San Diego Latino Film Festival

What San Diego Latino Film Festival does

The San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF) is an annual 5-day film festival held each March at a Mission Valley venue in San Diego, California, now in its 33rd–34th edition. It was originally established circa 1994 as a student film festival called Cine Estudantil and is currently produced by Media Arts Center San Diego, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1999. The festival screens Latinx cinema from across Latin America and the United States, has hosted more than 4,020 films and 350,000 attendees cumulatively, and runs the Premio Corazon competition across nine award categories including narrative, documentary, Frontera (border-region), youth, and audience-voted tracks.

The festival operates on a conventional nonprofit event-driven go-to-market model. Core revenue streams include ticket and film-pass sales, corporate sponsorship packages (with dedicated booth and advertising inventory), filmmaker submission fees processed via FilmFreeway, and a poster design competition with a $1,500 top prize. Technology is built on third-party SaaS — Eventive for the virtual film guide, schedule, and ticketing; FilmFreeway for worldwide film and poster submissions; and Filmbot for website cart and checkout — with no proprietary platform or AI capabilities. Marketing is distributed across owned digital (website, social, Flickr, YouTube), earned media (press accreditation, KPBS coverage), and a dense network of Spanish-language radio partnerships (Radio Latina 104.5, Univision KLQV/KLNV, XEWT-12, KSDY 50 FM, Frontera FM 106.1) plus local press (Times of San Diego).

The customer base is segmented across four groups: long-tail individual attendees who buy tickets, filmmakers who submit work globally, visual artists competing in the poster contest, and a sponsor mix spanning state and municipal agencies (California Arts Council, San Diego Cultural Affairs), major financial and corporate brands (US Bank, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Sycuan Casino, Mission Federal Credit Union, SDGE), and community development organizations (MAAC Project, LISC San Diego, International Community Foundation, Centro Cultural de la Raza, UC San Diego, Southwestern College). The organization runs with 1–10 employees under Executive Director and Founder Ethan van Thillo.

Name

San Diego Latino Film Festival

Legal name

Media Arts Center San Diego

Website

https://sdlatinofilm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF) is an annual 5-day Latinx film festival held each March in San Diego, produced by the nonprofit Media Arts Center San Diego since its 1990s founding as Cine Estudantil. It serves Latinx filmmakers, audiences, and corporate sponsors via screenings, the Premio Corazon awards, and sponsor activations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: The festival sells tickets and film passes to attendees for screenings and special events at Mission Valley venues. Film passes (11 tickets) are offered as prizes to poster competition finalists.
2. Sponsorship: The festival generates revenue through corporate sponsorships and advertising opportunities, with booth and advertising packages available for brands to engage with festival attendees.
3. Submission Fees: Filmmakers submit entries via FilmFreeway, which likely charges submission fees for the festival's film programming.
4. Poster Competition: The festival runs an annual poster competition with a $1,500 top prize and film pass rewards, engaging photographers, artists, and graphic designers worldwide.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The San Diego Latino Film Festival is an annual 5-day film festival held each March in San Diego's Mission Valley, screening over 350 films from Latin America and the United States. The festival includes the Premio Corazon Awards competition across multiple categories, special guest appearances by notable directors and actors, and an annual Poster Competition for visual artists. Production is handled by Media Arts Center San Diego, with ticketing, scheduling, and submissions operated through Eventive, FilmFreeway, and Filmbot.

Product overview

The San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF) is a single annual event produced by Media Arts Center San Diego. The festival's core offering is the annual 5-day celebration of Latinx film, music, and art, which includes film screenings, the Premio Corazon Awards competition, special guest appearances, and cultural programming. SDLFF operates primarily through external ticketing and film guide platforms (Eventive), submission management via FilmFreeway, and website/ticketing powered by Filmbot.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Premio Corazon: The annual awards program at the San Diego Latino Film Festival recognizing excellence in narrative features, narrative shorts, documentary features, documentary shorts, Frontera features and shorts, and youth films.

Products and services

• San Diego Latino Film Festival Annual 5-day film festival held in March at Mission Valley in San Diego, screening over 350 films from Latin America and the United States. Includes competitive categories, special guest appearances, and cultural programming celebrating Latinx film, music, and art.
• Premio Corazon Awards Annual film competition honoring excellence in Latino cinema across multiple categories including Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Frontera Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Youth Film, and Audience Awards.
• SDLFF Poster Competition Annual worldwide poster design competition open to photographers, artists, and graphic designers. Winning artwork becomes the visual identity of the festival appearing in print, web, and on-screen materials. Top prize of $1,500 plus promotional exposure.
• Festival Guest Screenings & Events Special screenings and filmmaker appearances featuring notable directors and actors from the Latino film community, including Q&A sessions and panel discussions during the annual festival.

Quantifiable outcome

• 350,000+ cumulative attendees over 31 years
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Radio Latina 104.5 FMcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSpanish-language radio station providing marketing and promotional support for the festival.
• Univision (KLQV, KLNV)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerUnivision Spanish-language media network with San Diego radio stations KLQV and KLNV supporting festival promotion.
• XEWT-12 (XEW)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerMexican television station XEW provides promotional support for the festival.
• KPBS The FinestminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNPR-affiliated public media station in San Diego supporting festival coverage.
• Times of San DiegominorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal digital news publication promoting the San Diego Latino Film Festival.
• FilmFreewaycoreTechnology or IntegrationFilm submission and festival management platform used for the annual Call for Entries and Poster Competition submissions.
• EventivecoreTechnology or IntegrationEvent platform powering the film guide, schedule, and ticketing for SDLFF 2026/2027.
• KSDY 50 FMminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSpanish-language radio station in San Diego supporting festival promotion.
• Frontera FM 106.1minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSpanish-language radio station supporting festival coverage.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Chicago Latino Film Festival: Long-running Latino film festival in Chicago (since 1985) with competitive categories and a similarly regional focus on Latinx storytelling. Comparable as a peer city-level Latinx film festival competing for the same filmmakers, films, and corporate sponsors.
• New York Latino Film Festival: Annual Latino film festival in New York City showcasing narrative, documentary, and short films by and about Latinos. Directly comparable in mission, audience (Latinx film enthusiasts), and operating model (multi-day festival with competitive awards and filmmaker Q&As).
• Atlanta Latino Film Festival: Annual Latino film and culture festival in Atlanta showcasing Latinx cinema and cultural programming. Comparable in format (multi-day festival, competitive categories, community programming) and target audience (Latinx filmmakers and film enthusiasts in a U.S. metro market).
• CineFestival (Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center): San Antonio-based Latinx film festival produced by a nonprofit cultural arts center, with a comparable multidisciplinary focus on film, music, and art. Directly comparable as a nonprofit-driven Latinx film festival with a regional footprint and similar programming model.
• Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (HCLA Film Festival): One of the largest and longest-running Latino film festivals in the U.S., held annually in Los Angeles. Directly comparable to SDLFF as a Latinx-focused film festival organizer with competitive categories, filmmaker development programming, and major sponsor support from civic and corporate partners.

Regional players

• San Diego Film Festival: Broader San Diego-based film festival operating in the same regional market as SDLFF. Comparable as a fellow San Diego film festival competing for local sponsors, venues, and audiences, though it is not Latinx-focused.

Emerging players

• Urbanworld Film Festival: New York-based multicultural film festival spotlighting stories from Latino, Black, Asian, and other underrepresented communities. Comparable as a multicultural festival with overlapping Latinx content, though broader in demographic focus than SDLFF.

Broad incumbents

• Tribeca Festival: Major New York-based film and culture festival with competitive categories, year-round programming, and significant sponsor support. Comparable as a broader incumbent festival competing for Latinx film premieres and major brand sponsors, though it is not Latinx-focused.
• Sundance Film Festival: The largest independent film festival in the U.S., held annually in Park City, Utah. Comparable as an established nonprofit-driven festival with competitive categories, filmmaker development, and major sponsor support; operates at vastly larger scale and is not Latinx-focused.
• SXSW Film & TV Festival: Massive annual film and culture festival in Austin, TX with multidisciplinary music, film, and tech programming. Comparable as a major festival format that attracts the same Latinx filmmakers and corporate sponsors, though it operates at vastly larger scale and is not Latinx-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sdlatinofilm
• Facebookfacebook.com/latinofilm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about San Diego Latino Film Festival