TV Interview - Mi cine es su cine

It's hard to say what makes Laura Mireles angrier: Hollywood's disrespectful treatment of Latinos, or the state of the modern movie-going experience. One minute she'll decry "guitar-strumming, serape-wearing" cinematic stereotypes, then she'll shift her sights to the rude service and exorbitant prices at the neighborhood metroplex.

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Mireles champions both Latin American cinema and a pleasant movie-going experience by opening the Spanish-language movie house El Cine Mireles at Marietta's Blackwell Square Shopping Center. The two-screen theater specializes in recent Latin American films, in Spanish with English subtitles, such as the Chilean drama Machuca, opening Fri., Oct. 21.

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A third-generation Mexican-American, Mireles says that her family history inspired her to open the theater. "My father came from a family of migrant workers who settled in Racine, Wis. In the 1960s, an old theater in downtown Racine would show movies from Mexico on Saturday mornings, and ever since my father told me that, this was something I wanted to do." In one homey touch, the concession stand offers such traditional snacks as guava rolls, Mexican tamarind lollipops and Valentina's hot sauce alongside the popcorn and gummy bears.

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El Cine Mireles opened in June with Bendito Infierno, an afterlife romance starring Gael García Bernal and Penelope Cruz. The theater endured a difficult summer. Hidden behind a Goodyear Tire store with no sign on Canton Road for two months, El Cine Mireles played to nearly empty houses, and Mireles begged the power company to keep the lights on. She adds that word of mouth in the Latino community has helped business pick up, but acknowledges that the theater remains a labor of love, staffed by volunteers and family members.

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Mireles tries to encourage family attendance by devoting one of her screens to kid-friendly fare, and for the holidays plans to book Hollywood family flicks like The Chronicles of Narnia, with prints either dubbed or subtitled in Spanish. She adds that more than half of her customers are not Latino, but often movie-lovers from the neighborhood looking for fresh experiences. She especially enjoys playing to the enthusiasm of the Atlanta area's booming Latino community. After showings of Venezuela's political thriller Secuestro Express, Venezuelan viewers told her, "Just to be somewhere and see familiar sights, to hear our slang and dialect, was like going home."

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El Cine Mireles, 3378 Canton Road. Open Wed.-Sun. evenings. $6.25 for adults, $4.25 for children. 770-805-9343. www.elcinemireles.com.