The Chicago Latino Film Festival is a U.S. film festival, focusing on Latin America and Latinos. Held annually in Chicago since 1985, it is organized by the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC) and sponsored by a number of national corporations as well as by the local Hispanic and Latino community. It is the nation's longest-running and largest Spanish and Portuguese language film festival dedicated to Latino artists. [1] [2]
The Festival features the work of promising Latin American filmmakers with a special emphasis on films that showcase the enormous diversity of Latin America, and that defy commonly held stereotypes about Hispanics and Latinos. The Festival screens and presents films from Latin America, the United States, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. [1] [3]
During the majority of screenings, the audience have the opportunity to participate in discussions with local and visiting filmmakers. In an effort to highlight the importance of the artistic and educational value of all films, the Chicago Latino Film Festival is non-competitive with the exception of the coveted Audience Choice Award, as determined by the filmgoers and the Gloria Achievement Award. Since 1999, the Gloria Award has been given as a special recognition to individuals and institutions for their outstanding contributions to the Latino arts. [4] [5]
The Chicago Latino Film Festival presents a series of special segments as part of the general programming: Made In USA, Women In Film, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Trans (LGBT) [6] and Animation.
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors.
Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of the Top 100 greatest artists of all time by both VH1 and Billboard. Estefan's record sales exceed 100 million worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female singers of all time. Many of Estefan's songs became international chart-topping hits, including "1-2-3", "Don't Wanna Lose You", "Coming Out of the Dark", "Turn the Beat Around", and "Heaven's What I Feel". Other hits include "Bad Boy", "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You", "Get On Your Feet", and "You'll Be Mine ".
Emilio Estefan Gómez is a Cuban-American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father of son Nayib Estefan and daughter Emily Estefan, and the uncle of Spanish-language television personality Lili Estefan.
The Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF) is an high academy qualifying film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted by the nonprofit organization Heartland Film, Inc. The festival was first held in 1992, with the goal to "inspire filmmakers and audiences through the transformative power of film". HIFF accepts entries of feature-length films at least 40 minutes long, including student submissions. Shorter films are accepted through Heartland Films' spinoff "Indy Shorts International Film Festival", also an Academy Award qualifying festival.
The Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is an annual nonprofit international festival dedicated to the exhibition of underground and avant-garde cinema, video, and performance. The festival offers an opportunity for independent artists who are frequently overlooked by other conventional, market-driven film festivals to showcase and be recognized for their work though jury and audience awards. In addition to screenings, the festival also hosts events to build community amongst the audience. Founded in 1993, the festival is widely regarded as the longest running festival of its kind.
Lourdes Portillo was a Mexican film director, producer, and writer. The political perspectives of Portillo's films have been described as "nuanced" and versed with a point of view balanced by her experience as a lesbian and Chicana woman. Portillo films have been widely studied and analyzed, particularly by scholars in the field of Chicano studies.
Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.
Rea Tajiri is an American video artist, filmmaker, and screenwriter, known for her personal essay film History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige (1991).
Jesús Salvador Treviño is an American television director of Mexican descent.
Frances Negrón-Muntaner is a Puerto Rican filmmaker, writer, and scholar. Her work is focused on a comparative exploration of coloniality, primarily in Puerto Rico and the United States, with special attention given to the intersections between race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and politics. She is an associate professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University in New York City. She has also contributed to the Huffington Post, El Diario/La Prensa, and 80 Grados, and since 2008 has served as a Global Expert for the United Nations Rapid Response Media Mechanism. She is one of the best-known Puerto Rican lesbian artists currently living in the United States.
SOMOSTV LLC, is an American Pay TV entertainment company engaged in the production, distribution, and marketing of Pay TV channels in the U.S. Hispanic market, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Panama, Central America, and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company owns and operates two networks: ViendoMovies and Semillitas. SOMOSTV is headed by Luis Villanueva, an executive in the Hispanic media and entertainment industry, President and CEO of SOMOS Group.
The New England Festival of Ibero American Cinema is a film festival that takes place annually in the cities of Providence, Rhode Island, and New Haven, Connecticut, in the United States. It is the largest Latin American cinema festival in the region of New England. Held in early fall in Providence and New Haven, the festival aims to become the premier showcase for new works from Latin American and Ibero American filmmakers. The festival comprises competitive sections for feature films, documentaries and short films. A group of non-competitive showcase sections, including Desde Cuba: New Cinema and Panorama are also an important part of the festival. Panels, Art Exhibits and Discussions are the focus of the festival which every year invites and hosts Spanish and Latin American filmmakers to interact with Providence and New England audiences.
Aurora Guerrero is a writer-director from California.
A growing number of film festivals are held in the Arab world to showcase films from the region as well as international standouts. In addition, institutions and organizations in other parts of the world are increasingly honoring the new generation of filmmakers in the Arab world with Arab film festivals.
The history of Hispanics and Latinos in Baltimore dates back to the mid-20th century. The Hispanic and Latino community of Baltimore is the fastest growing ethnic group in the city. There is a significant Hispanic/Latino presence in many Southeast Baltimore neighborhoods, particularly Highlandtown, Upper Fell's Point, and Greektown. Overall Baltimore has a small but growing Hispanic population, primarily in the Southeast portion of the area from Fells Point to Dundalk.
Latin music is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the Latino population in Canada and the United States, as well as music that is sung in either Spanish and/or Portuguese. It may also include music from other territories where Spanish- and Portuguese-language music is made.
Phillip Rodriguez is an American documentary filmmaker and veteran content provider for PBS.
SEATTLE LATINO FILM FESTIVAL (SLFF) is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization.
Mama Gloria is an American documentary film directed by Luchina Fisher. The film tells the life story of Gloria Allen, a septuagenarian trans woman from the south side of Chicago. Mama Gloria premiered in October 2020 at the Chicago International Film Festival. The film received awards from the Teaneck International Film Festival and the Milwaukee Film Festival.
Lizet Benrey is a Mexican-American painter, film director and actress whose artwork has been displayed worldwide at cultural institutions, art galleries and museums. She directed a documentary about Leonora Carrington and designed the Premio Corazon Award for the San Diego Latino Film Festival.