuel has played a significant role in promoting and celebrating Mexican cinema. The festival, now celebrating its 15th anniversary, showcases a wide range of Mexican films, from comedy and drama to documentary and beyond. Samuel's passion for storytelling shines through as he highlights the importance of well-produced, well-directed films that captivate audiences. The festival creates a unique experience for moviegoers, allowing them to engage directly with directors and actors during Q&A sessions.
Like many events, the Hola Mexico Film Festival faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the festival shifted to a virtual format, providing an opportunity for film enthusiasts to enjoy Mexican cinema from the comfort of their homes. The following year, the festival cautiously returned to cinemas, ensuring safety measures were in place. Now, in 2023, the festival eagerly anticipates a return to normalcy, hoping to bring back the joyous communal experience that only a big screen can offer.
Samuel's dedication to Mexican cinema and his unwavering commitment to supporting filmmakers has been the driving force behind the success of the Hola Mexico Film Festival. With each passing year, the festival grows in popularity, attracting more films and enthusiastic attendees. Samuel's vision to showcase the diverse talent and captivating storytelling of Mexican filmmakers continues to thrive, making a significant impact on the global film industry.
Buy tickets to the Hola Mexico Film Festival
Read more about the origins of the Hola Mexico Film Festival and what Samuel believes makes a great film below.
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Rebecca:
Okay. So to start, I saw you have your coffee. Is that your preferred beverage choice? Like, what is your go-to coffee order or place to get it?
Samuel :
Well, you're you're asking, a home home barista. Full on coffee department in my house. I'm a I'm a huge aficionado. So I I drink, you know, flat white or, you know, eight ounce latte. If if available or cheaper out there when it's later at night, but I like, you know, medium roast or light roast the lighter, the better, never never dark roast. And, yeah, I have, like, 3 coffees a day. So I make my own. I pour my own lattes and I'm a big fan. So…
Rebecca:
-- Wow. Awesome. Yeah. What do you do you use any specific, like, with What tools do you use? I'm so curious.
Samuel :
I have, oh, I forgot the name of the brand. It's the Australian one my espresso machine. Nespresso?
Rebecca:
Is it that 1?
Samuel :
Oh, no. No. No. No. No. No. It's so -- Okay.
Samuel :
A longvie. What is it? It's a Breville Breville.
Rebecca:
It's Breville. Okay. I was curious.
Samuel :
Breville espresso machine. I'm I'm in for a new one. I'm gonna get a an apartmento soon enough, from another brand, which is much nicer. And also I need another grinder. I have a nice grinder that goes to work, but I feel like, it it keeps you know, when I shift from filter to espresso, sometimes I get a little grind there. It's not it's not. So I need to spend some money in in in getting a better grinder.
Rebecca:
Getting it just right. Yeah.
Samuel :
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. But then I have, like, I measure, you know, I need the 18 to 22 ounces depending on on the coffee when I dialed in my espresso. And then I, yeah, I I do Yeah. Yeah. I try I I measure the the amount of espresso and yeah. Yeah.
Rebecca:
That's so great. I love that. That sounds like such a great routine in dual, like, a mindfulness. That's really nice.
Samuel :
Yeah. I I love my coffee.
Rebecca:
Alright. So, what's your heritage?
Samuel :
What's my heritage? Oh my god. I was born in Mexico City, born and raised there. My dad was born in Israel from Syrian parents and then my mom is born in Mexico from Russian Ukrainian parents. So it's a big mix.
Rebecca:
Mhmm. Wow. And are you still well, I will. Are you still in Mexico city? Do you have roots there still, or where are you located?
Samuel :
I live in Los Angeles. I'm in Studio City. But, my parents live in Mexico City. I have a brother there, another one South California as well. So but I do. I go to Mexico often, of course there's family there, of course, and a lot of friends. So yeah, I'm still connected to Mexico City.
Rebecca:
Lovely. And what's been like I asked that later. So tell me about the Hola Mexico Film Festival. Let's start. Yeah.
Samuel :
Mhmm. Yeah. Well, the Hola Mexico film festival, it's, turning 15. It's doing its quinceanera. This, in a few weeks. I mean, about turning 15. It's, you know, it's a film festival that screens all Mexican films. We screen from all corners of Mexico and all types of Mexico. We do comedy. We do drama. We do documentary. We do anything and everything. So we don't only do documentary. We don't only do, you know, very artsy films. No. We do things that are commercial, things that are popular, things, you know, all types of, cinematography and filmmaking. As long as the film is well produced, well directed. It has a good photography, and it looks professional. And, you know, we believe in storytelling, and we know storytelling can come from all shapes form. So we wanna tell good stories. And, you know, we do it in a festive atmosphere in Los Angeles. We buy the community. Everyone is welcome. We sell tickets. So people that like watching movies, they can see them next to the director and the actor. And then after the films, they get to have Q&A and, you know, listen from the filmmakers about the film. So it's an experience, right? It's not just like, oh, it's a movie. Did I watch it, or did I not watch it? No. This is for people that care for the experience of the movies. And they wanna see it in the big screen. They wanna see it with people that care about what they care. They wanna see it and then meet the director. And not only that, they wanna be maybe the first person to see it. And and this might be the only chance for them to see this movie because some movies make it to Netflix, some make it to weeks, but some don't. Some movies just get lost because there's so many movies and there's only a few platforms or a few places for a movie to be shown or screened. So indeed, if some of our movies will never ever be able to play in LA again. So if you don't watch it now, you may never watch it again.
Rebecca:
Right. Alright. What? I wonder because you mentioned the ex in person experience of the movies. What happened to the festival during COVID? And is this your 1st year back, or was it last year?
Samuel :
Oh, this is our 3rd year back, actually.
Rebecca:
Okay.
Samuel :
So in 2020, we did it at at home. We had to do it virtual. So the festival is was usually on May. So in May, we said, maybe September will be better. And then, obviously, September came and it wasn't. So even in May, we started a series called Cine en Casa. So I managed to go back to films from the last, you know, 10, 11 years, 12 years, and we just grabbed films and we put them on our website and people were there to see them. So that was fun. But then, in 2021, we went back to cinemas and, you know, people were we did our opening night in an in an in an open venue. The closing ad was also open. The rest of the films were in a cinema, but we had one row. Yes. One row. No. People were wearing mask. It was very, very COVID. Like, I was wearing a mask except when I was doing the Q&A. And then that was 2021. Then 2022 was pretty much back to normal. And then 2023 is this year. So we'll see. It's crazy. It's Things have changed dramatically for everyone in the world, and so is for for a film festival. So we'll see what 2023 has in stock for us.
Rebecca:
Awesome. I really do hope it goes well. I'm sure I think people are excited to be back. Yeah. So you are the founder of Hola Mexico Film Festival. What was it like creating that? What inspired it? And what's keeping you going? For 15 years.
Samuel :
Yeah. I mean, it was inspired by maybe the Three Amigos, by Iñarritú, Cuarón and Del Toro. And, also, Amat Escalante and, the new wave of Mexican filmmakers, you know, the, Fernando Emke and, you know, they were there. I I was watching all these amazing films from Mexico coming out and yet there wasn't a proper representation of, you know, of of of film screenings. And I'm like, oh, there's enough there's an amazing amount of films coming out and not enough people are not enough places to watch them. So I just thought of, you know, there's enough Mexicans. There's, enough movies. So let's just do a Mexican film festival. And so that was the inspiration. And then obviously the the industry of Mexico and cinema has grown so much So films now, you know, instead of looking at 20 films to select 10, I get to see, like, 200 to select 20. So there's a lot. And, you know, the inspiration is now, you know, continuing supporting Mexican cinema and giving back to the community. I I love when the people come there and they they're happy to watch the films and they're, you know, some people, they come for the first time. Some people have been coming there for 15 years. And they're like excited to watch what's new in Mexican cinema. So I guess that's also part of, like, a motivation to, you know, to continue seeing the excitement for movies.
Rebecca:
Absolutely. Wow. So how has, I've also experienced this this thing called founder Syndrome. And, basically, when you make this platform to showcase other people's work, it kinda stifles your own. You know, I don't know if you've felt that anyway. Do you feel like being a founder has that, like, not just prevented your artistry, but made it grow in a different way. I don't know. Interpret that how you want.
Samuel :
You know, at some point, yeah, at I don't think now I know I feel like I'm a festival director and, you know, I know what I'm doing, and I don't. But 8 years ago, definitely, it was all an imposter syndrome. I had no clue what I was doing, and I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The Hola Mexico, come on, and a film festival, and I eally had, I mean, yeah, I still see other big festivals, and I don't know how they do it, even though, you know, I do my own but, it's, yeah, I guess you you tell a lie until you start believing it, right, or something like that, but it's never a lie. So I was not doing anything wrong. It was just, again, me trying to do something that I had no clue because you know, it's not like I grew up and seeing my dad working in film festivals, or I didn't grow up as a child, or my dad was in film, or cousins were in film or I didn't know anyone that was a filmmaker growing up. I know people as a kid, that now they're older and now they're filmmakers, but yet that never inspired me to do a film festival. But, yeah, I just decided to do it because I I felt I like, I could. I knew I wanted to do an event. I wanted to do a music event because I love music so much. But then doing a music festival is, like, 20 times as expensive and harder. And I'm just like, yeah. I can't do that. That's a recent graduate from college. But I feel, first of all, they could do, you know, instead of renting a venue, I could just share the profits with a venue instead of you know, paying $10,000 for a ban to come, I could split the box office with the with that film. So there was many more, you know, I didn't have to fly 7 guys from a band to play. I had to just maybe fly 1, a director, right, much much easier to do a film festival than a music festival.
Rebecca:
It sounds like it. Yeah. Awesome. And who else is on your team? Is it just you or it's like, how big is your team? Yeah.
Samuel :
Well, right now, we are, like, fourteen, fifteen people on our WhatsApp group. We have a group. Yes. WhatsApp. We, you know, I have Ayana Luna who does Tomorrow's Filmmakers Today. I have Carlos Aguilar who does Tomorrow's Filmmakers Today but also it's a programmer for us. And, then there's, Mauricio, who's a pro production manager and is in charge of production. I have Melina who does our website, and I have a graphic designer, Donna, this year, who's doing the illustrations and graphic design. And we have Pilar, who does box office, and who does the volunteer, and it's also part of logistics and production. And Mariluz, who does our PR. Yeah, so that's pretty much our team. Well, Daniella, the scene of this year, she's doing all the filmmaker liaison, like, like, flying people, putting them in hotels. We have around forty people coming from Mexico for the festival.
Rebecca:
Mhmm. Wow.
Samuel :
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rebecca:
Hard working, man.
Samuel :
Yeah. Most most of us have been doing it for many, many years. Maybe more than 10. So I guess we all really love it, I guess.
Rebecca:
Right. Got it. Yeah. Awesome. So what do you look for or you and your team look for? When you're inviting these films over, selecting them?
Samuel :
Well, we're looking for great films. Great stories. As I said before, we really want, you know, be able to find this amazing. It's so hard to make a good film. It's so hard. We watch so many crappy films. It's ridiculous. There's really, really a lot of bad films. Most of the films are really bad. And yet even even when they decide the studio that, oh, yes. We're gonna release this film and they put 1,000,000 of dollars on it. And they release it and you go to a movie and you're watching it like, oh, this was terrible. Yes. And yet they spent the millions in doing it and putting it out. So it's not easy. And, something we proud ourselves as all of Mexico is we try to get good films. So we wanna, you know, tell some films that are interesting, different well made films. So that's the first part. Then the second part is you know, we see the whole canvas of the festival, and we're like, okay. We need documentaries. We need drama. We need horror. We need comedy. We we try to make a mix. So we it all looks good. Yeah. We need to make sure that we have a little bit of everything. We don't wanna be all black and white films, and we don't want everything to be a comedy. So we try to do a little bit everything in between.
Rebecca:
That's fun. I'm gonna I'm gonna dig deeper here. What makes a great film? To you, this is also them. So what does it make in your words?
Samuel :
Look, a great film is when there's a story that's well told that doesn't, you know, that doesn't skip parts that tells you a story in a way that Either it's hard to comprehend, but it's believable or it's easy, but at the same time, you're enjoying it. It needs to be well photographed well lit. Lighting is so important. Most of the films they sent us, the lighting is terrible. Even the audio, you need to be able to listen to film well. You can have, like, audio on the back. And it's like, what is he saying? A lot of the films just pass up the audio, or the photography. And then if if there's something in the story that happens that you're like, why why are they doing that? Like, it's totally unbelievable or unrelatable. It just, it throws you out. So a good film needs to have a good story. It needs to be well told, visually, and storytelling wise.
Rebecca:
Awesome. Thank you. I'll send you a touch on that. Touching this. Just wanna make sure we get all of our bases. I have some goals. I try not to be too too to the book. Where do we start? Oh, okay. I guess we can get to that. So what's been inspiring you lately aside from, the film festival coming up. As a person, you said you like you really love music. Is there a specific musician or a podcast, book? Anything that's been feeding your mind or soul like way.
Samuel :
Oh, it's always. I mean, I listen to heavy metal, so I'm always listening to new bands and, and my old bands that I like. I I'm just constantly listening to to heavy metal and watching concerts and videos and going out to concerts and, yeah.
Rebecca:
Awesome. So what do you would you like to name a couple of bands? Because I only know the basic, punk stuff. So any direction to, like, new stuff would be great.
Samuel :
Well, yeah, punk punk is not like metal.
Rebecca:
It's a heavy metal. Yeah.
Samuel :
Oh, it's it's jazz and blues. They they're brothers, but they they live there in different countries. Right? I mean, I I listen out to a lot of Unleash the Archers. I listen to Dissolution, I listen to, well, some of the old guys, you know, like, Epica or Blind Guardian or Helloween. That's always good. And a lot of prog metal like Leprous or or Haken. I love them or Between The Buried And Me. Really, really love that one. Therion, Kamelot. I don't know. There's there's there's so much variance in heavy metal. There's like power metal, rock metal, death metal, biking metal, folk metal, black it's just so much, and everyone is very different. And, yeah.
Rebecca:
That's so fun. I love that. I'll check out a couple of those. After this. What do you hope the outcome is for this year's Hola Mexico Film Festival?
Samuel :
I just wanna sell out every screening. I want everyone. I want the whole community to come and watch all the films, or it's it's it's it's hard.
Rebecca:
Right. Right. Awesome. Anything else you wanted to mention? About the festival or anything else going on?
Samuel :
Well, you know, that we have the the festival this September 29th to October 7 at the -- Mhmm.
Samuel :
We have 3 venues with parties and concerts and events and You know? I think it's important for people to know that this festival provides not only entertainment, but an actual you know, input of information and, cultural cultural exchange of Mexico and and our culture to to to the people in Los Angeles. And I love it because last year, we had a panel and there was a Arceli Ramirez, one of the biggest actors in Mexico. She said this this festival is an obligation to every Mexican and you know, living in Los Angeles. Every year, you need to make it like a priority to come and and watch films, your films, you know, we always talk about, oh, representation, and we need to be, you know, okay. This is this is rep this is your films. This is Mexico. This is made there and every film tells a different part of your story. So when you come and you observe these films, you are you know, being given, a really in-depth view of of of your your your person, you know, from count to from different sides, from different voices,
Rebecca:
That's it. Yeah. Awesome. So I'm going to ask for all the I think we have a lot of the details of the festival, and everything else so that we have everything linked seamlessly from the article to, your website and where we could buy tickets and all that. Other than that, I think this concludes the interview unless you wanna add something else.
Samuel :
Perfect.
Rebecca:
Awesome. Thank you, Samuel. I'm gonna stop recording. I do need to press this button.
Drink 🫖
What is Samuel’s go-to drink?
“I'm a huge aficionado. So I drink, you know, flat white or, you know, eight ounce latte. I like, you know, medium roast or light roast, the lighter, the better, never never dark roast. And, yeah, I have, like, 3 coffees a day. So I make my own. I pour my own lattes and I'm a big fan.”
Listening To 🎧
What is Samuel listening to at the moment?
“Heavy Metal. I listen out to a lot of Unleash the Archers. I listen to Dissolution, I listen to, well, some of the old guys, you know, like, Epica or Blind Guardian or Helloween. That's always good. And a lot of prog metal like Leprous or Haken. I love them. Or Between The Buried And Me. Really, really love that one. Therion, Kamelot.”
Your Truth 🗣️
What is a Samuel’s truth? What inspires him?
“Yeah. I mean, it was inspired by maybe the Three Amigos, by Iñarritú, Cuarón and Del Toro. And, also, Amat Escalante and, the new wave of Mexican filmmakers, you know, the, Fernando Emke and, you know, they were there. I was watching all these amazing films from Mexico coming out and yet there wasn't a proper representation of, you know, of film screenings. And I'm like, oh, there's enough, there's an amazing amount of films coming out and not enough people are, not enough places to watch them. So I just thought of, you know, there's enough Mexicans. There's, enough movies. So let's just do a Mexican film festival.”
More about Hola México Film Festival
Founded in 2008, Hola Mexico Film Festival, the largest Mexican Film Festival outside of Mexico, strives to highlight the best and brightest talents in Mexican cinematography. Spanning comedies, dramas, horror films and documentaries, the festival showcases high quality films in a festive atmosphere in conjunction with exclusive parties and outdoor concerts. Sponsors include: Toyota, Delta, Aeroméxico, and LA Plaza de Cultura Y Artes.
Buy tickets to the Hola Mexico Film Festival
Watch promotional video: https://youtu.be/mlpQGWiB3_w
More about Samuel Douek
Samuel Douek, Founder & Director of the HMFF earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Mexico City's Anahuac University and his master’s degree in Event Management in Sydney, Australia, where he founded Hola Mexico Film Festival. The festival has since grown into the largest of its kind outside of Mexico and is now a celebrated, yearly tradition held in the capital of the worldwide film industry, Los Angeles, CA.
