Latin Heat News Services

LACLA Student Film Festival-poster by LACLA-CesarAS

Submissions are open for the 14th Annual Student Film Festival, a short film competition of the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles that will take place online early next year. The deadline for entries is Dec. 31.

The fest’s purpose is to encourage and acknowledge young filmmakers from middle and high schools and media programs in the L.A. Greater Area, “from the (San Fernando) Valley to South L.A.; and from East L.A. to Venice,” according to organizers. 

Film entries must be of a length of 5 minutes or less and have been made during 2020-2021. Students must submit with the consent of teachers or mentors. Accepted genres include animation, commercial, documentary, experimental, narrative, newscast and public service announcement, or PSA.

There is no charge to enter films. 

The festival will take place Jan. 22.

Three winners will be selected for three categories: Best Film, Best Documentary and Most Creative.

LACLA is a nonprofit institute of cinema exhibition with the year-round programming of Chicano, Latino and Latin American films. It was founded in 1997 by a group of L.A.-based Latino cultural activists and cinéastes in response to the lack of local, as well as national, exhibition spaces for Latino and Latin American cinemas. 

For more competition rules and information, visit www.lacla.org.

Check out below Age of Consequences, a short about global warming by young director Salvador Garcia from Bell High School, in Bell, California, that was screened by LACLA.