Celebrate Latin American Cinema's Power

Explore films, connect with artists, and experience 11 unforgettable days of culture.

Our Story

Founded in 2003, the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF) is a registered charitable organization dedicated to the promotion and exhibition of Latin American cinema in Vancouver.

This 11-day annual festival offers a space for dialogue between cultures and celebrates the art of contemporary Latin American, Latin-Canadian, and Indigenous filmmaking.

Since its inception, VLAFF has provided audiences with a unique opportunity to enjoy inspiring and innovative films and connect with filmmakers from across Latin America and the diaspora.

Our Mission

VLAFF is here to:

  • Educate and engage the public with Latin American cinema.
  • Promote independent Latin American films in Canada.
  • Offer a platform for artists to present and discuss their work.
  • Showcase Latin-Canadian talent in film and media arts.
  • Build networks between Canadian and Latin American film communities.
  • Promote cross-cultural understanding and enrich

Canada’s cultural scene.
We believe in cinema as a tool for art, education, and transformation.

Our Values

VLAFF is committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive, and positive environment for all, audience members, artists, volunteers, staff, and partners.

We uphold the values of:

  • Justice
  • Equity
  • Diversity
  • Inclusion (JEDI)

Want to share feedback or ideas on how we can make your festival experience better?

We’d love to hear from you! 💌 Email us at: feedback@vlaff.org

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Valentina Acevedo Montilla

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

(she/ella)

Managing Director

Christian Sida

Christian Sida Valenzuela

(he/él)

Programming Director

Dani Rodríguez Chevalier

(she/ella)

Festival Coordinator | Volunteer Coordinator

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

(She/ella)

Managing Director / Curator ¡Así Suena! Music Nights

Christian Sida

Christian Sida

(he/él)

Programming Director

Dani Rodríguez

Dani Rodríguez

(she/ella)

Festival Coordinator | Volunteer Coordinator

Programming team

Christian Sida.

Christian Sida

(he/él)

Programming Director

Anne-Mary Mullen

Anne-Mary Mullen

(She/ella)

Festival Consultant, Canada Looks South/New Directors

Masa’n Galindo

Masa’n Galindo

(she/ella)

Indigenous Programs Co-Curator

Akira Iahtail Headshot.

Akira Iahtail

(she/ella)

Indigenous Programs Co-Curator

Kathleen Mullen

Kathleen Mullen

(she/ella)

Queer Films Co-Curator

José Luis Cano

José Luis Cano

(he/él)

New Directors Co-Curator

Robert Ríos Headshot.

Robert Alejandro Ríos

(he/él)

Queer Films Co-Curator

Mirella Reichenbach Livoti

(she/ella)

New Directors Co-Curator

Dani Rodríguez

Dani Rodríguez Chevalier

(she/ella)

Shorts in Competition Co-Curator

Valentina Acevedo Montilla Headshot.

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

(she/ella)

¡Así Suena! Music Nights

Ana Tonso

Ana Tonso

(she/ella)

Shorts in Competition Co-Curator

Juan Pablo Franky

Juan Pablo Franky

(he/él)

Programming consultant

Board of Directors

Carmen Henríquez

Carmen Henríquez

(she/ella)

Sidartha Murjani.

Sidartha Murjani

(he/él)

Elvia Pinilla.

Elvia Pinilla

(she/ella)

Patricia de la Maza

Patricia de la Maza

(she/ella)

Pachi Ochoa.

Pachi Ochoa

(she/ella)

seasonal staff

Festival Consultant

Anne-Mary Mullen

DCP Master + Technical Coordinator

Tadeo Ríos Dávila

Volunteer Coordinator

Daniela Rodríguez Chevalier

Venue Managers

Daniela Rodríguez Chevalier

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

Box Office Supervisors

Vanesa O’Toole

Fabián Uribe

2024 Artwork

Luis David Morán

Community Partnerships Coordinator

Vanesa O’Toole

Lead Photographers

Bruno Martín del Campo

Frida Guillén

Lead Videographer

Rashi Sethi

Cindy Bourguignon

Frida Guillén

Program Note Editors

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

Daniela Rodríguez Chevalier

Anne-Mary Mullen

Translators

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

Daniela Rodríguez Chevalier

Mirella Livoti

Youth Jury Coordinator

Ana Tonso

Bookkeeper

Alexandre Nicolaieff, CPA Mindy Abramovits

Youth Jury Workshop Facilitator

Selene Masa'n Galindo

Meet the jury

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Valentina Acevedo Montilla

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

(she/ella)

Managing Director / Curator ¡Así Suena! Music Nights

Valentina (she/ella) is a Mexican-Venezuelan cultural curator/gestora cultural based on the stolen and ancestral lands and waters of the xwməϴkwəýəm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh Nations since 2013. She comes from a family of musicians, incredible cooks, and community builders; she also holds a BA in Art History and Anthropology from UBC, with a focus in museum studies. Valentina has a deep love for art, community engaged arts practices and bringing people together through art, culture and food. She has been involved with VLAFF since its 13th edition; first as a movie-goer, a volunteer, a Youth Juror, and now as its Managing Director since 2020. You can also find Valentina managing The Cultch’s Youth Program and IGNITE!, a beautifully multidisciplinary festival celebrating emerging artists in so-called East Vancouver.

Christian Sida

Christian Sida

(he/él)

Programming Director

Christian has been involved with VLAFF since 2006, first as a member of the Board of Directors, then as the Volunteer Coordinator, Theatre Manager, Box Office Manager, and Shorts Programmer. He was the Programming Director from 2008-2010 and the Executive Director from 2011-2021. In 2022, he became VLAFF’s Programming Director. Christian has been a jury member at film festivals in Rio de Janeiro, Havana, Cartagena, Valladolid, Guadalajara, Biarritz, and Huelva, among others. Christian was also a jury member for the Colombian National Documentary Prize. In addition to participating in panels and workshops, Christian is also the founder and director of the Festival del Nuevo Cine Mexicano de Durango in Mexico. During 2018 and part of 2019, Christian was the Head of the film commission of the state of Durango, Mexico. In 2015 he received an official recognition from the Consulate General of Colombia in Vancouver, for his work promoting Colombian cinema. He is the director & co-creator of the 2021 feature Santuario: El viaje perrote de Paty Aguirre. Christian is now finishing his second feature film Historia Miníma de Durango.

Dani Rodríguez

Dani Rodríguez Chevalier

(she/ella)

Festival Coordinator | Volunteer Coordinator

Born in one of the cities of eternal Spring (Cuernava, Mexico) and raised in el Distrito Federal, Dani is passionate about film, food, poetry & hybrid forms, art making in community, translation and independent radio. She is co-founder of multidisciplinary artist collectives *mim* and El Mashup. Also known as DJ D-Rod, Dani is co-host of the CiTR101.9fm show Vivaporú, el ungüento para el alma. Since 2022, she has been one half of the Shorts in Competition Programmers at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. She loves the short form and appreciates being surprised ~ by story, characters, texture! She lives on the unceded shared territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations with her two dachshunds, Xoco & Rol. 

Christian Sida.

Christian Sida

(he/él)

Programming Director

Christian has been involved with VLAFF since 2006, first as a member of the Board of Directors, then as the Volunteer Coordinator, Theatre Manager, Box Office Manager, and Shorts Programmer. He was the Programming Director from 2008-2010 and the Executive Director from 2011-2021. In 2022, he became VLAFF’s Programming Director. Christian has been a jury member at film festivals in Rio de Janeiro, Havana, Cartagena, Valladolid, Guadalajara, Biarritz, and Huelva, among others. Christian was also a jury member for the Colombian National Documentary Prize. In addition to participating in panels and workshops, Christian is also the founder and director of the Festival del Nuevo Cine Mexicano de Durango in Mexico. During 2018 and part of 2019, Christian was the Head of the Film Commission of the state of Durango, Mexico. In 2015 he received an official recognition from the Consulate General of Colombia in Vancouver, for his work promoting Colombian cinema. He is the director & co-creator of the 2021 feature Santuario: El viaje perrote de Paty Aguirre. Christian is now finishing his second feature film Historia Miníma de Durango

Anne-Mary Mullen

Anne-Mary Mullen

(she/ella)

Festival Consultant, Canada Looks South/New Directors

Anne-Mary Mullen is a film programmer, writer, and Box Office specialist. She currently works with the Sustainable Production Forum, a global hybrid conference focused on sustainability in the film industry. Previously, Anne-Mary was the Senior Programmer & General Manager of VLAFF. As a programmer, she specializes in Latin-Canadian cinema and has participated in festivals in Argentina, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain. She holds a Master’s Degree in Literature from San Francisco State University and was a director of the Robson Reading Series at UBC. She is the co-writer of the 2021 feature documentary Santuario: A Punk Portrait of Paty Aguirre.

Masa’n Galindo

Masa’n Galindo

(she/ella)

Indigenous Programs Co-Curator

Masaꞌn is Oꞌdam from Durango, México. Filmmaker, writer, translator and cultural manager with experience in education, research, public sector and civil society initiatives. Content creator for Oꞌdam audiences in social media and founder of the Circuito de Cine gio Arte Sierra Oꞌdam that takes place every year in Oꞌdam territories. Member of YI Hagamos Lumbre collective and the CEDECINE Film Exhibition Community. She received the Jury Prize from the Cátedra Bergman de Cine y Teatro and DocsMX for the short film Luisa gu mejikan (2021), alongside Zulema Sánchez. She was part of the producing team for Bucan tu rhachhidu’ (2023), directed by Luna Marán, premiered at FICUNAM 2023. She’s working on her debut film Gu juk gio gu YooxiꞋ (🌲&🌹).

Akira Iahtail Headshot.

Akira Iahtail

(she/ella)

Indigenous Programs Co-Curator

Akira Iahtail is from amiskwaciwâskahikan, also known as Edmonton, Alberta, and is a member of Attawapiskat First Nation. She is a student at Simon Fraser University, majoring in Indigenous Studies. She began her programminging career in 2021 with the Skoden Indigenous Film Festival, and has been co-curating the Turtle Island and Beyond program at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival for four years. She currently curates Our Stories to Tell, a monthly series at The Cinematheque.

Kathleen Mullen

Kathleen Mullen

(she/ella)

Queer Films Co-Curator

Kathleen Mullen is a professional film programmer and festival director with a passion for curating inclusive and impactful film experiences both nationally and internationally. Currently, Kathleen is the lead programmer for Frameline: San Francisco LGBTQ+ Film Festival, and a programmer for the Victoria Film Festival, Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Skoden Indigenous Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and VLAFF. She also works with the Sustainable Production Forum, an initiative advocating for sustainability in the film industry. For over 8 years, Kathleen was the Festival Director of the Seattle Queer Film Festival. She has an MFA in Film Production from York University and has directed several films including the documentary Breathtaking.

José Luis Cano

José Luis Cano

(he/él)

New Directors Co-Curator

José Luis Cano is a director and producer from Durango. He participated in various documentary cinema formation programs such as Docs Lab, Norte Docs, Impact Lab and the IMCINE National Network of Audiovisual Poles. Since 2019 he is one of the programmers of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. “Carnalismo”, his first documentary feature film, has been screened in multiple film festivals such as Ambulante and FIC Monterrey. He is currently working on independent and non centralized feature films as a producer and also as a music video director.

Robert Ríos Headshot.

Robert Alejandro Ríos

(he/él)

Queer Films Co-Curator

Robert Ríos is a 27-year-old Ecuadorian, a professional filmmaker and passionate entrepreneur.

In 2021, he graduated as a filmmaker from INCINE, where he directed several films. He was part of the VLAFF Youth Jury that same year. He co-curated Queer Pix at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival in 2022, 2023, and now 2025.

Robert has led civil initiatives seeking social change.He started his business in 2023, KineMotion: Digital Marketing and Communication Agency. Leading the agency has allowed him to work with different sectors; from startups to SMEs to the US Embassy in Ecuador.

After intense years of experience, Robert continues to believe that “art heals souls” and that social struggles go hand in hand with an active, awake, demanding, and proactive civil society.

Mirella Reichenbach Livoti

(she/ella)

New Directors Co-Curator

Mirella Livoti (she/ela) is an emerging scholar and educator. Originally from Brazil, she is grateful to have been living and (un)learning as an uninvited guest in so-called Vancouver for the past six years. She recently finished her master’s degree in Hispanic Studies from UBC with a focus on contemporary Latin American literature, and is now the Development Coordinator at VLAFF. Her work is driven by a sense of boundless curiosity and her mind is constantly looking for words in Spanglish and Portuñol.

Dani Rodríguez

Dani Rodríguez Chevalier

(she/ella)

Shorts in Competition Co-Curator

Born in one of the cities of eternal Spring (Cuernava, Mexico) and raised in el Distrito Federal, Dani is passionate about film, food, poetry & hybrid forms, art making in community, translation and independent radio. She is co-founder of multidisciplinary artist collectives *mim* and El Mashup. Also known as DJ D-Rod, Dani is co-host of the CiTR101.9fm show Vivaporú, el ungüento para el alma. Since 2022, she has been one half of the Shorts in Competition Programmers at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. She loves the short form and appreciates being surprised ~ by story, characters, texture! She lives on the unceded shared territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations with her two dachshunds, Xoco & Rol. 

Valentina Acevedo Montilla Headshot.

Valentina Acevedo Montilla

(she/ella)

¡Así Suena! Music Nights

Valentina is a Mexican-Venezuelan cultural curator (gestora cultural) born in Caracas, Venezuela and raised in el Distrito Federal. She comes from a family of musicians, incredible cooks, and community builders, and holds a BA in Art History and Anthropology from UBC with a focus on museum studies. Valentina is the creator and curator of ¡Así Suena! Music Nights at VLAFF, a series launched in 2021 out of a deep love for music and a longing to build joyful, dance-filled spaces for community connection. Her curatorial vision brings together Latine artists across genres, generations, and geographies to celebrate the soundtracks of our lives.

Ana Tonso

Ana Tonso

(she/ella)

Shorts in Competition Co-Curator

Born into a family deeply involved in political and human rights activism, Ana is an artist and cinematography graduate raised in Buenos Aires during the 90s amid an extreme social and economic crisis. This upbringing forged her interests and passion for archival, documentary projects, and film works centred on social matters. She has directed two short films on political activism and worked as a staff member at various international film festivals for over eight years involving cultural diversity, documentary and human rights themes. Currently, she is a member of the Shorts in Competition programming team and Youth Jury Coordinator at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival.

Juan Pablo Franky

Juan Pablo Franky

Juan Pablo Franky is artistic director of MIDBO, film festival programmer, journalist and film teacher. He studied film at the Black María Film School and film criticism in El Amante (Bs As). He also studied Literature at the National University of Colombia and is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing at the same institution. He worked as press officer for FECIVE (Venezuelan Film Festival of Buenos Aires), directed and programmed the Buenos Aires headquarters of the shnit Worldwide Shortfilmfestival during its first five years and was Publications Coordinator for Cinemancia Metropolitan Film Festival (Medellín, Antioquia) . He currently works as delegate coordinator of the Central and Eastern European Film Festival Al Este Colombia.

Carmen Henríquez

Carmen Henríquez

(she/ella)

Carmen Henríquez is a Chilean-born filmmaker and television producer. She is the co-creator of multiple APTN series, including Closer To Home, Native Planet, and Power to the People, and the director of the award-winning feature documentaries, Searching for Pinochet and Cry of the Andes.

Carmen, along with business partner Denis Paquette, founded RealWorld Media and Films in 1996, and they have been producing content for big and small screens ever since. Carmen lives in Vancouver, Canada with her daughter, the amazing Celina Drysdale Henríquez.

Power to the People, her latest project with RealWorld Media, which she co-directed and edited, is a weekly television documentary that explores the renewable energy revolution empowering Indigenous communities across Canada and around the world. From revolutionary wind farms, solar power plants, run of river hydroelectric projects and tidal energy initiatives, host Melina Laboucan Massimo explores the challenges, simplifies the science, and showcases the benefit for the community and for humanity.

Sidartha Murjani.

Sidartha Murjani

(he/él)

Sidartha Murjani is a Bali-born, award-winning filmmaker and actor whose journey began with a full scholarship to Vancouver Film School. In 2016, he founded Timeless Stories Films, inspired by his grandfather’s passion for storytelling that carries wisdom across generations.

As an actor, Sidartha has appeared in Legion (FX), The Switch, and Imposter (2023). His directorial work includes The Interview (Winner, Best Short at ISAFF) and Remnants, which screened to a sold-out audience at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. His 2023 short, Chaturanga, was selected by both CAAMFest and the Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival.

He currently serves as Executive Director of the Sundar Prize Film Festival and sits on the Board of Directors at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival.

Elvia Pinilla.

Elvia Pinilla

(she/ella)

Elvia Pinilla is a Colombian-born marketing professional and MBA graduate based in Vancouver. With experience across industries—including education, banking, publishing, and market research—she also champions Latin culture through volunteer work and digital media. A rising voice in Canadian stand-up comedy, Elvia debuted her one-woman show “Vaginal Vision” in 2024, blending storytelling, humor, and social insight. She continues to build bridges between communities through her work on and off the stage.

Patricia de la Maza

Patricia de la Maza

(she/ella)

Patricia is a highly respected professional in arts administration; she had a prolific career in Television and Politics in Mexico before moving to Canada, where she was in charge of the Cultural and Media Affairs department at the Consulate General of Mexico in Vancouver for over 12 years.

Among many accolades, she was the organizer behind the cultural section of Mexico Fest, an outdoor festival that took place at Robson Square in pre-pandemic times that would bring together, more than 10,000 visitors for a weekend in September to enjoy Mexican arts and culture. She has also worked tirelessly for the inclusion of women in all facets of life and served as VLAFF’s 20th Anniversary Festival Director.

Pachi Ochoa.

Pachi Ochoa

(she/ella)

Pachi Ochoa, a Venezuelan-born new media designer, is a passionate and dedicated community leader in Vancouver. Specializing in digital marketing and branding, she actively supports Latin American culture through outreach, creative initiatives, and cultural promotion. Pachi volunteers with Latincouver and the Venezuelan Canadian Society of BC, and serves on the board of Buses of Hope Spirit Society, aiding displaced Venezuelans through advocacy and awareness. She manages @pachinewmedia, an Instagram billboard promoting local entrepreneurs and artists. Her dedication has earned her recognition as a recipient of the Successful Women Canada Awards and a nominee for Latincouver’s Inspirational Latin Awards, inspiring many.