Watsonville Film Festival

08/22/2026

Watsonville Film Festival is so proud to support this community-rooted documentary film premiering at the New York Latino Film Festival!

Just a few miles from Silicon Valley, yet a world away, Las Mismas Manos follows Martin's journey from the fields to the world of software engineering, exploring what happens when opportunity, access, and community intersect.

Thank you to Martín Vargas Vega, Jacob Martinez and our sister organization Digital NEST for making it all possible!

We’re incredibly excited to announce that Las Mismas Manos will premiere at the New York Latino Film Festival this September! 💙

📍 New York City
🎬 September 2026
📅 Screening date & details coming soon!

See you in New York! 🗽❤️🎥

08/17/2026

Hear fascinating stories about women supporting women and learn what inspires, teaches and supports leaders in our community!

Join Watsonville Friends of the Library and the Watsonville Film Festival for an inspiring conversation featuring:

🎤 Alicia Martinez, Director, Watsonville Public Library
🎤 Dr. Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah, Vice President of Student Services Cabrillo College
🎤 Consuelo Alba, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Watsonville Film Festival
🎤 Stephanie Barron Lu, Executive Director, Positive Discipline Community Resources
🎤 Mireya Gomez-Contreras, Executive Director, Esperanza Community Farms /

The panel will explore the films, mentors and books that have shaped their leadership—and how we can build a shared vision rooted in resistance, inspiration, creativity and equity. Featuring guest poet Dinora Martinez 📝

🆓 Free event
📍 Watsonville Public Library, 275 Main St., Watsonville
📅 Thursday | September 10
Hosted by Watsonville Friends of the Library | Co-sponsored by Watsonville Film Festival

08/08/2026

08/07/2026

American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez opens in Salinas at Maya Cinemas Salinas starting today August 7.

Join film co-producer Brenda Avila and WFF Executive Director Consuelo Alba for a post-screening conversation tomorrow Sat. August 8 at 7pm.

The Sundance audience favorite film tells the story of , the man who built out of the fields of California and turned the figure of the pachuco and the history of the Riots into influential American stage art.

Narrated by Edward James Olmos in character as El Pachuco, featuring Dolores Huerta. It began on a flatbed truck at the Delano picket lines, with farmworkers performing their own strike, and El Teatro Campesino has made its home thirty minutes up the road in San Juan Bautista ever since.

A Mexican American story on the big screen, in the valley that lived it.

08/04/2026

08/01/2026

Luis Valdez founded and directed the influential Chicano theater company El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, which was founded with support from Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers in 1965 and is still running today.
Read more below

08/01/2026

The celebration begins! 👑🦋🎞️

Film submissions are officially 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 for the 15th Annual Watsonville Film Festival! 🎥

For fifteen years, the has celebrated the stories, voices, and filmmakers who inspire us and bring our community together. As we prepare for our Quinceañera, we’re excited to welcome a new class of storytellers to be part of this milestone celebration.

Submit today, here’s the link: Here's the link to submit your film: https://filmfreeway.com/WatsonvilleFilmFestival

Whether you’re premiering your first short film or your latest project, we invite you to share your work with our community and join us as we celebrate 15 years of storytelling, culture, and community.

🎉 𝗙𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: March 4–13, 2027

🎬 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀: August 1, 2026
🐦‍⬛ 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆-𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: October 1, 2026
🚨 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: December 1, 2026

Here’s to the next generation of filmmakers and the next chapter of the Watsonville Film Festival. ¡Que empiece la fiesta! 🎉