La sombra del sol (The Shadow of the Sun) + Short: A Congress of Crows: OCLIFF 2025 Opening Night // Free Tacos for All Ticketholders!
The Frida Cinema's seating is first-come, first-serve. For our Midnight Screenings, please plan on arriving by 11:30pm to ensure ample time for parking, picking up concessions, and securing optimal seats. Screening will begin promptly at midnight.
Director: Miguel Angel Ferrer Run Time: 140 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2023 Language: Spanish
Starring: Anyelo Lopez, Carlos Manuel Gonzalez, David Olaves, Greisy Mena, Richard Clark
7:00PM: Introduction + Short: A Congress of Crows
8PM: Feature Opening Night Film: La sombra del sol (The Shadow of the Sun)
Director Miguel Angel Ferrer will be joining us to introduce his film La sombra del sol (The Shadow of the Sun).
All ticket holders to our Opening Night screening will be treated to three tacos, sides, and aguas frescas from our friends and neighbors at Taquerias Guadalajara! They’ll be set up in the parklet in front of the theater starting at 6:30pm — come early, and come hungry!
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) is proud to open its 2025 fest with director and co-writer Miguel Angel Ferrer’s La sombra del sol (The Shadow of the Sun) — Venezuela’s official entry for the 96th Academy Awards!
Leo (Carlos Manuel Gonzalez) is a blue-collar worker with a musical past, living in the remote Venezuelan city of Acarigua. Struggling with debt and problems at home, he does whatever he can to stay afloat. One day, his younger brother Alex (Anyelo Lopez), deaf since birth, presents him with a possible way out: to enter a musical contest in Caracas with a song Alex has written, where the grand prize could solve all of Leo’s financial troubles. Pressured by circumstance, Leo must take a leap of faith, awaken his dormant musical talent, and embark on an unforgettable journey that could change both he and Alex’s lives.
Winner of the Audience Award at the Miami Film Festival; Best Latin American Film at the Monterrey Film Festival; and both the Special Jury Prize and Best Actor Awards at the Seattle Film Festival.
Presented in Spanish, with English subtitles.
Our evening will open with a special screening of short film A Congress of Crows, by director Sean Martinez.
Founded and launched in 2023 as a two-day event by Allie and Adrian Quiñonez, husband & wife filmmakers and founders of OC-based drama school Q Acting Studios, the Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) is dedicated to showcasing humanity through the unique lens of the contemporary Latinx experience. The Latino/x/a experience has grown to be so diverse and multicultural, that it is hard to fit into one specific category. We are a beautiful mix of countries and cultures that now co-exist in the international theatre, though we don’t always experience the lift that our voices deserve as the ever-growing majority audience. In 2024, OCLIFF partnered with nonprofit art house movie theater The Frida Cinema to expand their festival into a three-day festival celebrating the positive expansion in Latinx representation in film and TV.
We thank Deputy City Manager Sylvia Vazquez, City of Santa Ana Councilmember Jessie Lopez, and the following festival sponsors for their support in making this year’s festival possible.
