LALIFF 2026: Latino Stories Take Center Stage

The 2026 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) will run from May 27-31, presenting a rich tapestry of feature films, shorts, episodic content, animation, and student works. The festival will open with Valentina, a film centered on a young woman's navigation of urban life and gig work. Closing night features TheyDream, a Sundance award-winning documentary that uses animation and live-action to explore family grief within a Puerto Rican context. John Leguizamo serves as an executive producer on this poignant film.

Centerpiece programming includes the adult animated series Circo Gómez, a story about a family circus struggling to survive. Attendees can anticipate a post-screening conversation with stars Eugenio Derbez, Omar Chaparro, Diana Bovio, and executive producer Jordan Rubio. World premieres such as John Gutierrez's Three Years Gone and Ilse Fernandez's Exodus Stories will debut, alongside U.S. premieres like Tiago Melo's Yellow Cake and Ricardo Ruales Eguiguren's The Broken R. The festival also champions LGBTQIA+ storytelling with features like Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig's Jaripeo and William Reyes' Eva.