No sooner have the carnival flowers been swept from the Promenade than the party continues – only now the beat shifts several thousand kilometres west.
It may only be early March but Nice is already riding high into its event-packed spring, and La Fiesta del Cine Latino seizes the moment with uncommon flair. The film festival’s fourth edition, currently underway through 8 March, unfolds across local theatres not as a mere film series but as a full-throated immersion in Latin American life: rare cinema paired with the music, dance, flavours, and conversations that give those films their living context.
The draw begins with the films themselves: exclusive French and world premieres from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay. These are works that bypass the commercial circuits that favour safer bets, and for most of these directors, Nice is their only European audience. Organised by the Franco-Brazilian Boca Boca Productions under the direction of renowned director/producer Eric Belhassen, the selection spotlights independent visions. Gritty documentaries, lyrical dramas, tales of migration and reinvention land in Nice with a freshness no multiplex could match.
What elevates the experience beyond the screen is the unbroken line to the creators. After each screening, filmmakers and their teams field questions live, whether from the theatre stage or patched in from Latin America. The exchanges cut through the usual post-film pleasantries: raw talk about funding struggles, cultural taboos, the sheer improbability of getting these stories made and seen. In landmark venues like Cinéma Variétés, Rialto, and the Cinémathèque, the room feels electric, the distance between projector and audience disappears into something personal.
The Cinémathèque brings its own dimension to the festival, running a parallel strand of restored Argentine classics from the 1950s alongside the competition programme as a reminder that beyond the new, the festival is also about recovering what was lost.
Then there’s the fiesta in the name, delivered without apology. Major screenings open to live music and dance — samba rhythms, tango steps, and Andean flutes spill from foyers into the night air. Food stalls turn intermissions into destinations: Colombian arepas still warm from the griddle, Brazilian caipirinhas sharp with lime, Mexican empanadas whose spice lingers through the next reel. This sensory layer is no afterthought: it emphasises that Latin American culture arrives whole, not sliced for export.
Audience voices carry real weight through the Prix du Public, tallied from ballots cast over the ten days and unveiled at the 7 March closing ceremony. No juries, no gatekeepers — just the crowd’s collective gut deciding which film walks away marked. And given that these are works most European audiences will never encounter again, it is not a casual vote. A short film competition runs alongside the main programme, open to both amateurs and professionals. Prizes include a hands-on internship at ESRA Nice, linking festival exposure to real career advancement.
The run ends in grand style: a French-exclusive documentary by festival creator Eric Belhassen himself, tracing the arc of Brazil’s starred French-born chef Erick Jacquin, whose own path from São Paulo kitchens to Michelin tables mirrors the festival’s ethos of improbable crossings. Awards follow, then more food, more dance, the night stretching loose and loud.
In a city that knows how to stage a spectacle, La Fiesta del Cine Latinoamericano stands apart by making culture feel urgent and approachable: Latin America distilled to its most vivid essence, right here in the theatres off the Promenade. For ten days, it hands Nice a passport to another world without leaving town.
VISITOR INFORMATION
La Fiesta del Cine Latinoamericano runs until 8 March 2026 at
- Cinéma Variétés
- Cinéma Rialto
- Cinémathèque de Nice
Closing ceremony 7 March at 19h, Cinéma Rialto.
Full programme and tickets at lafiestadelcine.bocaboca.com.br
VENUE DETAILS
Cinéma Variétés
5 Bd Victor Hugo
06000 Nice
Tel: +33 (0)4 93 88 78 65
Cinéma Rialto
4 rue de Rivoli
06000 Nice
Cinémathèque de Nice
Cinéma Megarama Nice Vauban
Av. François Mitterrand
06300 Nice
Tel: +33 (0)4 92 04 06 66
PHOTO CREDITS
- All photos and images courtesy La Fiesta del Cine Latino
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