Raquel Laguna/ SUCOPRESS. The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival 2026 (LALIFF) celebrates its 25th edition, marking a quarter-century of sharing stories from the Latino perspective and bringing culturally significant cinema to audiences in Los Angeles and beyond. This milestone reflects decades of commitment to nurturing talent, showcasing authentic voices, and connecting communities through the power of storytelling. Diana Cadavid, director of Industry Programs for the Latino Film Institute (LFI), and International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), talks in this interview about the evolution of the festival, what excites her the most personally about LALIFF 2026, and also about how is Latino storytelling evolving globally. LALIFF will have special guest appearances throughout festival screenings and conversations, including Alina Robert (Aguadilla), Guillermo del Toro (I Am Frankelda), Daniel Suárez and Wilmer Valderrama (Suárez), Dennis Mencia (Eva), Bobby Soto (Motos), Julio Macias (Three Years Gone), Eugenio Derbez, Omar Chaparro, Diana Bovio (Circo Gómez), and Cristo Fernández (No Translation Required). The festival will open with Valentina, previously announced as Opening Night. Closing Night will screen TheyDream, written and directed by William D. Caballero. A deeply personal documentary, TheyDream blends animation and live action to explore the transformative nature of grief within the director’s Puerto Rican family. Drawing from a range of visual styles, Caballero interweaves new animation with archival and live action footage to create a formally distinctive and intimate reflection on memory, loss, and the creative process. The film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim, receiving the NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression. John Leguizamo and Ben DeJesus have recently joined the film as Executive Producers. The festival’s Centerpiece selection is the adult animated series Circo Gómez, created by 3Pas Studios and F3 Media, marking an expansion of serialized storytelling within LALIFF’s programming. The series follows a chaotic and endearing circus family struggling to keep their operation afloat, led by an optimistic but flawed patriarch and supported by a cast of eccentric performers who also happen to be his own family. Following the screening, cast members Eugenio Derbez, Omar Chaparro, and Diana Bovio, and executive producer Jordan Rubio, will participate in an extended conversation exploring the creative process behind creation of the series. In addition to the Opening, Centerpiece, and Closing Night selections, LALIFF 2026 presents a wide-ranging program of narrative and documentary features, shorts, episodic works, and animation from across the U.S., Latin America, and the Latino diaspora. LALIFF takes place May 27–31, 2026 in Hollywood.
