Media Arts Program

The Media Arts Program strives to promote and preserve quality independent and Hollywood Latino and Chicano films by bringing them to the community. Since 1977 the program presents the largest and oldest international Latino film and video exhibition in the nation. The San Antonio CineFestival premiers and promotes films by Latinos and for Latinos. As the nation’s only competitive Chicano/Latino film festival, San Antonio CineFestival annually recognizes excellence in Chicano/Latino film and video production with the Premio Mesquite Award.

Over its 27-year history, CineFestival has celebrated the power this visual medium has to share experiences and spark discussion. CineFestival has grown with the evolution of Chicano to Latino cinema, an explosive growth of the pool of talented filmmakers and a growing market hungry for entertainment, information and common community. CineFestival 2004 continues the tradition by bringing San Antonio audiences screenings of engaging films created by emerging and veteran Chicano, Latino, and Indigenous filmmakers.