After a brief hiatus, Los Angeles is getting its latino film festival back this June. LALIFF returns to the TCL Chinese Theatre June 20-24, announced by Latino icon Edward James Olmos and organized by Jane the Virgin writer Rafael Agustin. The festival promotes “the advancement of Latinx voices” from creators both inside and outside of the L.A. area.
This year, LALIFF is being integrated as part of a consortium of projects hoping to enhance Latinx representation across all facets of media starting with the Youth Cinema Project. The organization is teaming up with the Walt Disney Company, American Film Institute and other staples of the filmmaking world to create educational programs for schoolchildren. Agustin himself will be tackling this project which he hopes will be a “gift from the Latino community to all children.”
The festival will introduce LALIFF’s new Director of Programming Diana Sanchez, as well as Senior Programmer Dilcia Barrera. The festival’s full slate of programming will be announced in May.
The news comes on the heels of the New York Latino Film Festival’s announcement that the new iteration of the fest (which came back in 2017 ) is also moving to the summer.
It’s great to hear that LALIFF is roaring back to life after taking a five-year absence; the 16th Annual LALIFF was in 2013. With it being considered one of the foremost Latino film festivals there’s no better time to bring it back than now. It’ll be interesting to see what movies will be announced as part of their screening series, both feature-length and shorts.
You can find more information on LALIFF at their website.