(lat) Since its launch in 1999, the New York International Latino Film Festival has always had plenty to offer on a global scale - especially with the filmmakers coming from different Hispanic backgrounds here and abroad. Despite these differences, all share one common goal: the desire to change perceptions about Latino culture through the art of film. Now in its ninth year, NYILFF runs Tuesday through Sunday at four Manhattan venues and includes several New York premieres among the more than 80 documentaries, shorts and features that not only break stereotypes about Latinos, but celebrate the diversity of the community. The directors' backgrounds are as unique as the movies themselves. Here's a look at three films with New York ties: Marlene Rhein, "The Big Shot-Caller" (Feature) Marlene Rhein is no stranger to directing - she has made music videos for Tupac Shakur and Amy Winehouse. But despite her experience, making "The Big Shot-Caller" provided a new challenge: directing her family. Not only does Rhein herself star in the film, her brother, David Rhein, makes his big-screen debut and Rhein's grandfather, who lives in Colombia, provides the Spanish narration for this story about a severely near-sighted New Yorker struggling with his belief in God. "I wanted to make a movie about believing in yourself," says Rhein, 38, a Long Island native who lives on the upper West Side. For Rhein, believing in yourself has become a personal mantra as well. As both a woman and a Latina, she feels it's even more difficult to make an indie film. "You really have to work to get support," she says. Screens Friday at 10:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 27, at 6:30 p.m.; . Fordham University; Lincoln Center, 113 W. 60th St.

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