Diane Guerrero’s latest project is making its way to the big screen this weekend…

Co-writer-director-actress Livia De Paolis’ female-charged film Emoticon 😉, which stars the Latina actress, opens this weekend in limited release.

The film centers on a female student (De Paolis) a student struggling with her thesis on ‘Modern means of communication’ until she meets her new boyfriend’s (Michael Cristofer) teenage kids who are dealing with their own identity issues and together they form and unlikely bond and embark on a journey of self discovery to better understand love and intimacy in a digital age.

Guerrero, who has appeared on the television series’ Orange is the New Black and Are We There Yet?, portrays Amanda Nevins in the film. The Latina actress, who has appeared on the television series’ Orange is the New Black and Are We There Yet?, knew she was meant to play her character the moment she read the script.

“What made me connect with Amanda in Emoticon 😉 was her desire to fit in and find her place in the world,” Guerrero tells LatinoBuzz. “The fact that she is a Latina longing for an understanding of herself in a ‘white world’. Growing up I often wondered what it would be like to be adopted and grow up in a white family and how that would affect me. I felt a connection. It was also interesting to play someone so young. At first I felt insecure about being too old for the part but I soon learned that what acting is all about baby!?”

Carol Kane, Sonia Braga and Daphne Rubin-Vega also star in the film which is being called a modern day New York story of people connecting the dots.

Emoticon 😉 premiered in competition at last year’s Dances With Films Film Festival in Los Angeles in June, and it won a cast collaboration award at the Gen Art Film Festival.

It opens this weekend at Cinema Village in New York and the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills.