Latin America & Spain Film Festival 2025 23rd Edition

The Latin America & Spain Film Festival (LASFF) is a vibrant cultural event dedicated to displaying contemporary cinema from Latin America and Spain. Celebrating its 23rd edition, LASFF continues its mission to embrace the richness and diversity of Spanish and Portuguese-speaking cultures through the captivating art of film.

As a non-profit initiative, the festival aims to connect communities by offering a shared space for cultural exchange and storytelling. Organised by the Embassies, this year’s LASFF proudly presents a curated selection of films from eight participating nations: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Spain.

The festival offers a wide selection of films, providing audiences with an immersive experience of the language, culture, and social issues shaping these extraordinary countries.

While Wellington is home to this year’s opening event, hosted by Chile, LASFF extends its reach across Aotearoa. This nationwide event is made possible through the invaluable support of local councils, academic institutions, cultural organisations, and corporate sponsors.

This year the festival will visit the following cities: Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, Blenheim, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Tauranga, Whanganui.

LASFF, as a non-profit initiative, is powered by significant community support and invaluable partnerships.These ongoing collaborations are fundamental to keeping the festival free and open to a broad and diverse audience across the country.

Our vision

Our aim is to celebrate Latin American and Spanish culture by bringing New Zealand communities together to experience it in the public realm.

The Latin American & Spanish Film Festival (LASFF) offers a unique opportunity to engage with Latin American and Iberian cultures through one of the most powerful means of communication: cinema.

Beyond providing a “home away from home” for New Zealand’s fast-growing Latin American community, LASFF has steadily gained popularity. Over the years, an increasing number of people from diverse backgrounds have attended the Festival.

Organizing Committee 2025

The Festival is run by all the Latin American and Spanish Embassies residents in Wellington and this year we have 8 participating nations: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Spain.

This year's coordinator: Embassy of Chile in New Zealand

The Embassy was established in 1973; however, this year we are celebrating 80 years of diplomacy between Chile and New Zealand. There are currently around 6,000 Chileans residing in the country.

Our Ambassador, Manahi Pakarati, is the first woman to assume this role, and the only diplomat of Polynesian Rapa Nui (Easter Island) ancestry in the Chilean Foreign Service.

The Embassy of Chile is honoured to lead and coordinate this year’s festival. However, the seven participating embassies have worked collaboratively and diligently throughout the year to bring this event to life, and we are deeply appreciative of their efforts.

We sincerely hope that this festival serves as a bridge between Latin American and New Zealand communities, allowing our cultures to become more visible and appreciated in this beautiful country.

© Scoop Media