The Californer - The Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles presents its 16th Annual Student Film Festival

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Spotlighting short films created by middle and high school students from various media programs in the greater Los Angeles area

LOS ANGELES - Californer -- The Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles presents its 16th Annual LACLA Student Film Festival. Celebrating the voice and vision of young student filmmakers, the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles proudly showcases short films by middle and high school students hailing from the multifaceted regions of Los Angeles - from the Valley to South L.A., and from East L.A. to Venice.

As a means of encouraging and celebrating student film making, the festival spotlights the innovative and dynamic storytelling created by youth from various media arts programs and middle and high schools in the greater Los Angeles area.

2026 festival promotional reel https://youtu.be/faHRk-RkCro

The festival will take place on Sunday September 27 at 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Richard A Grant Theater, located at Cathedral High School (1253 Bishops Road, Los Angeles, CA 90012).

You can register for free at the following link: https://form.jotform.com/262223396822155

LACLA's 16th Annual Student Film Festival received over 621 film submissions and will be showcasing 24 finalists. Winners will be selected for Best Film, Best Documentary, and Most Creative. As a leading institute of cinema exhibition, LACLA is firmly committed to cultivating, through the art of cinema, cultural expression and exchange among students, educators, filmmakers, and community members of diverse backgrounds. This festival provides an opportunity to encourage and acknowledge middle and high school student filmmakers.

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The 16th annual LACLA Student Film Festival is made possible with funds from the many individuals who contribute to LACLA's programs and the Diaz-Martinez Family Foundation. The Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles would like to give a special thanks to Cathedral High School for providing access to the newly constructed Richard A Grant Theater. Cathedral High School has for the last 98 years served families primarily from the oldest neighborhoods of Los Angeles and from the surrounding Greater Los Angeles area

Judges
Alejandra Espasande Bouza is a museum educator, archivist, and curator dedicated to documenting, preserving, and showcasing underrepresented stories in cinema. She holds a B.A. in Film Production from USC and an M.A. in Moving Image Archive Studies from UCLA. She has held various roles at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Walt Disney Company. Currently, she serves as the director of the LA Cultural Heritage Preservation Society, a non-profit committed to safeguarding the city's rich cultural legacy. Recently, she curated ¡HABLADA EN ESPAÑOL! The Legacy of Hollywood's Spanish-Language Cinema (1929–1939) and is writing a book on this often-overlooked chapter of Los Angeles film history.

Guido Segal:

Guido Segal is an Argentine screenwriter, educator and film programmer. He moved to LA to pursue his MFA in Screenwriting at UCLA. Before becoming a writer, he worked for a decade as a journalist and a film critic in Argentina and Spain, and was a Jury Member at la Semaine de la Critique during the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. He directed and produced documentaries for History and Discovery Channel and co-wrote the films Leones (2012), Kekzsakállú (2016) and The Souffleur (2025), which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He was a screenwriter in Argentine TV shows such as La Asombrosa Excursión de Zamba and Siesta Z, both of which were nominated for International Emmys and won Martin Fierro awards. Segal has taught Screenwriting and Film Analysis at Universidad del Cine (Buenos Aires), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), TAMK University (Tampere, Finland), and he currently teaches Film Immersion at Universidad Francisco Marroquín (Guatemala) and Introduction to Screenwriting at UCLA. He was a finalist for NBC Universal's Writers on the Verge program in 2020 and Launch in 2023. He has worked for Disney, Marvista Entertainment, Anonymous Content and 30 West, and is the former Program Manager at the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles (LACLA). FB (guidosegal) and IG (@primitivosegal).

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Mercedes Arturo is an Argentine multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. She started in theater, specializing in costume and set design, and later designed costumes for films such as Finding Sofía and Familia Sumergida. She studied film directing at ENERC and has written and/or directed short films, music videos, and virtual reality experiences. Her work has been shown at festivals such as Sundance, Tribeca, Venice, Austin FF, NYFF, and LAFF. Her short films Traviata and First Tale are part of the Cine.Ar catalog, and First Tale is also available on Thirteen.org (PBS). Learn more about Mercedes Arturo https://www.mercedesarturo.com/.

About LACLA
For the past 25 years, the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles (LACLA) has served as a premier platform for the exploration and celebration of Chicanx, Latinx, and Latin American cinema. As a non-profit organization, it prides itself on year-round programming, shining a spotlight on the diverse and dynamic bodies of filmmaking that originate from all corners of the Americas. Through a range of thoughtfully curated screenings, educational initiatives, and collaborative events, LACLA aims to enrich cultural understanding, promote artistic exchange, and inspire the next generation of filmmakers. With a strong LA base, the Latin American Cinemateca actively works to broaden the cinematic horizons of our local community, while connecting creative minds and film lovers globally.
www.lacla.org