The 42nd Chicago Latino Film Festival concludes its 2026 edition on Monday, April 27, capping a 12-day program that brought 51 feature films and 31 shorts from across Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal, and the United States to Chicago audiences. Presented by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC), this year’s festival ran April 16 through April 27 with all screenings held exclusively at Landmark Century Centre Cinemas, 2828 N. Clark St. in Lake View.
A Stripped-Down Format Built Around the Films
The 2026 edition marked a deliberate departure from the festival’s traditional gala-style bookends. Both Opening Night on April 16 and Closing Night on April 27 were held at the cinema itself rather than at separate gala venues, with a 5:30 p.m. reception featuring appetizers, a cash bar, and a DJ at the Century Bar, followed by the screening at 7 p.m. and a post-film Q&A with the filmmakers in attendance.
ILCC Executive Director Pepe Vargas, who founded the festival in 1985, framed the format change as a return to the festival’s roots — a celebration built around the films and the people who made them rather than around spectacle. ILCC Deputy Executive Director Mateo Mulcahy joined Vargas in shaping the modernized presentation.
Opening and Closing Night Selections
The festival opened on April 16 with It Would Be Night in Caracas (Aún es de Noche en Caracas), a film by acclaimed directors Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás that organizers described as a dystopic vision of modern-day Venezuela. Both filmmakers traveled to Chicago for Opening Night, which sold out, and stayed on to present a second collaboration, Zafari, on April 17 and 18.
Closing Night on April 27 features The Dog, My Father, and Us (Nosotros, mi papá y el perro), a comedy directed by Ecuador’s Pablo Arturo Suárez. Festival organizers described the selection as humor rooted in love — a closing note that uses comedy in the Latin American tradition of cracking open something deeper. Filmmakers will attend the Closing Night reception and post-screening conversation.
A Lineup Spanning 22 Countries
The 2026 program featured 51 feature films and 31 shorts from 22 Latin and Iberian countries, including 9 North American premieres and 5 U.S. premieres. The lineup spanned Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.
Notable selections drawing significant audience attention included Cordillera de Fuego, the new film from acclaimed Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante (Ixcanul, La Llorona) about indigenous volcanologists confronting government corruption; Death of a Comedian, the directorial debut from Argentine actor Diego Peretti; Noviembre, Tomás Corredor’s claustrophobic feature debut about the 1985 takeover of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá; and Borealis, a sci-fi psychological thriller from Puerto Rican filmmaker Heixan Robles.
The documentary slate drew particular acclaim, with Under the Flags, the Sun — a Paraguayan film by first-time director Juanjo Pereira that won the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize — generating significant conversation through the festival’s middle weekend.
Local Voices on Screen
Four locally produced films were featured in this year’s program, reflecting the festival’s longstanding commitment to elevating Chicago-based Latino storytellers. Among them was Abel, a 20-minute documentary about Chicago photographer Abel Berumen, whose life shifted the day he woke up blind, and Lluvia, an 11-minute short written by and starring Leiana Carrasco-Ramos, telling the story of a young Latina navigating corporate America after being passed over for a promotion.
A separate short from the West Side youth media nonprofit Free Spirit Media joined the local lineup, alongside a collaboration between Deep Focus Entertainment and Mass Epiphany Studios. The local programming brought first-time filmmakers and emerging Chicago voices onto the same screens as internationally acclaimed directors.
A 42-Year Run Anchored in Chicago
The Chicago Latino Film Festival is the longest-running Spanish- and Portuguese-language film festival in North America. Founded in 1985 with 500 attendees, the festival has grown across four decades into an event that draws thousands annually, alongside the ILCC’s broader cultural programming, which includes the Music Series, the Reel Film Club, the Levitt VIBE Free Concert Series, and Chicago’s first Latino Dance Festival.
The 2026 poster design — featured on the festival’s program book, invitations, electronic ads, t-shirts, and merchandise — was selected through the ILCC’s annual international poster competition, with the winning artist receiving a $1,000 prize.
Tickets, Passes, and Accessibility
Opening and Closing Night events were priced at $35 general admission and $25 for seniors, students, and ILCC members, with each ticket including the pre-screening reception, the film, and the Q&A with filmmakers. Regular festival screenings ran $17 general admission and $15 for ILCC members, students, and seniors with valid ID. Festival passports good for 10 admissions were offered at $110 during the early-bird sale window.
Landmark Century Centre Cinemas, located at 2828 N. Clark St. in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood, served as the festival’s single venue this year, with $6 validated four-hour parking available next door at the Century Shopping Centre.
Looking Ahead
With Closing Night underway, the 42nd Chicago Latino Film Festival reinforces what four decades of programming have already established — that Chicago remains one of North America’s most consequential platforms for Latino cinema, and that the city’s Latino audience has shaped the festival as much as the festival has shaped the city’s cultural calendar.
Full schedule, ticket information, and festival news are available at chicagolatinofilmfestival.org.
