About

The San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF) is presented and produced by Media Arts Center San Diego, a 501 c(3) non-profit organization.

The 30th edition of the festival will take place from March 9-19, 2023 at:
AMC Mission Valley Cinemas, 1640 Camino Del Rio N, San Diego, CA 92108, and
Digital Gym Cinema, located at 1100 Market Street, 2nd Floor, San Diego, CA 92101

The San Diego Latino Film Festival is an 11 day celebration of Latino Cinema, Arts & Culture. The festival will present over 160 films from Latin America, the United States, and Spain as well as Opening Night and Closing Night Parties, the 5th Annual Sabor Latino – Food, Beer & Wine Festival, Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, free student screenings, and more. Audiences will have the rare opportunity to meet filmmakers and actors from all over the world. Full lineup to be announced in February 2023. Stay tuned!

Media Arts Center San Diego’s San Diego Latino Film Festival was established 30 years ago initially as a student film festival (Cine Estudantil) focusing on works by Latinos and/or about the Latino Experience. Since that time, the San Diego Latino Film Festival has developed into one of the larger and well-respected Latino film festivals in the world. Over 350,000 people have attended during the past 30 years and over 4,020 films/videos from across Latin America and the United States have been screened.

See past festival photos below:

Click here to see past festival catalogues.

Past festival guests have included such renowned individuals as Dolores Huerta, Barbara Mori, Ximena Ayala, Hector Babenco, Guy Ecker, Iliana Fox, Adamari Lopez, Ludwika Paleta, Ana Serradilla, Rick Najera, Cecilia Saurez, Maya Zapata, Jaime Camil, Susana Zabaleta, Demian Bichir, Kate del Castillo, America Ferrera, John Leguizamo, Alfonso Cuaron, Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, Carlos Carrera, Rodrigo Prieto, Alex Lora, Lupe Ontiveros, Bruno Bichir, Carmen Salinas, Luis Mandoki, Danny Trejo, Adal Ramones, Tony Plana, Elpidia Carrillo, Humberto Solas, Dennis Leoni, Arturo Ripstein, Paul Rodriguez, Patssi Valdez, Luis Valdez, Gregory Nava, Edward James Olmos, Lourdes Portillo, Moctesuma Esparza, Ray Bradbury, Jacob Vargas, Patricia Velasquez, Fernando Sarinana, Lucia Murat, Nancy de los Santos, Vanessa Bauche, Carlos Bolado, Carlos Avila, Edgar Bravo, Maria Canals, Enrique Castillo, Lumi Cavazos, Jorge Cervera Jr., Danny de la Paz, Ciro Duran, Evelina Fernandez, Gabriel Figueroa Jr., Vicky Funari, Zaide Silvia Guttierez, Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Stuart Gordon, Sal Lopez, Nestor Miranda, Allen Moore, Lucia Murat, Jeffrey Reyna, Richard Salazar, Mary Siceloff, Marisa Sistach, Jose Luis Valenzuela, Jacob Vargas, David Villalpando, Michael Peña, Wilmer Valderrama, Ofelia Medina, Tommy Lister, Aimee Garcia, Pepe Serna, and many more.

View interviews, recap videos, trailers & more via our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/sdlatinofilm

History of Media Arts Center San Diego:
MACSD evolved out of the San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF), which originated in 1993. Incorporated in 1999, MACSD has grown from a festival to a mid-size organization with diverse statewide programs and services for residents, visitors, and independent and amateur filmmakers. In 2012, MACSD moved into a new space in North Park. Renovating a derelict building, now known as the Digital Gym, has brought vitality and inspired new businesses to open in this once-blighted area. The Digital Gym allowed MACSD to expand core programming to better serve the community.

The organization’s annual film festival introduces San Diego audiences to contemporary U.S-Latino and Latin American cinema that is otherwise unavailable. Showcases for Gay and Lesbian films and filmmakers, Jewish-Latino filmmakers, women filmmakers, a youth media showcase and others address film artists and audiences that often are often marginalized. Educational, creative and production oriented programs reach underserved youth, and residents while providing MACSD with opportunities for community-based collaborations and the ability to fulfill our mission. In three categories—Now Showing; Education& Learning; and Create & Produce—our programs have evolved over the years to remain relevant to changes in technology as well as in audience needs and desires.

VISION STATEMENT:
MEDIA ARTS CENTER SAN DIEGO endorses the inclusion of underrepresented communities in the media arts field and the portrayal of accurate images of these communities by mainstream media and promotes community access to and use of media technology.

PROGRAMS:
Media Art Center San Diego (MACSD) grew out of the expansion of the San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF), which originated in 1993. Incorporated in 1999, Founder and Executive Director Ethan van Thillo has grown the organization from a festival to a mid-size organization with diverse state-wide programs and services for residents, visitors, and independent and amateur filmmakers. A little over two years ago, MACSD moved into a new space (2921 El Cajon Blvd in North Park) that has enabled us to expand our core programming to better serve the community; realizing a dream that has been years in the making. MACSD’s Programming Philosophy is based on the organization’s founding vision: to challenge the historical exclusion of under-represented communities from the media arts field, and distorted images of these communities by mainstream media. The organization’s annual film festival introduces San Diego audiences to contemporary U.S-Latino and Latin American cinema that is otherwise unavailable. Showcases for Gay and Lesbian films and filmmakers, Jewish-Latino filmmakers, women filmmakers, a youth media showcase and others address film artists and audiences that often are often marginalized. Educational, creative and production oriented programs reach underserved youth, and residents while providing MACSD with opportunities for community-based collaborations and the ability to fulfill our mission. In three categories—Now Showing; Education& Learning; and Create & Produce—our programs have evolved over the years to remain relevant to changes in technology as well as in audience needs and desires.

NOW SHOWING:
San Diego Latino Film Festival: Celebrating 30 years, an 11-day juried film/video exhibition of work by/about Latino artists and Latino genre. It hosts guest filmmakers’ appearances, workshops, live music, art exhibitions and gala celebrations. The SDLFF introduces viewers to contemporary U.S.-Latino and Latin American cinema. Other film programming includes Exitos del Cine Latino Series, Que Viva Outdoor Cine Latino Series, and daily screenings of independent and foreign films at our very own movie theater, the Digital Gym Cinema.

EDUCATION & LEARNING:
We offer expansive education programs for underserved youth and adults, amateur to professional. Filmmaking, online and new media, audio, and more—generally free or low cost. Teen Producers Project:A media arts and literacy training program that familiarizes youth (ages 15-19) with media technologies for self-expression, work readiness, and social change. Projects provide a range of creation and production experiences and resources to exhibit work. These after-school classes take place at Crawford High School, MAAC Charter High School, and at MACSD’s facility in North Park. Advanced Teen Producers are now producing video news segments that air on KPBS TV Evening News once per month. Digital Media Workshops: Workshops and seminars at MACSD’s new facility (our “Digital Gym”) on various facets of media arts production for amateur, emerging and independent filmmakers. Presenters are local experts as well as internationally recognized filmmakers. These workshops include one-on-one trainings for individuals and professional development trainings for staff at businesses, educational institutions, and libraries. MobileStories: In partnership with San Diego City Libraries (Central Library, Malcolm X Library, Linda Vista Library, and Logan Heights Library), MobileStories empowers teens to Week-long all day camps for youth ages 9-14 that teaches students how to collaborate with each other using media and technology arts, while engaging with others in an increasingly connected world become storytellers and citizen journalists. Through intensive training sessions, teens learn how to create, edit, and share stories through blogs, articles, vlogs (video blogs), online media, photographs, and other media tools. Youth Media & Tech Camps: Learning these basic media tools in a fun, collaborative environment provides our youth with the skills to utilize the newest media technologies in a positive and productive way.

CREATE & PRODUCE:
Mexican and US-based filmmakers collaborate and connect. Lab-based activities encourage exploration of high-tech tools. Digital Story Station (DSS): Helps laypeople create 2-5 minute videos that combine personal writing, photographic and other still images, and a musical soundtrack. Currently, there are 45 Digital Story Stations at public libraries across the State of California. Frontera Filmmakers is a grassroots social networking group that brings together over 380 independent filmmakers from both sides of the border through screenings, meetings, access to filmmaking equipment, acess to studio/lab facilities, fiscal sponsorship, and workshops throughout the year. The Digital Gym: Dedicated to new technologies and media arts experimentation by people of all ages, our goal is to present DIY (Do It Yourself) technologies to the novice/learner as well the more experienced media artists.Video Production Services (VPS) Department: MACSD helps organizations connect with their audiences by making a digital media presence accessible and affordable. In addition to producing relevant videos for community groups, government agencies, and corporations, VPS also acts as a work-readiness program for emerging media makers ages 20-30 years old in the San Diego region.