Bugger Off, 2025!

2025 was the year that took away so much from us: people we loved and admired, who brought light to this world and our lives; our hard-earned rights; our democracy; members of families ripped apart by mostly white goons…the list is long. It was the first time I actually felt a thick, dark cloud hang over this city, the country and the entire globe. 2025 reminded us of how unrepentantly cruel our fellow human beings can be and are.

2025 was a year full of disappointments personally and career-wise. I lost a major full-time gig because the potential employer needed somebody ASAP (which their recruiter did not make clear) and I was at the tail end of my annual gig with the Chicago Latino Film Festival. That was followed by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, producers of the Fest, telling me they would not need my services for the rest of the year due to financial reasons (they did bring me back briefly to help them with their fundraising campaign). The other gigs (including writing ones) also vanished.

And then there were the small disappointments, inconsequential for some, but they were things that I was looking for and that did not happen (yeah, I’m staring at you Criterion Closet!). And, of course, just to remind me that 2025 wasn’t done with me or you or you or YOU!!!!…I welcomed Christmas week with a massive, nasty cough that led to some rather sleepless nights and tons of antivirals and antibiotics. It left me wiped out and without any desire to do any writing at all.

I read far more books than last year and saw 157 films according to Letterbxd (four of which were rewatches). Yeah, I know the numbers are not impressive when compared to some of my colleagues but I never had and still don’t have the good fortune to be sent by a paying outlet to cover the likes of Sundance, Toronto or (my dream festival) San Sebastian. I wish I had listened to far more music this year (although I did go to several concerts, Ruben Blades at Rosemont Theatre and Kraftwerk at the Auditorium being my top picks.). And even though a couple of writing gigs fell through, I did write more this year for my own blog, for Third Coast Review (including my coverage for this year’s Chicago International Film Festival), and for the Chicago Latino Film Festival’s and International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago’s website and I am pretty proud of that output.

2026 will see me back at the Chicago Latino Film Festival. I will not give up on the Festival because, in the end, it’s not about the festival but about the films it presents. Latin American cinema is still blatantly ignored by most of my peers, especially in Chicago (I am still pissed off at how THE SECRET AGENT was shut out of the Chicago Film Critics Awards) and it shouldn’t be. The entire continent has been producing some of the most exciting cinema of the past 20 years, as exciting as anything coming out of South Korea, Iran or whatever country happens to be the flavor of the year. Hell, the same goes for African cinema. This year, I saw a couple magnificent films from that continent (ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL being top on my list) that were pretty much shrugged off by a lot of critics groups this awards season.

There are a couple of potential gigs for this first quarter of which I hope to be sharing more about soon. And after postponing our trip to visit family in Puerto Rico and my parents in Orlando, we are travelling to Puerto Rico in May (yeah, I know, right around the Chicago Critics Film Festival, but this next year family takes priority over everything else).

I don’t have any high hopes for 2026. A friend remarked on Facebook that we could look forward to the mid-terms after all BUT they take place in November and anything can happen between now and then. 2026 also marks the fifth anniversary of my sister’s passing so that will be weighing heavily on my mind. I’ll still find comfort in the movies, in literature, in music and, most importantly, my wife, Olga, who has been my rudder for more than three decades.

So, Happy New Year to all. May you find comfort in the small things in 2026.