The LALIFF (L.A. Latino International Film Festival) 2025 held its annual Film Festival in last month at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood. The event highlighted over 90 films. Highlighting work by U.S. Latino filmmakers with films and industry panels from Latino professionals with expert experiences in storytelling, sound mixing, and editing.

LALIFF 2025 Atmosphere (Photo Credit: P. Thomas)

LALIFF was founded in 1997 by Edward James Olmos, Marlene Dermer, Kirk Whisler and George Hernandez with the goal of uplifting emerging Latino filmmakers.

LAFF (Photo Credit: Thomas)

In addition to the highly anticipated films shown, panels included an Industry Forum featuring Latino Editors: Cutting Through The Industry. Featured on the panel was Julio C. Perez IV, an editor with credits in documentary features and television; Waldemar Centeno a Puerto Rican film and television editor whose work spans a wide range of genres and platforms, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney; Jessica Hernández, an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Editor; and moderator, Alex Fumero an award-winning producer, writer, podcaster and co-founder of Trojan Horse Media.

(L-R): Waldemar Centeno, Julio C. Perez IV, and Alex Fumero attend LALIFF 2025. (Photo Credit: P. Thomas)

LALIFF concluded its event with a showing of the L.A. based film “Serious People,” from writers and directors Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson.  In “Serious People,” a  music video director, balancing work and impending fatherhood, employs a lookalike to take on his professional duties while he attends to personal responsibilities, pushing the boundaries of work-life separation.

LALIFF 2025 Closing Night, Los Angeles, California, USA – 1 June 2025 —
Edward James Olmos, Jerad Anderson, Teddy Lee, Lauren Thomson, Waju Broderick, Pasqual Gutierrez, Christine Yuan, Ben Mullinkosson, Miguel Huerta, and Natasha Seubert arrive at the LALIFF 2025 Closing Night on June 1, 2025 at TCL IMAX Theatre in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Credit: Todd Williamson / Shutterstock for LALIFF)

For a recap of the festival, visit: LALIFF 2025