Alejandro A. Riera: Publicity and Programming Manager

Alejandro A. Riera has been named Publicity and Programming Manager, expanding a role he has held for close to 15 years as the Festival’s Media Relations and Communications Manager. The new title reflects an addition to his existing duties rather than a change in direction: Riera will now be directly involved in the feature film selection process and will work alongside Sandra Bernal A. in scheduling the Festival’s selected lineup, while continuing to manage all communications and content for CLFF, including its social media team.

“Programming a film festival like ours is a year-round effort. It involves monitoring what films are playing in the festival circuit as well as what’s playing theatrically all over Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal and the United States. It also involves striking that delicate balance between genres and filmmaking styles that makes attending a film festival an experience like no other.” Riera said.

“I am truly excited about my new, expanded role as Programming Manager. Iberoamerican cinema is having another great year and I am looking forward to working hand in hand with Sandra and Mateo in bringing as many of these great films to Chicago as possible.”

Riera’s ties to Chicago’s Latino media landscape date back to 1988, when he and a group of independent producers launched “Orgullo Latino,” a weekly newsmagazine series on the Chicago Access Network. He spent a decade as the arts and entertainment reporter for ¡Exito!, the Chicago Tribune’s Spanish-language weekly, covering theater, music, film, and television, and contributed regularly to the Tribune’s Tempo and Arts & Entertainment sections, including capsule reviews of past Chicago Latino Film Festival selections. He later served as A&E Senior Editor for Hoy, the Tribune’s national Spanish-language daily, and as Editor-in-Chief of Café Media. His writing currently appears in Third Coast Review, the Chicago Reader, and his own , along with a monthly film column for Cinelandia. Riera has spent close to 15 years as CLFF’s Media Relations and Communications Manager and previously worked for 10 years as publicity manager for the Chicago International Film Festival.

Sandra Bernal Aristizabal: Artistic and Operations Director

Sandra Bernal A. has been named Artistic and Operations Director for the Festival. In this role, she will cultivate relationships with film festivals and other film-related organizations, leaders, and community stakeholders; serve as the primary point of contact between filmmakers and the Festival; and oversee the Features and Shorts Programming Committees along with the Hospitality and Ticketing teams.

“For the last 4 years, I have had the honor of working very closely with Pepe Vargas to understand the festival’s inner workings and potential opportunities. Now, as I step into this new journey as the Festival’s Artistic and Operations Director, I aim to build bridges with other Festivals, open pathways with the city’s Pan-Latino community and find new allies that want to create partnerships with the CLFF, the longest continuously running Latino Film Festival in the USA. I am thrilled to keep learning and working as part of an incredible team that embraces our Festival’s motto: to make the next festival edition better than the last one.” Said Bernal.

Bernal joined the Festival four years ago as its Hospitality Manager and has spent the past two years as Programming Manager. She is a cultural manager, brand developer, and mass media and communications professional with a background in public diplomacy, having worked with the British and Swedish embassies in Colombia on cultural exchange initiatives. She has also been part of organizing large-scale events, including the Prince of Wales’s 2014 visit to Colombia, Pope Francis’s 2017 visit, and the 32nd International Book Fair of Bogotá, held with Sweden as country guest of honor in 2021. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts and Culture Management.

A Reorganization Within an Established Structure

Both new titles sit within a reporting structure that remains unchanged at the top: Mulcahy continues to hold ultimate responsibility for the ILCC and the Festival’s operations, staffing, finances, sponsorship, and marketing. The expanded roles for Riera and Bernal are described by the organization as a response to the day-to-day realities of running an event of CLFF’s scale — now heading into its 43rd edition as the largest and longest continuously-running Latino film festival in the United States, with more than 4,500 films screened since its founding in 1985.

The organization is also changing office spaces at 11 E. Adams Suite 1605, Chicago, IL 60603 only a few blocks from their present location. The current building where the ILCC is headquartered is slated to become residential apartments and all business tenants are required to vacate after lease end. 

More on the ILCC and the Chicago Latino Film Festival is available at 

The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC) will open submissions Aug. 1 for the 43rd Chicago Latino Film Festival, scheduled for April 15-26, 2027. Entries will be accepted through FilmFreeway, with an early submission period offering discounted fees before the standard and late deadlines.

“We are glad to announce that for the first time our regular submission dates are moving up by one month. This early submission window aims to incentivize Latino members of Chicago’s film-making community to share their stories,” said newly appointed CLFF Artistic and Operations Director Sandra Bernal A.

The 2027 submission calendar includes three entry windows:

• Early Bird: Aug. 1-31, 2026
• Regular: Sept. 1-Oct. 31, 2026
• Late: Nov. 1-Dec. 4, 2026

“We are also actively looking for features and short films directed, produced, or featuring a strong Latino Cast to be included in our 43rd edition. We want the Chicago Latino Film Festival to be a point of reference and community network for the Pan-Latino Film Industry in Chicago and the Midwest.” Bernal added.

Fees for early deadline submissions will be $50 for features and $30 for shorts; for regular deadline submissions, $60 for features and $40 for shorts; and for late deadline submissions, $70 for features and $50 for shorts. Each entry must be accompanied by the appropriate entry fee.

For more than four decades, the Chicago Latino Film Festival has introduced audiences to emerging and established voices in Latino filmmaking, presenting narrative features, documentaries, shorts, animation, horror, science fiction and other genres. The Festival has become a destination for filmmakers looking to reach audiences interested in stories from across the Latino diaspora.

To be eligible, films must have their Chicago premiere during the Festival. Projects that have already screened publicly in the Chicago area, are currently streaming, have aired on U.S. television or are otherwise publicly available before or during the Festival dates are not eligible for consideration.

Unlike many festivals, the Chicago Latino Film Festival remains noncompetitive, instead recognizing audience favorites through Audience Choice Awards for narrative features, documentaries and short films.

The Festival also continues to emphasize programming for younger audiences, encouraging filmmakers to submit family-friendly works for inclusion in daytime student screenings.

“The submissions period is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting aspects of running a film festival,” says Alejandro Riera CLFF’s newly appointed Publicity and Programming Manager.

“This is when the Festival’s programming team discovers tomorrow’s visionaries and storytellers from the hundreds of entries—for both shorts and features—submitted from across the globe.“

Founded more than 40 years ago, the Chicago Latino Film Festival has screened thousands of films while serving as a cultural bridge between filmmakers and audiences. Its programming reflects the diversity of Latino experiences and continues to introduce Chicago audiences to stories from across Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Latino communities throughout the United States.

For two weeks in April, the City of Chicago becomes a converging point for filmmakers, actors and producers presenting some of the world’s latest films. This is an amazing time of community building and cultural exchange for all attendees.

Filmmakers interested in submitting can do so beginning Aug. 1 through the Festival’s FilmFreeway portal.