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EXCLUSIVE: The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival has group its 2026 lineup, which will return spot from May 27-31. The yearly arena includes a action of characteristic films, shorts, episodic content, animation, and student films from nan Youth Cinema Project, alongside LALIFF Connect: Market & Creative Forum and a scope of typical screenings
This year, LALIFF will unfastened pinch Valentina, starring Keyla Monterroso Mejia arsenic nan titular character, which follows her arsenic she navigates parking tickets, overseas jobs, and nan instability of gig work.
Closing nighttime will surface TheyDream, written and directed by William D. Caballero, a documentary that blends animation and unrecorded action to research nan transformative quality of condolences wrong nan director’s Puerto Rican family. The movie premiered astatine nan 2026 Sundance Film Festival to captious acclaim, receiving nan NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression. John Leguizamo is among nan project’s executive producers.
The festival’s centerpiece action is nan big animated bid Circo Gómez, created by 3Pas Studios and F3 Media. The bid follows a chaotic and endearing circus family struggling to support their cognition afloat, led by an optimistic but flawed patriarch and supported by a formed of eccentric performers who besides hap to beryllium his ain family. Following nan screening, location will beryllium a speech featuring formed members Eugenio Derbez, Omar Chaparro, and Diana Bovio, and executive shaper Jordan Rubio.
World premieres to beryllium hosted astatine LALIFF see Three Years Gone, directed by John Gutierrez; and Exodus Stories, directed by Ilse Fernandez; pinch U.S. premieres featuring Yellow Cake, directed by Tiago Melo; The Broken R from Ricardo Ruales Eguiguren, and Under Your Feet, directed by Cristian Bernard
Additional highlights see Milly, Queen of Merengue, directed by Leticia Tonos Paniagua; River Train, directed by Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale; and The Condor Daughter, directed by Álvaro Olmos Torrico.
As portion of LALIFF’s committedness to support LGBTQIA+ storytelling, a slew of titles will beryllium portion of nan festival, including nan documentary Jaripeo, directed by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig, which explores queer personality wrong nan world of accepted rodeo culture. Also featured is Eva, nan debut characteristic from William Reyes.
Shorts that will coming see Queer Cuts, Anímate: Animated Shorts Program, Los Raros Midnight Shorts, It’s Complicated, Offbeat, Brasil em Foco, and Strangers successful a Strange Land.
Episodic programming includes a preview of Season 2 of Prime Video’s Nadie nos va a extrañar (No One Will Miss Us), featuring a screening of nan first 2 episodes.
Special screenings and presentations will see nan Wilmer Valderrama-produced Suárez, from head Mario Diaz. The movie is group against NASCAR’s historical 2025 Mexico City title and follows Daniel Suárez’s affectional homecoming arsenic nan first Mexican-born driver to triumph a NASCAR Cup Series race. A speech pinch Suárez will travel nan screening.
Additional titles see No Translation Required: Love Has No Borders, a bilingual romanticist drama from Espectro MX Films, directed by Rafael Altamira, produced by Paloma Cinco, and executive produced by Cristo Fernández (Ted Lasso), who besides stars alongside co-writer Kelsie McDonald, and Michelle Rodríguez, arsenic good arsenic Mexico’s first stop-motion feature, Netflix’s I Am Frankelda, directed by Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz.’
“The 25th version of LALIFF marks a milestone successful a travel that began pinch a elemental but urgent belief that our stories merit to beryllium seen, heard, and valued,” said Edward James Olmos, co-founder of LALIFF. “Along pinch Marlene Dermer, George Hernandez, and Kirk Whisler, we group retired pinch a heavy committedness to springiness sound to Latino filmmakers from nan United States and crossed Iberoamerica. It has grown into a level that now spans generations of artists who proceed to grow what is imaginable successful movie and television. This year’s lineup reflects that ongoing improvement and nan work we transportation forward.”
