The nation’s original and longest running Latino film festival returns this summer with the 45th annual edition of CineFestival San Antonio. Presented by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio’s annual celebration of independent Latinx and indigenous cinema will take place July 11 to 14, 2024.
CineFestival exhibits Chicanx, Latinx and International Latin American cinema with a focus on regional and local filmmaking, creating annual opportunities to survey the body of work produced by artists based in Texas and beyond, and fostering industry, business, and artistic opportunities among an average of 100 registered filmmakers in attendance every year.
CineFestival San Antonio traditionally hosts screenings, Q&A sessions, panels, workshops, receptions, and after parties. Featured programs include the Mesquite Award nominees for Best Texas Short Film, Texas and San Antonio showcases, and a selection of US Latinx and international feature and short films. Master classes and panels are designed for established filmmakers to share artistic insight and industry knowledge with attending filmmakers.
Almost 50% of the festival events are free and open to the public. Free community events include Family Day, a Youth Film showcase including work made by artist 18 years old or younger, a matinee Senior Cinema screening for the area’s elderly film lovers, and Cine en el Barrio.
Since 2017, CineFestival San Antonio has developed a strong focus on local and regional filmmaking, prioritizing films that are closely related to Texas and San Antonio, supporting regional filmmakers who are based in neighboring states, and including works made by Latinx and indigenous filmmakers working in the US and Puerto Rico. The festival includes a limited number of international works made by filmmakers from Latin America and Spain with an emphasis on Mexican films.
For over four decades, CineFestival San Antonio has hosted dozens of independent filmmakers and many of the industry’s pioneering U.S. Latino and Mexican films, actors, and directors. Highlights from past editions include appearances by Marcela Arteaga, Gina Rodriguez, Guillermo del Toro, Edward James Olmos, Benjamin Bratt, Jesse Borrego, Esai Morales, Aurora Guerrero, Raúl Castillo, Luis Valdez, Lalo Alcaraz, Cruz Angeles, Hector Galan, Adán Medrano, and some of the fresh voices in Latino film including Fernando Frias de la Parra, Cristina Ibarra, Alex Rivera, Chelsea Rendon, Steve Acevedo, Gian Cassini, Marcella Ochoa, and Iliana Sosa among many others.
Awards & Prizes
Rules & Terms
Only films made by Latinx, Chicanx or Native American filmmakers will be considered.
To be considered for this year’s program, films must be competed in January 2023 or later.
To be eligible for the Mesquite Awards, films should be made in Texas.
The festival programmers reserve the right to final selection and program positioning of all submitted films.
A special panel of industry professionals and scholars will serve as members of the jury to choose the winners of CineFestival's Premio Mesquite Awards for Best Texas Short Films.
