The Guadalajara Film Festival in Los Angeles (GLAFF) is proudly celebrating its Quinceañera this year with a dynamic program running November 6–8, 2025. Reaffirming its role as a vital platform for cultural exchange and cinematic discovery, the 15th edition of the festival highlights boundary-pushing storytelling and visionary filmmakers from across the United States and Latin America.
GLAFF’s 2025 Official Selection is its most diverse yet, featuring directors from Latin America, as well as U.S.-based Latinx, Black, Asian-American, Indigenous, Queer, Filipino, and Arab communities. Notably, 55% of the selected filmmakers are female, underscoring the festival’s commitment to intersectional representation.
Opening Night: Guillermo del Toro Returns Home
The festival opens with the highly anticipated adaptation of Frankenstein from Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Guadalajara native Guillermo del Toro.
Del Toro’s return to Mary Shelley’s timeless tale is one of the year’s most talked-about films, featuring an all-star cast led by Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz. The film will serve as GLAFF’s Opening Night Gala presentation on November 6th at the iconic United Theater in downtown Los Angeles. (The film premieres globally on Netflix the following day, November 7th.)
Closing Night: The Birth of House Music
Closing the festival on November 8th is the Los Angeles Premiere of Move Ya Body: The Birth of House. Directed by Elegance Bratton (The Inspection) and executive produced by Academy Award and Emmy winner Roger Ross Williams, the exhilarating documentary traces the rise of House music from the underground dance clubs of Chicago’s South Side to its explosion as a global cultural movement.
The film will bring the festival to a celebratory close as the Closing Night Gala presentation at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study.
Festival Spotlights: Prestige and Poignancy
The 15th program features several major presentations reinforcing the festival’s dedication to amplifying the intersectionality between the U.S. and Latin America:
- OLMO: A special presentation of Fernando Eimbcke’s coming-of-age film that deeply inhabits the U.S. bicultural/bilingual experience. The film boasts significant prestige behind the scenes, produced by Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner of Plan B, and executive produced by Brad Pitt.
- VAINILLA: Mayra Hermosillo’s feature directorial debut, which held its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival this year. This intimate coming-of-age drama, set in late 1980s Mexico, explores inheritance, resilience, and the reshaping of womanhood across generations. It will have its U.S. Premiere at GLAFF.
- JUAN GABRIEL: DEBO, PUEDO Y QUIERO: Two episodes of the long-awaited Netflix docuseries, directed by María José Cuevas, offer a heartfelt tribute to the artistry and lasting influence of the legendary Mexican singer and songwriter Juan Gabriel.
Acclaimed Titles and Short Films
The 2025 program further includes a multicultural array of acclaimed titles fresh from international festivals:
| Film Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| KITES (PIPAS) | Walter Thompson-Hernandez | A magical realist tale of a Rio gangster seeking redemption. West Coast Premiere. |
| TWELVE MOONS (DOCE LUNAS) | Victoria Franco | Stars Ana de la Reguera. A 40-year-old architect struggles with loss, identity, and fertility. West Coast Premiere. |
| FORGE | Jing Ai Ng | Siblings run a forgery ring in this tense art crime thriller. LA Premiere. |
| MOLUSCO | Mauricio Bidault | An international premiere described as a fight back with laughter against limits on free speech. |
| ESTA ISLA | Lorraine Jones Molina & Cristian Carretero | Two young lovers flee to the labyrinthine mountains of Puerto Rico to evade peril. |
| DEPECHE MODE: M | Fernando Frías de la Parra | A cinematic journey into Mexican culture’s relationship with death, framed by Depeche Mode’s 2023 tour. Special Screening. |
Additionally, the festival will present a robust selection of international short films, including Ben Lewis’s She Raised Me, starring Rosie O’Donnell and Zane Phillips, and Kayla Abuda Galang’s An Ongoing List of Things Found in the Library Book Drop.
A Bridge Through Cinema
“Fifteen years ago, GLAFF set out to build a bridge through cinema between two cultures that share roots, values, and most importantly, stories,” said Festival Director Ximena Urrutia. “As we celebrate our ‘Quinceañera,’ we reflect on the bonds we’ve built that remind us of the importance of coming together as a community, something we need now more than ever.”
The 15th edition of GLAFF will feature red-carpet premieres, panel discussions, masterclasses, and numerous industry and community events. Additional programming will be announced soon.
For more information on tickets, passes, press credentials, and the full schedule, please visit the GLAFF website.
