ASCO: Without Permission
Cine+Mas SF is thrilled to announce the official lineup for the annual San Francisco Latino Film Festival (SFLFF), which will celebrate the best in Latine cinema from October 23 through November 6. The 2025 festival season opens at the iconic Roxie Theater and continues across various venues, including the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Artists’ Television Access, and our newest partners, Ninth Street Independent Film Center, and Apple Cinemas.
The festival will kick off on Thursday, October 23, with the highly anticipated documentary ASCO: Without Permission. Directed by Travis Gutiérrez Senger and executive produced by cinematic heavyweights Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, the film had its premiere at SXSW 2025. Senger will attending the screening for a post screening Q&A.
ASCO: Without Permission chronicles the fiercely iconoclastic 1970s Chicano avant-garde art group ASCO, who took their political and artistic battles to the streets of Los Angeles. The documentary reveals how their revolutionary, genre-defying work—which merged activism and art to challenge Latinx representation in the art world, politics, and Hollywood—is only now being seen as essential.
This year’s selection of feature films is a powerful collection of narratives and documentaries from across the Americas and the diaspora, including the following highlights:
Beyond the features, the SFLFF is proud to present a diverse and impactful selection of short films, showcasing fresh, immediate voices in Latin cinema. The highly curated short film programs span genres from biting Comedy and touching Drama. We are particularly excited to highlight the Darker Side of Life program, which features suspenseful and emotionally challenging narratives such as Blind Spots and GIRA, from Mexico and Brazil. The festival also shines a light on essential perspectives through its thematic programs, including the LGBTQ+ section with films like Crisantemo and Dark Roast exploring the full spectrum of queer Latino identity, and the powerful Women’s documentary shorts including The Long Labor by Brenda Ávila-Hanna and Consuelo Alba of Watsonville which speaks to migrant and indigenous community health care. These short works offer quick, profound, and impactful glimpses of emerging Latino talent and stories.
The San Francisco Latino Film Festival will run through November 6th, with screenings at the Roxie Theater, Apple Cinemas, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and other venues. The festival gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its returning sponsors and valued partners. SFLFF is proud to continue its collaborations with major corporate sponsors, including Xfinity, Toyota, and AT&T and key venue partners, including the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Artists’ Television Access, and SPARK Social. The newest addition to the San Francisco cinema landscape, Apple Cinemas, and long time film resource and space, 9th Street Independent Film Center, are proudly supporting the festival.
