Official Latino Film and Arts Festival

The Official Latino Film and Arts festival is proud to host for the second year The HBO Latinx Short Film Competition

We are open for submissions!

THE EVENT

The 6th Annual Official Latino Film and Arts Festival will take place online this year due to COVID-19 health concerns. The festival will take place during Dia De Los Muertos Weekend from October 30 to November 2, 2020

Last year, via the HBO Latinx Short Film competition, we were able to coordinate 3 licenses from our screening films directly to HBO. Three talented filmmakers will see their films stream on HBO this fall. This is a dream come true, not only for the filmmakers, but also for our organization.

WHO WE ARE

Filmmaker Danny Hastings (www.dannyhastings.com) created the Festival in 2015, in response to the lack of Latinx representation in Hollywood films and TV shows. Our mission is to showcase, nurture and support the emerging creative Latinx filmmakers who produce, direct and/or write their films in the United States.

See Official Rules: http://officiallatino.com/hbo-latinx-short-film-competition/ for complete details. Open to Latinx filmmakers (writers, directors or producers) who are legal residents of the 50 U.S./DC or PR 18+ (19+ in AL & NE, 21+ in MS). Ends 11:59 p.m. PT on 8/21/20.

OUR FOCUS FOR 2020

Location

This year, we are going to highlight our American spirit and only accept films that were made in the 50 United States, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Since this is the first American Domestic Film Festival of its kind, we wanted to stand out from the many International Latino Film Festivals out there and do something different. Whether you filmed in the bustling New York streets, in the majestic Grand Canyon, or near the beaches of Hawaii, we want our amazing nation to be the backdrop of your films.

Theme

This year’s theme is Community. We want to see our neighbors, our family and our people portrayed in your films. For years, Latinx filmmakers have been writing, directing and producing short films here in the U.S. For reasons that we know too well, we still struggle to get any type of proper representation. We want to see our people in your stories; we want to see our community come together—to tell our stories.

Production Dates

For this year’s contest, we will be accepting films that were produced from January 1, 2019 through August 21, 2020. If your film has started to collect dust, send it our way. It might have a chance to get in!