BROOKLYN, N.Y. - With movie theaters shuttered, Geoffrey Guerrero found a new venue for his international film festival — a makeshift drive-in.

"Due to the pandemic, we’ve had to get creative and find new ways to screen these works," Guerrero said while walking around a parking lot in Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn that was filling with cars for a drive-in.

Guerrero joined with an ongoing community movie night to present Toy Story 4. Not exactly the typical fare of "Katra Film Series," which he founded in 2012 to showcase new filmmakers. Those films had online screenings this year.

"Katra Film Series is an independent film festival dedicated to emerging filmmakers from around the world," Guerrero said.

Guerrero, whose parents are from Ecuador, was frustrated that many festivals saw him only as a Hispanic filmmaker who should submit to Latin film festivals.

"I'm grateful that these film festivals showcase my work and were able to support us, but I wanted more I wanted to compete with filmmakers from everywhere, not just one specific category, so that's one of the main inspirations for starting the Katra film series," he said.

As for this drive-in in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn.. it’s fitting.  Guerrero grew up nearby and fell in love with filmmaking at age five, when he walked past the set of the Neil Simon Comedy Brighton Beach Memoirs. So it was an extra thrill for Guerrero to see so many people out of their homes to enjoy a night at the movies by the beach.

"It's kind of like a retro aspect to it, which is kind of fun," said one movie-goer.

"It's more fun. I've been on the couch the entire quarantine," said anger who brought a car full of snacks including popcorn.

With the success of Katra, Guerrero founded The Bowery Film Festival in 2018 for cutting-edge films — again, for all kinds of filmmakers.

"We have several Latinx makers that have been selected, and they're inspired to be a part of the event. It's inspiring to see someone who looks like them running these festivals," Guerrero said.

Besides this drive-in, most of the events for this film festival were virtual. But Guerrero hopes his upcoming Bowery Film Festival will be a combination of virtual and in-person events. He hopes to do another drive-in screening for that festival in November.