For the first time in 20 years since its arrival to New Zealand, the Latin American Film Festival will at last hit screens in the Bay of Plenty.

The festival – on from Friday, November 4 to Sunday, November 13 – will feature nine different films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Spain.

And boasting free entry, the hope is the film festival will offer the BOP community a unique opportunity to immerse in the language and culture of Latin America.

Latin American & Spanish Community Tauranga president Karen Gibney says the festival has been to other major New Zealand cities but never Tauranga – so she is delighted it's finally here, because serves two purposes.

'First of all, it's to have a space for our community to be able to watch these films in our own language,” says Karen. 'We don't have a scene in Tauranga at all where people can go to the cinema and watch something from our culture.

'The second and most important aspect is that we'd like to get to know the individuals in the Latin American community as well as open up and invite individuals from the wider community here in Tauranga,” says Karen.

She believes Kiwi perceptions of Latin Americans are quite narrow and she often gets asked for taco recipes. 'Latin America isn't all about tacos and Mexico – there's many other countries.”

Karen hopes by sharing the diverse cultures of Latin America through cinema, this will help the community in terms of racism and bullying.

'I had two kids at school and one was always called the Mexican and the other one was always called Pablo.”

Karen says if people get to know their community better, they can have a safer space in New Zealand.

'We have beautiful people, beautiful places to go, and beautiful food to taste.”

The nine different festival movies will offer a mix of genres including comedies, drama, documentaries and more. 'Through the films, you'll be able to see that we are a lot more open to hugs and kisses as a form of greeting compared to the Kiwi culture,” says Karen.

'I'd just really love to encourage the wider community to come and see these films and take this opportunity to get to know us, so we can also get to know them as well.”

The festival runs November 4-13 at Toi Ohomai Windermere Campus and the Papamoa Sports & Recreation Centre. For tickets, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/d/new-zealand--tauranga/latin-community-tauranga/