The Chicago Latino film festival: shaping Latin American/Latino cinema in The United States

Abstract

ABSTRACTFounded in 1985, the Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) is one of the oldest and largest festivals devoted to Spanish and Portuguese-language films in the United States. One of the festival’s stated goals is to provide alternative depictions of Latinos to those appearing in U.S.American media by highlighting the cultural diversity of Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and the United States. Additionally, the festival aims to carve a space for Chicago’s Latino community. This article examines how the festival’s visions of a Latino community and cinema are more closely rooted in the multicultural politics of the United States, than they are in the very films included in the festival’s line-up (most of which come from Latin America). In this sense, the festival participates in the process of shaping and marketing a Latino identity for many of its films – films that do not necessarily use this label outside the context of the festival. In this sense, the Chicago Latino Film Festival exemplifies the ways in which international film festivals create meanings and interpretations for today’s cinematic productions.