Article & Photos by Joe Contreras, Latin Life Denver Media; Videos courtesy The San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF)  Media Arts Center San Diego

It is always enlightening to see and experience what other Latino media & entertainment organizations are doing across the country and around the world. In Miami it’s the annual Hispanicize  Happening which brings together more than 3,000 Latino influencers and content creators from around the world together for a week long conference of networking, education and entertainment. See Latin Life Denver  coverage from 2015, 2016, 2017,

From March 14 to 24th thousands of people came out to view more than 160 excellent quality Latino films from South and Central America, Cuba, Spain, Puerto Rico and throughout the U.S.  that were on the big screen  as part of ‘The 26th Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival’. Latin Life Denver was pleased to be a media guest for this incredible 11 day celebration of Latino Cinema, Arts and Culture. See list of films and trailers HERE

In Denver, The 21st annual XicanIndie Film Festival returns Thursday, April 4 – Sunday, April 7. This is the premiere Latino film festival in the region and is the one of the most anticipated film festivals in the area among the Latino/Chicano community. See Latin Life Denver coverage from 2015, 2017, 2018

The San Diego film festival included Opening Night and Closing Night Parties complete with salsa orchestras, the 4th Annual Sabor Latino – Food, Beer, Wine & Tequila Festival featured several of Southern California’s top chefs, breweries and wineries, only $35 for unlimited food & drinks. Sonido Latino – featuring free daily concerts with 37 bands performing during the 11 day festival. Most every film featured Q & A sessions where audiences had the rare opportunity to talk with filmmakers and actors from all over the world. (see photo gallery and videos below)

A three night tribute was given to Damian Alcazar, recognized  as one of  the most prestigious actors of contemporary Mexican cinema. (see video interview)

Awards were given in several categories including 2019 Premio Corazon Awards:

COMPRAME UN REVOLVER, winner of Best Narrative Feature and Best Director awards,

CLEAN HANDS, winner of Best Documentary Feature and the following Audience Award winners:

AUDIENCE AWARD – BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
Campeones,
directed by Javier Fesser

AUDIENCE AWARD –
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Yo No Me Llamo Ruben Blades,
directed by Abner Benaim

See the complete list of winners HERE 

See more videos and interviews HERE

The 26th edition of the festival took place from March 14-24, 2019 at the AMC Fashion Valley 18 and the Digital Gym Cinema in San Diego, CA. Media Arts Center. The San Diego Latino Film Festival was established 26 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 325,000 people have attended during the past 26 years and over 3,880 films/videos from across Latin America and the United States have been screened.

Photos by Joe Contreras, Latin Life Denver Media