New York Latino Film Festival founder Calixto Chinchilla on the importance of diverse storytellers

Sunday marked the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month and Scripps News continues to celebrate by recognizing the contributions and cultural achievements of Hispanic Americans.

For almost 25 years, the New York Latino Film Festival has been a premier event with a mission to cultivate audiences for Latino cinema and facilitate collaboration among diverse creatives.

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Calixto Chinchilla is the founder and executive director of the festival — which is currently underway — and he joined Scripps News to discuss what it's been like to see it grow over the years and the impact it has had on his community.

"It's all a dream," Chinchilla said. "It's always been a dream driven by desire and definitely fueled by passion. So to see it grow the way it has, you know, you realize how much of a necessity it was. It's crazy to believe back in 2000 it wasn't anything like this. Yet, Latinos were apart of the big conversation of us being the next big thing."

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"All of this happened, again, in 2000 when you know a lot of the news and the media — Ricky Martin exploding — you know, people are like 'Latinos are going to be the next big thing' and yet there wasn't anything for us in New York City," Chinchilla continued. "So, to see it still be alive and thrive the way it has and grow, it's blessed."

You can watch Scripps News' full interview with New York Latino Film Festival founder Calixto Chinchilla in the video player above.