Overview
The Adan Medrano Legacy Award in Film is a $10,000 grant administered by the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) through its NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) program. The award is open to emerging Latinx video and filmmakers in the United States, including Puerto Rico, who demonstrate a compelling body of work that contributes toward cultural understanding and social justice. It is named for Adan Medrano, a Texas Latino filmmaker, author, and culinary arts practitioner who spent decades creating films that explored Latino identity, culture, and community.
NALAC is a San Antonio-based nonprofit founded in 1989 that advocates for and funds Latino arts and cultural organizations and individual artists across the United States. The NALAC Fund for the Arts is the organization's primary grantmaking vehicle, offering multiple grant opportunities for Latinx/e artists, arts administrators, ensembles, and organizations at all stages of the creative process. The Adan Medrano Legacy Award in Film is one of several named awards within the NFA framework.
History
NALAC founded the NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) in 2005 with major support from the Ford Foundation. The Adan Medrano Legacy Award in Film was established in 2017 as a named award within the NFA framework, honoring Texas filmmaker Adan Medrano's decades of work exploring Latino identity, culture, and community. The inaugural award went to Andre Perez in 2018 for America in Transition, a trans-led documentary series. Fernando Frias De La Parra received the 2019 award for Ya No Estoy Aqui, which later became Mexico's Oscar submission. The award is supported by the Adan Medrano Legacy Award Donor Collaborative, with backing from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, and others.
What It Funds
The Adan Medrano Legacy Award provides a $10,000 cash grant to an emerging Latinx filmmaker. The award recognizes a filmmaker whose body of work contributes to cultural understanding and social justice, rather than funding a specific project at a specific production stage. This makes it more flexible than many production-stage-restricted grants: recipients can apply the funds toward their current project, their overall practice, or career development.
The award is thematically oriented toward films and media work that engage with Latino culture, identity, and community. Adan Medrano's own films examined the cultural dimensions of food, community, and Latino identity with a personal voice, and the award named for him reflects that orientation toward culturally grounded, community-connected storytelling.
Eligibility
The Adan Medrano Legacy Award is open to:
- Emerging Latinx/e video and filmmakers based in the United States, including Puerto Rico
- Filmmakers who demonstrate a compelling body of work contributing to cultural understanding and social justice
- Applicants at various career stages, though the award is oriented toward emerging voices
The award is part of the broader NALAC Fund for the Arts, which requires applicants to be Latinx/e artists, arts administrators, or organizations. The 2026 NFA cycle for Individuals and Ensembles (including the Meet the Moment Grant) has closed. NALAC has not yet announced dates for the next grant application cycle. Filmmakers should subscribe to the NALAC newsletter and follow the organization on social media for updates, or check the NALAC grants page directly.
Typical Award Size Range
The Adan Medrano Legacy Award provides a single $10,000 grant to one emerging Latinx filmmaker per cycle. There are no tiers or stage-based variations. The award is unrestricted and can be applied toward a current project, overall practice, or career development.
Payment Structure
NALAC disburses the $10,000 award as a lump sum to the recipient. The award is unrestricted, meaning NALAC does not tie payments to production milestones or require interim reporting on how funds are spent. Recipients join a network of over 500 NALAC grantees across the United States.
Past Recipients and What They Made with the Money
- Andre Perez (2018) - Received the inaugural award for America in Transition, a trans-led documentary series intended to shift the cultural climate for transgender people in communities of color and rural environments. The series centered the lives and issues of trans people of color.
- Fernando Frias De La Parra (2019) - Received the award to support post-production of Ya No Estoy Aqui (I'm No Longer Here), a narrative film about a 17-year-old Mexican boy who migrates from Monterrey to Jackson Heights, New York. The film was also supported by the Sundance Institute, Cinereach, and the San Francisco Film Society. It was selected as Mexico's entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film and distributed globally on Netflix in 2020.
- Cathy Chen-Arriaga (2020) - Received the award for her PBS documentary short Disrupted Borders, about young Latina inclusion in tech. The film won the Cleveland International Film Festival Jackson Spaulding Audience Choice Award, the San Diego Latino Film Festival Award, and the El Paso Film Festival Reel South Documentary Award.
What Makes an Application Competitive
NALAC evaluates Adan Medrano Legacy Award applicants on several concrete signals:
- Body of work: The award recognizes a filmmaker's overall practice, not a single project. Applicants must submit work samples that demonstrate a coherent artistic voice across multiple completed films or videos.
- Cultural grounding: The award favors filmmakers whose work engages specifically with Latino culture, identity, and community. Adan Medrano's own films examined the cultural dimensions of food and community. Applicants must articulate how their work contributes to cultural understanding.
- Social justice dimension: A clear connection between the filmmaker's work and social justice outcomes is required. Applicants must identify how their films advance understanding or action.
- Emerging status: The award targets emerging filmmakers. Applicants should be at a career stage where $10,000 in unrestricted support would meaningfully advance their practice.
Application Process
NALAC accepts applications through its online portal during open call periods. The NFA typically runs one annual cycle. Applicants should prepare:
- A body of work samples (completed films, videos, or media projects)
- A statement addressing how their work contributes to cultural understanding and social justice
- Artist statement and resume or CV
- Budget information if the funds will be applied to a specific project
The 2026 NFA cycle has closed. NALAC has not yet announced dates for the next cycle. Filmmakers should monitor the NALAC grants page for updates.
What Filmmakers Should Know
The Adan Medrano Legacy Award is not a production-stage grant. It recognizes a body of work, not a single project. This makes it more flexible than most grants: you can apply the $10,000 toward whatever advances your career most. The trade-off is that the award is highly competitive, with only one recipient per cycle. If you have a specific project in production and need stage-based funding, also consider the NFA's other grant categories or the AFS Grant for Texas-based filmmakers. The award is unrestricted, so recipients do not face milestone reporting or restrictions on how they spend the money. NALAC's network of over 500 grantees provides ongoing professional connections that can lead to future opportunities. The application requires a compelling body of work, so filmmakers with only one completed project may not be competitive.
Watch
See Also
For the broader Austin Film Society Grant programs open to all Texas filmmakers (up to $20,000 for feature films), see the AFS Grant entry. For understanding how grants fit into a funding strategy, see Film Grants and Funding. To estimate production costs for a grant-supported project, use the Indie Film Budget Calculator. For grants that do not require US citizenship, see Film Grants No US Citizenship Required.
