¡Que Vivan Los Quince! PHLAFF Kicks Off Its 15th Anniversary with a Packed Week of Film, Music, and Community
PHLAFF celebrated our Quinceañero last week as we launched our 2026 season. The first week of programming included installations, performances, workshops, conversations, and celebrations of Latine storytelling, cinema, and community across two vibrant venues.
Opening Night: A Party en Familia
PHLAFF 2026 in-person festivities began on Thursday, May 28th at the Icebox Project Space with a conversation with the GRIOT 2124 team, Dr. Maria Elba Torres, and Olga Chapman Rivera from Tiznando El Pais, series director Macha Colón, and special guest Imna Arroyo joining us to promote the US broadcast premiere of the series through a collaboration with PhillyCAM. GRIOT 2124 is a project of Tiznando El País funded by La Alianza de Museos de Puerto Rico. The television series, featuring Welmo Romero Joseph, explores Afro-Puerto Rican culture and visual arts through the lens of a future where racism has been eliminated.
Our Opening Night Celebration continued with a preview of the 2026 season and a shorts program featuring Trovadora, Balada de un inmigrante con memoria, Somos Cumbia, Somos Familia, and Fried Fish & Plantain, alongside previews of project collaborations including Raul Romero’s Transmissions (part of ArtPhilly), Eunice Levis’ El Colmado del Futuro, and an activation by Kinfolk and Betsy Casañas. A special performance by El S, featuring special guest La Mio, and treats from Amy's Pastelillos and Tres Fiori kept energy high while music kept the dance floor alive.
Thursday to Friday: Tension, Borders, and Resilience
Thursday's programming at both Ulises Books and Icebox leaned into depth and reflection. Short blocks tackled themes of identity and tension (Entre Bastidores y Reminiscencias, Quimera), while Vertices and Boundless Borders pushed the boundaries of form and geography.
Friday, May 29th, brought an ambitious lineup that moved from immigration stories (Balada de un inmigrante con memoria, HER LAST DAY IN THE U.S., Little L.A.) to sociopolitical commentary (Después del silencio, Cóndor, UN AÑO SIN LUZ) to an environmental block, anchored by films like Ñuuyii (Earth), Jamary, Defendamos el Escambrón, and The Coqui Frog, from the Tainos to Climate Change. The day also included a music production workshop led by El S, exploring live looping, finger drumming, and his wide-ranging body of work through Guiñapo El Studio.
Saturday: A Marathon of Stories
Saturday, May 30th, brought programming running from 11:00 AM well into the night at both venues. Audiences moved through coming-of-age films, female-centered narratives, a comedy block, dark comedies, romance, and more.
Highlights included The Last Partera, Paquito D'Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall, and an artist talk with Betsy Casañas on Zones of Imagination: Collective Power, Radical Futures, presented in partnership with Kinfolk Tech.
Frances Medina and Camille Padilla Dalmau of 9 Millones also hosted a special conversation—“Una Misma Tierra”: Centering Immigrant Communities in Reporting. The screening and dialogue invited mediamakers to rethink how to integrate people in their process. 9 Millones presented audiences with ways to engage communities in documentary filmmaking and inspire healthier practices for storytelling.
Closing the Weekend with Purpose
The Opening Weekend Closing Celebration also served as a fundraiser for Brigada Solidaria del Oeste (BSO), a mutual aid organization founded in the aftermath of Hurricane María in 2017 and still active today. rebuilding homes, supporting communities through earthquakes and Fiona, and fighting displacement and ecocide in Cabo Rojo. Performances by La Mio and MASO band closed out the weekend alongside the East Coast Premieres of El Reggaetón Mató Al Bolero and Mataron a Pedro.
Fifteen years in, PHLAFF remains one of the most dynamic celebrations of Latino film and culture, and if this opening week is any indication, #LosQuince is just getting started!
