OCLIFF
THANK YOU to everyone who attended our 2025 Festival!
More info coming soon on the Fall 2026 Festival!
Join us September 19th – 21st for the return of the Orange County Latino International Film Festival!
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, and celebrating the positive expansion in Latinx representation in film and television. 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, The Frida proudly partnered with OCLIFF to help expand it into a three-day festival, and to help ensure the festival will have a permanent home year after year.
We thank the City of Santa Ana, B. Braun, Q Acting Studios, City of Santa Ana Deputy City Manager Sylvia Vazquez, and City of Santa Ana Councilmember Jessie Lopez for their support in making this year’s festival possible.
Tickets to OCLIFF 2025 are $10 per individual film block; $25 for either a Saturday or Sunday Day Pass; or $50 for a Full Festival Pass. Tickets can be purchased on any of the OCLIFF film block links below:
OPENING NIGHT FEATURE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH
– FREE TACOS FOR ALL TICKETHOLDERS! –
7:30PM: Introduction + Short /
8PM: Opening Night Feature Film
LA SOMBRA DEL SOL (THE SHADOW OF THE SUN)
+ Short Film: A CONGRESS OF CROWS
– Tickets –
Director Miguel Angel Ferrer will be joining us to introduce his film La sombra del sol (The Shadow of the Sun).
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.
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!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH
11AM
SANTA ANA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SHORTS SHOWCASE
– RSVP –
There is NO CHARGE to attend Saturday and Sunday mornings’ Student Shorts Blocks.
Thank you B. Braun for making this student showcase free and fully-accessible to our community.
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) is proud to open its Saturday lineup of short and feature films with a special presentation by Santa Ana High School’s Saintly Films. Join us Saturday, September 20th at 11AM for the 2025 Santa Ana High School Student Shorts Showcase!
Saintly Films is an SAUSD Arts and Career Technical Education program based at Santa Ana High School where student filmmakers create original short films from grades 9 to 12. The Saintly Films Pathway emphasizes industry-ready arts education, with a focus on literacy through connected English Language Arts curriculum.
12:15PM
HOLA FRIDA
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival is proud to present the Orange County premiere of directors Karine Vézina and André Kadi’s animated tribute to iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Hola Frida!
Frida is a vibrant girl growing up in Coyoacán Mexico, but when sickness casts a cloud over her spirit, she finds solace in her imagination. Hola Frida! recreates the childhood of artist Frida Kahlo, and highlights the power of imagination.
Presented in Spanish, with English subtitles.
WORLD PREMIERE: Morelia International Film Festival, Mexico
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Festival International de Ciné de Morelia; BIFFF; Annecy International Animated Film Festival; Festival De Cinéma En Famille De Québec (FCEQ); Festival International Du Film Pour Enfants De Montréa (Fifem); and Anima – The Brussels International Animation FIlm Festival.
2PM
OCLIFF SHORTS BLOCK #1
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival presents it its first collection of officially-selected shorts, Saturday September 20th at 2PM:
Boxnard
Director: Martín Alberto Gonzalez
5:11 minutes
Julia’s Dance: A Bomba Flamenco Bedtime Tale
Director: Christopher Santiago
13 minutes
Arthur Ave.
Director: Joey Medina
8:35 minutes
Parhelio
Director: Karla Vargas Gastélum
23:57 minutes
Films will be presented either in English, or in Spanish with English subtitles.
3:30PM
OCLIFF SHORTS BLOCK #2
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival presents it its second collection of officially-selected shorts, Saturday September 20th at 3:30PM:
A Call From You
Directors: Denise Gosdinski-Espinoza & Anneliesse Gosdinski-Espinoza
8:52 minutes
Learning Machine
Director: Rafaela Sakaguchi
8:15 minutes
Barrio
Director: Alexander Ibarra
13:53 minutes
The Gift
Director: Keysi Estrada
4 minutes
Motos
Director: Jesus Beltran
19 minutes
Films will be presented either in English, or in Spanish with English subtitles.
5PM
PRISON BEAUTY CONTEST
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival is proud to present director Srdjan Sarenac’s acclaimed new documentary Prison Beauty Contest, screening Saturday, September 20th at 5pM.
Inside a Brazilian women’s correctional facility, a daring beauty pageant becomes an act of rebellion and self-reclamation, as three inmates – Joyce, Angel, and Sueli – defy the uniformity of prison life in a quest for dignity, identity, and hope. Far more than a film about beauty and fashion, Sarenac’s bold documentary takes viewers inside the lives of the incarcerated women as they endeavor to maintain their dignity and positive self-image while navigating life in confinement.
Presented in Portuguese, with English subtitles.
7:30PM
ENTRE ACTORES (AMONGST ACTORS)
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) is proud to close its Saturday lineup of short and feature films with writer-director José Paredes’ Entre actores (Amongst Actors), screening Saturday, September 20th at 7:30PM.
Cristobal Dearie and Ale Yáñez star as Rodrigo and Diana, two best friends living in Tijuana, Mexico. When Diana decides to move to Mexico City to further advance her career as an actress, the separation forces Rodrigo to wrestle with the decision to stay silent and support her dreams, or share his true feelings for her.
Presented in Spanish, with English subtitles.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST
11AM
HENINGER ELEMENTARY STUDENT SHORTS SHOWCASE
– RSVP –
There is NO CHARGE to attend Saturday and Sunday mornings’ Student Shorts Blocks.
Thank you B. Braun for making this student showcase free and fully-accessible to our community.
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) is proud to open its Sunday lineup of short and feature films with a special presentation byHeninger Elementary and Creative Creators. Join us Sunday, September 21st at 11AM for the 2025 Heninger Elementary Student Shorts Showcase!
Creating Creators is an innovative educational program thatsupports and aligns lessons in the classroom with the entrepreneurial, creative, and collaborative rigor of film production, and the necessary 21st Century skills of working creators. Their curriculum and instructional method has been used to implement film programs in over 20 school districts and their students have gone on to pursue higher education and opportunities created by their professional partners.
12:15PM
OCLIFF SHORTS BLOCK #3
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival presents it its third collection of officially-selected shorts, Sunday September 21st at 12:15PM:
Heat in the Barrio
Director: Jose Esteban Ubaya
8:53 minutes
The Undrowning of Jay Diaz
Director: Magdalena Aparicio
12:49 minutes
Zona Del Silencio
Director: Angel Jimenez
11:49 minutes
Uno y Medio Contra el Mundo
Director: Jacob Estrada
20 minutes
Films will either be in English, or in Spanish with English subtitles.
1:45PM
OCLIFF SHORTS BLOCK #4
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival presents its fourth collection of officially-selected shorts. This special block of films, which will be presented Sunday, September 21st at 1:45pm, was programmed in partnership with Orange County-based artists and filmmakers Joesé Gloria Hernandez and Ruben Reyes.
Gregorio
Director: Juan Pablo de Luna
19:20 minutes
The Ballad of Tita and the Machines
Director: Miguel Angel Caballero
14:52 minutes
Mas Alla
Director: Bettina Lopez Mendoza
15 minutes
Freak
Director: Raul Sanchez
10 minutes
Trokas Duras
Director: Jazmin Garcia
17:09 minutes
Nuestro Calvario
Director/Musician: Eduardo “Edifica” Iniestra
4:11 minutes
Films will either be in English, or in Spanish with English subtitles.
3:30PM
OCLIFF SHORTS BLOCK #5
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) presents it its fifth collection of officially-selected shorts, Sunday September 21st at 3:30PM:
Sirens
Director: Maria Valdez
14:53 minutes
El Regreso del Miedo
Director: Berenice Manzano Castro
10 minutes
Soñadora (Dreamer)
Director: Juan Javier “Javo” Aguirre
19:33 minutes
Mean Goals
Director: Ahuatl Amaro
16:53 minutes
Films will either be in English, or in Spanish with English subtitles.
5PM
ADVENTURE TOM
– Tickets –
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) is proud to present writer-director Miguel Duran’s new feature film Adventure Tom, screening Sunday, September 21st at 5PM.
In the wake of personal losses, reserved artist Tom (Graham Patrick Martin) and stranded accountant Lilly (Andrea Londo) embark on an unexpected road trip, encountering catharsis along empty highways and bonding as they navigate their way home through iconic American landscapes.
Winner: Best Picture, Phoenix Film Festival
8PM
OCLIFF CLOSING NIGHT AWARD SHOW
– RSVP –
There is NO CHARGE to attend the 2025 Closing Night Award Show.
The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) comes to a close Sunday, September 21st. Join us as we announce this year’s award-winning films at our Closing Night Award Show, starting at 8PM!
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.
