Columbia

CHICAGO – The 35th edition of the Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) is coming to a close, and their final night film is “El Reality” on April 11th, 2019, at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. This Closing Night event and its gala after party (at Chez, 247 East Ontario) celebrates the whole festival, concluding after a two week run. For more information and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – The 35th Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) continues this week with the special U.S. Premiere of “Humanpersons,” a searing Spain/Panama/Brazil co-produced drama on human trafficking, specifically for the harvesting of transplant organs. Writer/director Frank Spano, a Spanish/South American filmmaker and actor, completed this second feature recently, and filmed some scenes in the State of Illinois. He will make an appearance at the premiere, which will be at 6pm on April 3rd, 2019. For more details and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – One of the overriding characteristics in the movies, when it comes to drug traffickers, is the stereotypical image of a fat and corrupt cartel leader who usually have machine gun wielding henchmen and bikini clad groupies. “Birds of Passage” goes back to the business of the drug trade, but it is about the families that controlled the territorial borders during that key era, and the basis of that control in ancient tribalism.

CHICAGO – Many heroes of America toiled long behind the scenes to break the chains of oppression. For every Susan Anthony or Martin Luther King Jr. there were the activists, legal experts and volunteers who sought the justice denied to them by the archaic patriarchal society. One such hero is Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the film “On the Basis of Sex.”

CHICAGO – The jewel of Chicago’s cinema community, the Gene Siskel Film Center, will have a latin flair on Saturday, September 22nd, 2018, when its “Panorama Latinx” outreach program presents the Cortadito Short Film Festival. Short films representing Argentina, Columbia, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela will be presented, in an eight shorts program. For more details and tickets, including the list of films, click here.

CHICAGO – It’s coming up on Closing Night for the 34th Chicago Latino Film Festival, and the two weeks of the fest was a celebration and gift to film in Chicago. The Closing Night Gala on April 19th, 2018, will feature the film “The Summit” (“La Cordillera”) from Argentina, Spain and France. Actor Ricardo Darín will also receive the Gloria Career Achievement Award as part of the festivities. The event is sold out, but click here for more information.

CHICAGO – Discovering new filmmaking talent often starts with the short film, and the 34th Chicago Latino Film Festival is showcasing shorts before many of their feature films during the fest. Local Chicago director Diego Bolivar has submitted “Silvia,” a dreamy thesis on the decisions that many immigrants have to make while residing in America. The film will be shown with the feature film Translucid/Translúcudo on April 11th, 2018. Click here for more details.

CHICAGO – One of the great cinema festivals of the Windy City is run by Pepe Vargas, the Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Latino Film Festival. The 2018 edition will be the 34th annual, and Vargas has shepherded the film celebration since its beginnings. Opening Night is on Thursday, April 5th, at the AMC River East Theatre in Chicago, with a Puerto Rican themed night, with the films “From Now On” (short) and the feature film “Broche De Oro: Beginnings.” For more details, click here.

CHICAGO – Tom Cruise was once a Top Gun, but his newest film “American Made” never really takes off. It wants to be a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction kind of satire where commercial airline pilot Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) winds up getting involved in the Iran Contra Affair and the Medellín drug cartel, but it never creates an enthralling place or story.

CHICAGO – One of the great nights at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival is the short film presentation celebrating the best of area filmmakers, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. Included in the program were three notable filmmakers, Anne Beal (“Positioning”), Filip Kojic (“HUH”) and Brian Zahm (“The Nude”).