International Latino Cultural Center

Chicago, IL • Independent filmmakers from across Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean, and the United States will soon have the opportunity to submit their work for one of the country’s longest-running showcases of Latino cinema. The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC)...

On July 1, Mateo Mulcahy officially took the helm as Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC), stepping into the role after Founder and Executive Director Emeritus Pepe Vargas announced his retirement last month due to...

CHICAGO — On June 30th, in a room filled with 42 years of history, Pepe Vargas did something he rarely allowed himself to do: he let Chicago’s Latino cultural community honor him instead of the other way around. The founder and...

In 1985, Pepe Vargas launched the Chicago Latino Film Festival with just 14 films and no institutional backing behind him — only a conviction that Chicago’s Latino community deserved a platform of its own. That modest first edition grew into...

After more than four decades of building one of Chicago’s most beloved cultural institutions, ILCC Founder and Executive Director Pepe Vargas steps into a well-earned retirement. There are people who change a room when they walk in. And then there are...

When the votes were counted at this year’s Chicago Latino Film Festival, the results sent a message louder than any press release could. Five of the nine Audience Choice Award winners and runners-up at the 42nd Chicago Latino Film Festival were directed or co-directed...

This is the fifth in a series of columns celebrating the 25th anniversary of the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago and its many accomplishments. The ILCC is currently engaged in a fundraising campaign to raise the funds necessary to...

Twenty-five years ago, after testing the waters in expanding its programming from film to include music, the visual arts and dance events, Chicago Latino Cinema changed its name to the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC).  This was more...