(AUSTIN, TEXAS – Feb. 18, 2026; source: Juice Consulting) – Multicultural Austin-based nonprofit Cine Las Americas announce the date for their 28th annual Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF28), taking place May 13-17, 2026 at the Austin Film Society Cinema (located at 6259 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin, TX 78752). Each year, the festival highlights Latine/x, Indigenous and Latin American stories as well as Texan filmmakers. The organization will also host their second-annual Emergente Youth International Film Festival the following weekend on Saturday, May 23, 2026 at The Millennium (located at 1156 Hargrave Street, Austin, TX 78702). The voices highlighted by CLAIFF echo Cine’s mission to push conversation about timely issues with stories from and about those affected most. Over the course of five days, the festival will host red carpets and special events available to badge holders, with individual event tickets available for purchase. Free screenings will also be available to the public. This year’s festival will again feature a special conference, which will include panels and workshops for filmmakers and badge holders to enjoy, happening on Saturday, May 16.
This year, Cine will award over $8k in cash prizes. They will also award $500, one jury award and one audience award during the Emergente Youth Festival. Early Bird badges will be available the week of March 23, and the full schedule for this year will be announced the week of April 20. You can find more information about Cine Las Americas below and on their website here.
“As Cine Las Americas celebrates year 28 of the festival, our goal is to create a celebratory, energized and festive environment,” said Cine Las Americas Executive Director Gabriel Ornelas. “One where audiences and filmmakers eagerly come together with the anticipation of once again seeing some of the best storytelling and films from Latine/x and Indigenous artists.”
Cine hosted their first competition for this year’s official festival poster, where the winner received a $1,000 cash prize and the top 10 finalists each receive a festival badge. The art had to reflect the spirit of community, cinema, Indigeneity, Latinidad(es), and cultural vibrancy. Selected from several submissions, this year’s winner is Victoria Villasana, an embroidery collage artist born in Guadalajara, Mexico who currently resides between Spain and Mexico. Villasana has worked with major brands like Nike, History Channel, Netflix, Hulu, Sephora, Time Magazine, New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Academy Awards and artists like Rihanna, Fall Out Boy and more. Most recently, she designed the album artwork for Adrian Quesada’s Boleros Psicodélicos and Boleros Psicodélicos II. Her work has been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery, Philips Museum, U.N., Long Island Museum, Zona Maco, Museo de Arte Popular and Museo Diablos Rojos.
Ahead of this year’s festival, Cine will host a SXSW Latine/x Voices in Film Meet-up on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. at the Whitis Room in the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown (located at 700 San Jacinto at E 8th St, Austin, TX 78701). Cine Las Americas will celebrate local Latine/x voices in film and the vibrant creative community thriving in Austin. This is a chance to connect with international filmmakers and engage with a platform dedicated to amplifying Latine/x stories. Joined by Malakita Producciones and filmmaker Alejandro Pedemonte, the event will showcase how local talent shapes the global film landscape. SXSW badge required for entry.
This year Cine Las Americas has established El Club de Clout, a short-form content making workshop for middle school students, part of the organization’s Emergente Youth Film Project. The club is a free after-school workshop that meets once a week and goes for six weeks. Students learn how to develop their story-telling skills by making short videos, helping them to understand the value of sharing their stories. The course aims to teach these young filmmakers that their artistic value should be based on their story, rather than how much everyone likes and comments on their work. Classes are held at the Best Buy Teen Center at the North Austin YMCA, future workshop locations in public schools are being secured for later this Spring. For more information about this program, see here.
“After a successful rebrand of our youth showcase last year, I am extremely excited for our young audiences to again feel represented in another year of championing their stories via the Emergente Youth International Film Festival,” said Christian D. Nelson, Emergente Youth International Film Festival Co-Director. “We are building upon our mission of giving a microphone to unrepresented youth, to have their voices heard, their feelings validated, and their strength uplifted through the art of film.”
ABOUT CINE LAS AMERICAS:
In 1997, Celeste Quesada, Laura Coger, Sandra Guardado and Rene Renteria came together to create a Cuban film retrospective out of their passion for film and Latin American cultures. Cine Las Americas (CLA) has since grown into a multi-cultural, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering theatrical screenings of films made by and/or about Latine/x or Indigenous peoples of the Americas here in Austin, TX. Their screenings also include films from Spain, Portugal and all around the world.
“We wanted to see films from Latin America and were tired of waiting for months, sometimes years, to see the latest films that were screening at festivals,” said co-founder of CLA Celeste Quesada. “So, we created Cine Las Americas, allowing us to see these great films and to share them with a wider audience.”
Through their annual film festival, the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF) and programming throughout the year, Cine Las Americas strives to empower the voices and visions of Latine/x and Indigenous filmmakers, their narratives and enhance the mosaic of the American film landscape. Cine acts as an ecosystem and cultural liaison here in Texas for Latine/x and Indigenous filmmakers to help those seeking a local, national and international platform, opportunities for collaboration, recognition for their work and a community of support. This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. For more information about Cine Las Americas and to contribute to their mission, see their website here.