In 2005 the Long Island Latino International Film Festival – Long Island, New York was created to celebrate and showcase the finest in Latino cinema. Long Island is home to over 350,000 Hispanics and growing. We serve as a bridge between the filmmakers and the Long Island movie-going audience. Our aim is to screen the best independent films that are created by or about Latinos.
LILIFF is a competitive event offering opportunities to filmmakers of all levels ranging from students to industry professionals. Our festival takes a worldview approach to programming by encouraging participation from both the United States and the International film community. LILIFF is also aware that there are Latinos that are multi racial and cross-cultural and we will provide additional quality programming to reflect that diversity.
We screen films ranging from narrative features, short films to animation, experimental and documentary. We connect our audiences with the filmmakers in a Q & A session following the screenings. They have the opportunity to meet and engage the filmmaker, producers and actors in an intimate discussion relating to the film.
LILIFF has followed its commitment to bring compelling films with powerful storytelling year after year. In 2005, we opened our first festival with a screening of the independent film “Manito” with the understanding that there is a lack of opportunities for Latino films to be screened theatrically throughout the United States. Our goal is to continue to offer top quality programming that remains true to the independent spirit.