The Houston Latino Film Festival is an organization dedicated to developing, promoting and increasing awareness of Latino culture among Latinos and other communities by presenting a variety of art and films to the Houston area.

During the festival, films from all over Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the United States will screen. The programming represents the great diversity of themes and genres of the Latino and Hispanic filmmaking. The four-day festival also features opportunities for the audiences to participate in discussions with the directors at the screenings as well as a series of special events highlighting the diversity of the Latino culture. 2020 will mark the fifth year of the Houston Latino Film Festival.

Our Mission: The Houston Latino Film Festival is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and enlightening the communities of the South Texas region about other cultures and issues through film and video while also recognizing the contributions of the artists who are dedicated to the craft of independent filmmaking.

Awards & Prizes

The Houston Latino Film Festival will recognize and honor cinematic achievements in filmmaking that brings together all of the elements that make for a great film, including direction, acting, cinematography, screenplay and great storytelling for the following categories:

• Best Feature Film
• Best Short Film
• Best Student Film
• Audience Award

The winners of the Best Short Film and Best Student Film will be awarded $500 cash each. One winner will be chosen for Best Feature Film and awarded a cash prize of $1000. Winners will be announced on closing night, Sunday, March 22nd, 2020.

Rules & Terms

The Houston Latino Film Festival is open to professional and non-professional filmmakers working in the United States or abroad. Eligible entries must have been produced between 2018 to the present, have a Latino(a) in an "above the line" position (Producer, Director or Writer) and/or subject matter must have a relevant theme to the Latino/Hispanic community. All film genres are eligible: documentary, narrative, animation and experimental.

Submission requirements (Please read carefully):

• All films submitted must be in final cut form.

• All films must have English subtitles for all non-English language entries.

• All submission requirements must be received by the deadline, November 30th, 2019. No late submissions past the Late Deadline will be accepted. All submissions must be submitted online at: https://filmfreeway.com/festival/HoustonLatinoFilmFestival.

• Films that are publicly available online prior to the Festival may be considered for exhibition during the Festival, but we prefer that films not be publicly available online or for sale.

• A secure online screener link must be provided for press requests and internal festival use.

• Exhibition materials must be delivered to the Festival office by February 15, 2020.

• Fee Waivers and Discounts for residents from Houston, TX. Request at hola@houstonlatinofilm.com.

• Entrants are responsible for obtaining any necessary licenses, royalties, release forms, clearances, and permits necessary to present their work. The Houston Latino Film Festival is not responsible for any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, or royalty infringement related to the work.

• WE WILL NOTIFY YOU VIA EMAIL WHEN WE RECEIVE YOUR SUBMISSION. If you do not receive an email from us we did not receive your submission. If your film is accepted to the festival, we will notify you via email with instructions for press materials.

Entry fees are per each film and are non-refundable. The Houston Latino Film Festival reserves the right to disqualify a submission, without refund of any kind, if eligibility requirements are not met including if eligibility status changes post-submission. Short Films are films 30 minutes or less.

7 Reviews
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  • Andre Zucker

    The staff at the festival is amazing. Everybody was interesting and hospitable. The audience was engaged and fun. The Houston Latino Film Festival really knows how to make a filmmaker feel welcome.

    April 2019
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  • Laura Somers

    The best things about HLFF is they boast the COOLEST staff! They put their hearts into this festival and it shows: from the amazing films they program, to the excellent communication, perfect projection (not always the case with festivals!) and the wonderful enthusiastic audience they bring in. Pedro, Dave, and team: we are so proud to have had our world premiere with you guys, I wish you all the success in the world. I hope we will be able to return one day soon!

    May 2018
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  • Amelia Rico

    This festival was very organized! Thank you for giving the Latino Community a stage!

    April 2018
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  • Miguel J. Soliman

    Though I was not able to attend, I can tell you that every time I communicated with HLFF (and there were many exchanges), they answered me back in a timely manner and were always so courteous. Letters were personalized, and programmers recognized every filmmaker with a project in submission by name. Pedro and company treated me really well and I was glad I submitted here. I hope HLFF last many more years and that I will be able to attend with future projects.

    April 2018
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  • gabriel savodivker

    An awesome young festival with a great variety of films. The perfect place for Latino filmmakers to showcase their work. I definitely recommend it!

    April 2018
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