Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (Havana Film Festival)

Overview

The Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, known internationally as the Havana Film Festival, is Latin America's longest-running politically engaged film festival. The 46th edition ran December 4 to 14, 2025, in Havana. The festival received 2,051 submissions and selected 114 titles, 30 screenplays, and 30 posters for competition. The closing ceremony took place at the Charles Chaplin Cinema, the festival's primary venue.

The 2025 Coral Awards were dominated by two films. Un poeta (A Poet), directed by Simon Mesa Soto (Colombia), won the Coral for Best Feature Film and the Coral for Best Actor for Ubeimar Rios. The film also won the Don Quixote Award from the International Federation of Film Societies and the Signis Award from the World Catholic Association for Communication. El agente secreto (The Secret Agent), directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho (Brazil), won five awards: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, and Best Original Music.

Honorary Coral Awards were presented to Estudios Churubusco (on its 80th anniversary) and to actor Gael Garcia Bernal. The festival is organized by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC).

Submission Details

The festival accepts submissions from filmmakers, screenwriters, designers, and producers working on Latin American or Caribbean themes.

Submissions are accepted in fiction feature films, first feature films, documentary feature films, short films, animation, and other territories (films from outside Latin America). Screenwriters can apply for the Unpublished Screenplay Award. Designers can submit posters for the Coral Poster Award. Directors and producers can submit films for the Coral Post-Production Award.

The festival does not use FilmFreeway. Submissions are handled through the festival's official process. Filmmakers should consult the official festival website for current submission guidelines and forms.

Coral Awards

The Coral Awards are the festival's top prizes, awarded across multiple categories:

Feature Film Categories:

Documentary Categories:

Animation Categories:

Other Categories:

Festival History

The Havana Film Festival was founded in 1979 by ICAIC (Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos) to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. The festival was conceived as a platform for New Latin American Cinema, the movement of politically engaged, socially committed filmmaking that emerged across the continent in the 1960s and 1970s, influenced by Third Cinema theory and the work of filmmakers like Fernando Birri, Tomas Gutierrez Alea, and Glauber Rocha.

The festival has operated continuously for 46 editions, surviving the collapse of Soviet support in the early 1990s, the US embargo, and Cuba's severe economic difficulties. The Coral Award, named after Cuba's coral reefs, has become one of the most historically resonant prizes in Latin American cinema.

The festival has played a significant role in the visibility and distribution of Latin American cinema, providing a space for filmmakers from across the region to screen their work in a context that prioritizes political and social engagement over commercial considerations. The festival's programming consistently includes films from every Latin American country, with additional sections for films from other territories that share thematic concerns with Latin American cinema.

What Filmmakers Should Know

The Havana Film Festival is the primary platform for Latin American cinema within Latin America. Films with politically engaged content, social justice themes, and perspectives from the Global South find particularly receptive audiences. The Coral Award carries significant weight in Latin American film circles, though it has less commercial impact than awards at A-list festivals like Cannes, Venice, or Berlin.

US filmmakers attending Havana should be aware of current travel regulations between the United States and Cuba, which have varied under different administrations. Filmmakers should consult current US Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations before planning attendance. The festival does not use FilmFreeway, and submission processes may differ from standard international festival procedures.

The festival does not operate a film market. Distribution deals are not a primary activity at Havana. The festival's value lies in audience access, regional networking, and critical recognition within Latin American cinema. Filmmakers seeking international distribution should not expect deal-making at Havana, though the festival can generate regional buzz that supports subsequent festival runs.

The festival screens across multiple Havana venues including the Charles Chaplin Cinema, Yara Cinema, Acapulco Cinema, Infanta Cinema, the Glauber Rocha Foundation, and the 23 y 12 Cinema. The festival atmosphere is public and accessible, with strong local audience attendance. The closing night awards ceremony at the Charles Chaplin Cinema is the festival's signature event.

The 2025 edition received 2,051 works and selected 114 titles for competition, making it a competitive but accessible festival for Latin American filmmakers. The submission deadline is typically in August, later than most European festivals, which aligns with the December festival dates.

See Also

Calculate your total festival submission costs and projected return using the Festival ROI Calculator. For Latin American cinema history and context, see International Film Markets. For festival circuit strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. For distribution deals in international cinema, see Distribution Deals Explained. Visit the official Havana Film Festival website for current submission guidelines.