Pepe Vargas

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...

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...