Chicago Latino Film Festival Opens Call for Submissions, ILCC Announces New Roles for Longtime Staff Members

The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC) today announces it will begin accepting submissions for the 43rd Chicago Latino Film Festival, April 15-26, 2027 on August 1st. Filmmakers and distribution companies can now submit their feature-length and short films through the Festival’s FilmFreeway account. 

Submission deadlines are:

• Early Bird Deadline: August 1 – 31, 2026
• Regular Deadline: September 1 – October 31, 2026
• Late Deadline: November 1 – December 4, 2026

Fees for early deadline submissions will be $50 for features and $30 for shorts; for regular deadline submissions, $60 for features and $40 for shorts; and for Late Deadline submissions, $70 for features and $50 for shorts. Each entry must be accompanied by the appropriate entry fee. Entry fees are not refundable. Fees cover registration, registration notification, and full consideration by the programming department. 

The Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) is the largest, most comprehensive, continuously running Latino film festival in the United States. It presents a wide array of short and feature films of all genres including but not limited to comedy, drama, thrillers, documentaries, science-fiction, horror, and animation by filmmakers from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the United States. We firmly believe that film festivals are not only showcases for the best and brightest filmmakers and for the most daring visions but that, most importantly, all movie lovers will connect with their stories. The Festival encourages the submission of works for young audiences as they are screened for students during the daytime.

Films submitted must be, at least, a Chicago premiere. Films that have screened publicly, theatrically, or are currently streaming in the Chicago area, have aired on US television, or are available for public viewing (DVD or online) prior to the Festival dates or that have Chicago release dates during the Festival are NOT eligible.

The Festival is non-competitive. However, the most popular narrative feature, feature documentary, and short film are given the Audience Choice Award.

EXPANDED ROLES FOR FESTIVAL TEAM

ILCC Executive Director Mateo Mulcahy also announced expanded roles and new titles for two key members of the Chicago Latino Film Festival team. Sandra Bernal A., is now Artistic and Operations Director for the Chicago Latino Film Festival. As such, Bernal, among other responsibilities, will be cultivating Festival relations with film festivals and other film-related organizations and leaders, organizations, individuals, and community stakeholders; acting as the point person between filmmakers and the Festival, and overseeing the Features and Shorts Programming Committees, the Hospitality and Ticketing teams. Bernal started at the Festival four years ago as its Hospitality Manager and for the last two years has been the Festival’s Programming Manager. 

Alejandro A. Riera, who for close to 15 years has been the Festival’s and ILCC’s Media Relations and Communications Manager, will now take the role of Publicity and Programming Manager. As such, he will be deeply involved in the feature film selection process and will be working alongside Bernal in the scheduling of the selected films. Riera will still be in charge of all communications and content for the Festival, including management of the organization’s social media team.

Mulcahy will serve as the overall administrator of the Festival overseeing staff, sponsorship, finances, and marketing; he will also have a role in programming.

Learn more: latinoculturalcenter.org

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