NewFilmmakers Los Angeles

09/17/2026

¡Gracias a La Opinión por cubrir nuestro InFocus: Latin & Hispanic Festival por segundo año consecutivo! También queremos agradecer a Jailene Girón por destacar a nuestros creaitivos de septiembre. 💫

🔗 ¡Lee el artículo completo aquí https://laopinion.com/2026/09/15/newfilmmakers-la-presenta-la-edicion-2026-del-infocus-latin-hispanic-cinema-festival/ o haz clic en el enlace de nuestra bio!

¿Alguna de las películas mencionadas llamó tu atención? ¡Ven al festival este fin de semana y disfrútalas en el centro de Los Ángeles! 🎥

🎟️ ¡Compra tus boletos ahora en https://www.newfilmmakersla.com/events/

La nueva edición de InFocus llega este 18 de septiembre para celebrar el talento, las historias y la diversidad de la cinematografía latina e hispana

09/17/2026

We’re proud to share that NFMLA has received a Community Grant from the Taco Bell Foundation! 🎬✨

This support helps us continue creating opportunities for the next generation and ensuring young people have the tools they need to succeed in higher education and beyond.

And you can help, too! Every time you Round Up your total at a Taco Bell Restaurant, your contribution helps support youth scholarships and organizations like ours. 🌟

Together, we can invest in the next generation.

09/16/2026

We’re proud to receive a Community Grant from the Taco Bell Foundation ! 🎬✨

This support helps us ensure the next generation has the tools and opportunities they need to succeed in higher education and beyond.

When you Round Up at a Taco Bell Restaurant, your contribution helps support youth scholarships and organizations like ours. 💛

09/16/2026

🎉 Meet the recipients of NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA)’s 2026 NewNarratives Grant Awards!

This year, six grants totaling $35,000 will support seven visionary storytellers as they bring bold, original projects to life:

🎬 2026 NewNarratives Anthony Rhulen Grant Awards
Four grants of $5,000 each:

✦ Claudia Forestieri
✦ Daina Trout and Sharzad Kiadeh
✦ Jessica Sanders
✦ Paloma Rabinov

🌎 2026 NewNarratives Environmental Storytelling Grant
One $5,000 grant, co-presented by Athens Services:

✦ Lu REN

🤖 2026 NewNarratives Absurd AI Storytelling Grant
One $10,000 grant, presented with Absurd:

✦ Angie Jones

We were inspired by the extraordinary talent, imagination, and ambition represented across this year’s submissions. To everyone who shared a project with us: keep creating, keep building momentum, and keep bringing your stories into the world. Your work matters.

Read the full story in MovieMaker Magazine by Editor-in-Chief Tim Molloy: https://www.moviemaker.com/nfmla-20260-newnarratives-grant-awards/

Our deepest gratitude to our partners, Athens Services and Absurd, and to the Rhulen Family Foundation for its continued support in memory of independent film producer Anthony Rhulen. ❤️

Congratulations to all of our 2026 recipients! 🎥✨

New Filmmakers Los Angeles announced the latest recipients of its prestigious NFMLA NewNarratives Grant Awards, with all six of this year's awards going to

09/16/2026

🤸‍♀️✨ When the person whose approval you want most is watching, even your biggest passion can feel like a test.

High Beam joins the lineup for NFMLA’s September Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Latin & Hispanic Cinema I program. 🎬✨

Synopsis: HIGH BEAM follows Genna, a 9-year-old gymnast who spends a day at work with her mother, a dedicated gymnastics coach. When it’s finally her turn to perform for her evaluation, she finds herself unable to execute the skill in front of the one person whose approval she craves most. Forcing her to question if this sport is worth pursuing anymore.

High Beam

✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Kaila Gutierrez

🎥 Producer: Raghav Puri

🎟️ Learn more: https://www.newfilmmakersla.com/events/

09/14/2026

🚲✨ Sometimes the journey to your dreams begins with discovering the strength you already have.

América joins the lineup for NFMLA’s September Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Latin & Hispanic Cinema II program. ✨

Synopsis: América, a 10-year-old girl from a remote village in the Peruvian Andes, dreams of buying a bicycle so she’ll never be late to class again.

América

✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Javier Arias-Stella

🎥 Producers: Camila Zavala

🎭 Starring:
Flor Santa Cruz Conchori
Harold Aucca Cruz
Alberick García
Eric Otero

🎬 Crew:
Director of Photography: Soren Nielsen
Art Director / Production Design: Edilberto Mérida
Editor: Eric Williams
Music / Original Score: Erick Del Águila

🎟️ Learn more: https://www.newfilmmakersla.com/events/

09/13/2026

🎨✨ Sometimes finding yourself means embracing every shade that makes you who you are.

Gris joins the lineup for NFMLA’s September Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Latin & Hispanic Cinema I program. ✨

Synopsis: During her first week of school, eight-year-old Sofía begins questioning her identity after a classroom encounter exposes the way others see her. As her drawings come to life, they guide her toward embracing every part of who she is.

Gris

✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Loren Escandón

🎥 Producers: Jorge Vela Cinemazul Media Group

🎬 Crew:
235 - Digital and Media Applications
Las Aventuras De Julianne
Ángela Gabriela
Johanna Robledo
Mauricio Vidal
Claudia Victoria
Sebastian Zuleta
Daniela Gamboa Arias
Margarita B. A.
Jose Arboleda
Piragna S.A.S

🎟️ Learn more: https://www.newfilmmakersla.com/events/

09/12/2026

💄 Behind every perfect image, there can be a truth that’s impossible to hide.

Plaster Saints joins the lineup for NFMLA’s September Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Latin & Hispanic Cinema II program. 🎬✨

Synopsis: In a dystopian America ruled by the Liberty Party, three childhood besties get ready for a gala under the watch of the state's surveillance cameras.

Plaster Saints

✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Carolina Sabrina Caruso

🎥 Producers: Chris Molina and Victor Noah Acevedo

🎟️ Learn more: https://www.newfilmmakersla.com/events/

09/11/2026

From the 83rd Venice International Film Festival to the 51st Toronto International Film Festival! And onboarding George Clooney as an executive producer. NFMLA Alumni Filmmakers Nora Mariana Salim and Rami Kodeih landed an inaugural NFMLA NewNarratives grant in 2021, and took home the Best Short Film, Drama prize at the Best of NFMLA Awards the same year. NFMLA is proud to continue supporting their journey and congratulates them on this monumental new film, FURIES! Congrats, Rami (director) and Nora (producer)...onward and upward! 🏆🎉💐

And the reviews are in! Read them now:

▶️ The Hollywood Reporter review by Sheri Linden: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/furies-review-lebanon-rami-kodeih-1236687379/

▶️ Time Out Travel review by Phil de Semlyen: https://www.timeout.com/movies/furies-review-2026

09/09/2026

🎬✨ A huge congratulations to our partners at Trojan Entertainment Network, NFMLA alumnus Blaine Morris, and our partners at SAGindie on a successful evening of Reinventing the Reel: Building the Independent Film Ecosystem!

We’re proud to celebrate the conversations, connections, and community coming together to support and strengthen independent filmmaking. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible and continues to champion the indie film ecosystem. ❤️

Here’s to building a stronger future for independent film, together! 🎥✨