Havana Film Festival New York 2026 is the sister of the prestigious Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana (International Festival of New Latin American Cinema) in Havana, Cuba in December (one of the best times to visit Cuba). It promotes Caribbean, Latin American, and U.S. Latino movies.
It’s an opportunity to see films you won’t see anywhere else in New York. The opening night and closing night parties are epic. Stars and filmmakers often attend.
Havana Film Festival New York 2026
26th Havana Film Festival New York 2026
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30+ Caribbean, Latin American, and U.S. Latino films
Focus on identity, migration, and memory
Opening night red carpet: DGA New York Theater, Midtown; Fri, May 1, 5:30pm
Screenings: Quad Cinema, Greenwich Village; Sat-Thu, May 2-7
This season screens films from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Italy, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, and more.
The opening night film is the New York premiere of “Aún es de Noche en Caracas” (It Would be Night in Caracas), a political thriller directed by Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás based on the Karina Sainz Borgo novel set in the 2017 Venezuelan protests. 🇻🇪
Latin Beats on Screen: From Tango & Salsa to Hip-Hop & Flamenco
This program spotlights films about artists whose storytelling and rhythms define Latin identity. 🇦🇷 🇨🇺 🇵🇷 🇪🇸 🇺🇸
Telling origin stories, drumming, singing, and dancing are important in many traditional cultures around the world. But African Diasporic traditions dominate the world’s culture far more than any others.
And in both African and Indigenous traditions, storytelling, drumming, singing, and dancing are one unified thing, and also deeply rooted in spirituality. For example, in many traditions, dance is how we pray. That salsa move where a woman puts her hand straight up in the air and looks at it, is Oshún, the Yoruba Orisha of fresh water, love, sensuality, and fertility looking at her mirror.
Latin music originates in the most disadvantaged communities. Its beginnings are universally considered low class and too sexual ~ until the powers that be figure out how much fun we’re having.
Then they can’t get enough, the tradition drops its religious element, and goes global. That’s true about tango, salsa, hip hop and flamenco. It’s also true about bomba, merengue, bachata, dembow, yanvalou, cumbia, son cubano, samba, blues, jazz, and gospel.
These Latin traditions are always communal, and the audience is part of the experience. Latin culture brings people together. That’s why it is so loved.
There is something about modern life, and especially the digital world that separates us. We need communal traditions more than ever.
All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men couldn’t put America back together again; but tango, salsa, hip hop and flamenco can. ¡Olé!
Tributes
This season, the Havana Film Festival New York pays tribute to two of Latin America’s most influential film schools ~ Cuba’s EICTV and FUC in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A screening of “Circe,” based on a Julio Cortázar short story honors Argentine filmmaker Manuel Antín on his birth centenary.