Chicago Latino Film Festival 2025 preview

This week, the annual Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) returns, offering film enthusiasts opportunities to see films they are unlikely to find anywhere else. While some of the films have already premiered at other film festivals or have been box-office hits in their own country, many of them have not secured a distributor or a streaming deal yet, so this is a great chance to see them. On that note, CLFF is the longest-running Latino film festival in the States, and now in its 41st year, there are 51 feature-length films – six of which are world premieres, thirteen are North American premieres, and six are United States premieres – and thirty shorts, scheduled between April 3rd through April 14th. For locals in or near Chicago who lament access to more Latino-centric cinema, this is what you’ve been waiting for.

A division of the International Latino Cultural Center in Chicago, CLFF has been celebrating Latino culture, arts, and realities through the art of film for over four decades. This year, CLFF continues its goal of showcasing exceptional Latino filmmaking while building bridges of cultural understanding through the universal language of cinema. The curated films come from Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

Here are some highlights you can expect:

• The North American Premiere of Alberto Morais’ “The Black Land (La Terra Negra)” will be the Festival’s Centerpiece; it will screen at Instituto Cervantes at 31 W. Ohio St. on Wednesday, April 9th

• Three films – “The Righteous,” “Horizonte,” “Beloved Tropic” – starring Paulina García, recipient of the Festival’s Gloria Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 and best known in this country for her performances in Sebastian Leilo’s “Gloria” and Ira Sachs’ “Little Men.”

• Two all-ages films (“Seeds” and “Tetanus”)

• The Dominican Republic’s official selection to the Academy Award for Best International Feature  – the science-fiction film, “Aire, Just Breathe,” co-starring Paz Vega

• Three films from Puerto Rico  – fiction features “Becoming Mayo” and
  “Bella” and climate change documentary “Water Strike”

• Chicago filmmaker José Pérez’s debut feature “What Rhymes with Magdalena?”

The Opening Night film on Thursday, April 3rd, is Patricia Castañeda’s “Dear Gentlemen” from Colombia. It will take place at the Davis Theatre at 4614 N. Lincoln Ave. The Closing Night film, “Reinas (Queens),” is a joint effort from Spain/Switzerland/Peru, from director Klaudia Reynicke, and will also be shown at the Davis Theatre on Monday, April 14th.

All other festival screenings will occur at the Landmark Century Center Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St.

The April 9th Centerpiece presentation of “The Black Land (La Terra Negra)” at Cervantes starts at 6 pm with a pre-screening reception followed by the film at 7 pm and a post-screening Q&A with director Morais. Tickets for this event are: General, $30; seniors, students, and ILCC members, $25

I plan to see as many films as I can. Below, you will find brief reviews of the CLFF films I’ve seen (so far):

DEAR GENTLEMEN

It wasn’t just the religious right that opposed the right for women to vote in Colombia back in the 1950s, but also the traditions of man, made by men, that went along for years without being questioned. Colombian political Gustavo Rojas Pinilla granted women’s suffrage rights in 1954. Still, that struggle, along with women’s right to full citizenship, had started over twenty years before. It’s the focus of writer/director Patricia Castañeda’s historical drama, “Dear Gentlemen (Estimados Señores),” a film that revolves around one of the country’s first female lawyers, Esmeralda Arboleda (a fiery Julieth Restrepo Correa, currently starring in the Netflix series, “The Residence”), who led an appeal to the National Constituent Assembly of Colombia. The film shows how Arboleda, with the support of a handful of other resilient women, was involved in marches, made radio appearances, and distributed flyers as part of a clever media campaign, eventually achieving their goal despite much male opposition. While the score is overly melodramatic at times, the art and production design by Diana Trujillo here is noteworthy, authentically setting the story in the past. Castañeda confidently makes her feature-length debut with “Dear Gentlemen (Estimados Señores),” deftly navigating details and characters integral to an essential story of perseverance and justice against a patriarchal regime.

RATING: ***

(while the Opening Night is SOLD OUT, there is still availability for the Saturday, April 5th screening at 6:15 pm)

BACK TO LIFE

Selected as Venezuela’s entry for Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars, “Back to Life (Vuelvealavida)” is a light-hearted fictional take on actual events that occurred in the lives of brothers Alfredo Hueck and Luis Carlos Hueck, who co-wrote and directed. It tells the story of 19-year-old Ricardo Henríquez (José Ramón Barreto),  who returns home to Caracas in 1996 after spending a year abroad in New York. While spending a few celebratory days with his friends along the Venezuelan coast, he begins to experience excruciating pain that requires hospitalization and leads to a grave diagnosis that will affect the athletic young man’s and his family’s lives forever. Ricardo is understandably in denial of his illness at first, but with the love and support of this family – especially his younger brother, Manuel (Alan Grynbal), who tests positive to serve as a donor for Ricardo – he is gradually able to recover. That’s no spoiler, considering Luis Carlos (the inspiration for Ricardo) is alive and well, thanks to his brother, Alfredo. The brothers subvert “based on a true story” expectations by dividing the story into three parts; the second combines farcical moments with dreamlike existential sequences that delve into Ricardo’s mindset during this tumultuous time. At times, the comedy is a bit forced, but the film’s creativity and sincerity make up for it, and in the end making it obvious why such an inspirational story was told.

RATING: ***

(screening Saturday, April 5th at 3:15 pm and Monday, April 7th at 8:45 pm)

CROCODILES

Making its U.S. premiere, the riveting thriller “Crocodiles (Cocodrilos)” aims to highlight the systemic corruption investigative journalists have to fight in modern-day Mexico as a cartel-dominated country threatens their lives. While the story told by Mexican filmmaker J. Xavier Velasco (who also served as editor and co-wrote the screenplay with Magali Velasco Vargas) is fictional, it, unfortunately, draws from many real-life (and ongoing) events in which journalists have been killed for seeking truth. Their story focuses on Santiago “Santi” Ortiz (Hoze Meléndez), who gets caught in a mysterious plot after his mentor, Amanda González (Teresa Sánchez), is murdered in her Veracruz home only hours after he met with her. When he picks up where her investigation abruptly ended, a courageous Santi puts his life on the line, jeopardizing his mother and girlfriend. Filmed in Veracruz, “Cocodrilos” takes a gripping ground-level look at the growing concerns surrounding violence against media, thanks to effective work from cinematographer Felipe Pérez Burchard. While there seems to be more story to tell, the film nevertheless continues the conversation that journalists hope to spread worldwide.

RATING: ***

(screening Sunday, April 6th at 6:30 pm and Tuesday, April 8th at 5:45 pm)

HORIZONTE

After making his award-winning debut in 2015 with “Land and Shade (La tierra y la sombra)”, Colombian writer/director César Augusto Acevedo returns with a haunting supernatural drama that showcases exquisite visuals and standout performances from Chile’s grande dame, Paulina Garcia (Sebastian Lelio’s ‘Gloria’) and Colombian leading man Claudio Cataño (last seen in Netflix’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude”) – who also stars in the festival’s opening night film “Dear Gentlemen (Estimados Señores)”. They play a mother and son who meet in the afterlife and wander through abandoned fields, war-torn towns, and empty rivers (it’s as if they’re walking through cemeteries everywhere they go), searching for their missing husband/father. This purgatory has a moody and surreal aura, with the pair’s journey unfolding at a glacial pace as they try to make sense of where they are and why. In the process, the son must relive aspects of his past he’d rather forget – such as his past criminal ways and his time as a member of Colombia’s armed forces – all while his mother watches. Acevedo reunites with cinematographer Mateo Guzmán, and the two present a captivating cinematic experience that benefits from a big-screen presentation, offering a compelling story of regret and retribution that will linger long after viewing.

RATING: ***

(screening on Saturday, April 12th at 8:15 pm and Sunday, April 13th at 6 pm)

REINAS 

Set in 1990 Peru, “Reinas (Queens)” focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters and their estranged father, who is reintroduced into their lives. In a socioeconomic environment crippled by inflation, making groceries unaffordable, these sisters (wonderfully played by Abril Gjurinovic and Luana Vega) live a privileged life with their mother and grandmother, as well as a live-in cook/servant. While they have uncles, they gradually realize they’ve been missing out on their father, Carlos (a surprisingly layered performance from Gonzalo Molina), known by many as “El Lobo,” a perpetual liar who often claims to be either a secret agent or a revolutionary. Amid protests and mandated curfews, director Klaudia Reynicke (who co-wrote the screenplay with Diego Vega Vidal) deftly hones in on the complications that come from this newfound family dynamic, especially as the sister’s mother, Elena (Jimeno Lindo), has a job lined up in Minnesota with the hopes of providing her daughters with a better environment and more opportunities. “Reinas” is a heartfelt coming-of-age drama set in a past that may be unfamiliar and enlightening to most audiences and, therefore, a recommended viewing experience.

RATING: ***

(screening on Monday, April 14th at 6 pm)

For more information on CLFF, including ticket info, visit chicagolatinofilmfestival.org.