Getting cozy with family and friends and popping on your favorite Christmas flick is a hallmark of the holiday season.

We burst into laughter watching shenanigans unfold in comedies like “Home Alone,” and shed a few tears over wholesome plotlines – even if they are a bit predictable. But one thing that’s often missing during these moments is a diversity of on-screen characters.

Dashing through the snow with its nearly all Afro-Latino cast comes “Hope Street Holiday,” which is available to watch on Tubi, Amazon Prime and Apple TV. The film follows hard-working Afro-Latina lawyer Galia “Lia” Garcia who is struggling with grief after her mother’s death and getting dumped by her boyfriend days before Christmas. She returns to her small hometown to handle her mother’s estate. But what was supposed to be a quick trip, turns into a journey of self-discovery for Garcia as different types of love renew her spirit — familial, romantic and most importantly, self-love. She doesn’t go through all of that on her own, of course. Garcia’s crazy aunts, a 5-year-old orphan and a high school love interest all play roles in her healing.

Afro-Latina filmmaker Isadora Ortega is the creative force behind “Hope Street Holiday.” Not only does she play Garcia, she also co-wrote a movie she believes will inspire hope in those who are dealing with the casualties of chaotic circumstances.

“We come to a point in our lives where you lose so much along the way,” Ortega said. “Then you become really afraid of loving again – of opening again because when you open again, you open yourself not only to feel the good things, but you risk having more pain and suffering. So the message that Lia got is just finding balance and finding the small little things that make you happy.”

An Afro-Latina lead actress in a Christmas film is a rarity in a genre that has been repeatedly called out for its lack of diversity. While major networks like Hallmark and Lifetime have recently become more inclusive in their holiday movie storylines, critics say there’s still room for improvement.

“Hope Street Holiday” is the first American holiday film featuring Afro-Latino actors who are playing major roles – a sight that would have made Ortega’s eyes light up when she was a child in New York City. As a woman of Dominican, Haitian and Cuban descent, Ortega said she didn’t see characters on screen who honored all shades of her heritage. Which is why she moved to Los Angeles about 12 years ago to pursue her mission of diversifying the television and film industry.

“I think that came from me not finding my place, and this lack of knowing where I fit in, and then realizing that I don’t have to fit in to anything,” Ortega said. “This is who I am. This is what I bring. I bring me.”

When it comes to the Christmas season, Ortega is the type of person who sets up her tree as soon as Halloween is over. Although the lights and colors leave her mesmerized, the true magic of the holidays are the memory-making moments with her community.

“It’s the perfect excuse to eat, be with your family,” Ortega said. “Christmas brings joy and hope. It feels warm to me.”

“Hope Street Holiday” was dreamed up during a moment of divine timing. Ortega was craving an opportunity to star in a Christmas story, and her producing partner and film director Brandon Morson had a script ready to go, but it wasn’t originally written with Afro-Latinos in mind. Ortega and Morson restructured the script to reflect the colorful diversity within Afro-Latino culture.

Ortega and Morson used multiple elements to bring their vision to reality. Composer Robert Johnson Jr. infused traditional Christmas jingles with Latin and African beats and instruments for the soundtrack. Ortega made sure the script included certain terms and cuisine, such as empanadas, sancocho and the Dominican slang for what’s up, “¿Qué lo qué?” Ortega said the Afro-Latino actors were given a lot of freedom to improvise.

“It worked great because we were all just bouncing from each other and we come from similar cultures,” Ortega said. “People who have watched the film who are from the culture they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, that brought me happiness because we don’t hear stuff like that. We don’t see the dancing and the music we usually play at home.’”

Casting director Natasha Ward made sure to fill roles with people who represent the spectrum of Afro-Latino identities. Both dark and light skin tones are represented when it comes to Garcia’s trio of aunties. Ortega said that was intentional.

“We speak of diversity, but sometimes we don’t really do anything about it,” Ortega said. “I am going to always try to tell my stories. I want people to get to know us. I want this to be a familiar thing. The world is a melting pot of all of us.”

Ortega said many people are unaware of the fusion of races and cultures that make up the African diaspora. The enslaved didn’t forget their culture when they were forced across the seas. African traditions enriched the social, cultural and economical landscape of Latin America.

But that concept didn’t translate when Ortega first started attending casting calls in Los Angeles, where she was often asked, “Where did you get your Spanish from?” She was also told that she wouldn’t be able to play a Latina role because Hollywood would be confused by her Afro-Latina identity.

Ortega places a lot of the blame on the colorism within Latin American media for that type of thinking. Her acting career was inspired by the telenovelas she watched with her mother when she was younger. While she was awed by the craft of reinventing yourself on stage, Ortega said there were very few Afro-Latino actors who starred in telenovelas. The roles were mostly filled by white Latinos, she said.

“If we are not putting our own people in our shows and in our movies – no matter the shape, size or color – Hollywood is seeing that and they’re taking notes,” Ortega said. “And the notes that they’re taking is, ‘They identify themselves as European Latinos – white Latinos. So that’s what we’re going to give them on TV, too.’”

Which is why a cast like the one in “Hope Street Holiday” should be normalized. Ortega said she and Morson are promoting the movie heavily so that investors can see the film’s profitability. She wants to get started on the next chapter of Hope Street’s story. Pending title: “Hope Street Wedding.” Ortega said she wants to evolve the movie into a seasonal film that Afro-Latino families can look forward to every year.

She encourages other Afro-Latino actors and actresses to do the same — to create their own storylines in an industry that is slow to recognize their existence.

“Create your own intellectual property. Build the future that you want to see and take space. Be bold with who you are,” she said.