Diana Cadavid on Finding the Stories That Matter
Ahead of LALIFF, we spoke with Diana Cadavid, who oversees the festival’s programming and leads LFI’s Industry Programs, about her path from Colombia to the international festival circuit and what continues to shape her approach to film.
With a month to go before the festival, Diana Cadavid is in a familiar place. There is a mix of excitement and nerves, shaped by how much has gone into the work and how close it is to meeting an audience.
“Every year is different,” she says. “Every year brings its own challenges and its own happiness.” What keeps it moving forward is the shared energy around her. The team, the filmmakers, the growing anticipation all building toward the same moment.
That sense of purpose and connection has been a throughline in her relationship to film, even before she ever considered working in it.
Growing up in Cali, Colombia, film was part of everyday life. Trips to the theater for major releases and movies dubbed on television at home were familiar experiences. It was not until later, as a student, that cinema began to open into something more expansive. Documentary became an entry point, not just as a format, but as a way of understanding the world.
“It was a surprise,” she says, describing the moment she began to see her own questions about humanity reflected on screen. From there, independent cinema expanded that perspective, introducing her to new voices and ways of seeing. Screenings in informal spaces, conversations with peers, and the act of following one film into another created a sense of discovery that felt both personal and collective.
In Bogotá, that experience deepened. Attending a film festival for the first time marked a shift. Film became something to engage with alongside others, not just something to watch. That sense of connection and discovery would go on to shape how she understood the role of cinema in a broader cultural context.
That relationship eventually led her into the world of festivals. After moving to Canada, she began as a volunteer at a small experimental Latino film festival in Toronto. Within a month, that turned into her first job. It was not a calculated move as much as a continuation of the spaces she was already drawn to.
“Film festivals have been a very important part of my life since my early 20s,” she says. “They open spaces for dialogue and give momentum to the industry.”
Today, her work spans multiple contexts, including her role with the Latino Film Institute and as an International Programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival. Moving between those spaces requires constant recalibration, shaped by audience, context, and timing.
“When you are programming, you are not choosing films for yourself,” she explains. “You are thinking about your audience, the moment you are living in, the kind of conversation you are trying to create.”
Each film, in that sense, is its own universe. Programming becomes an exercise in how those films sit alongside one another and how they contribute to a larger conversation. It requires balance, not only in tone and form, but in ensuring that a range of voices are represented and given space to be seen.
That perspective also shapes how she approaches the work coming in today. In recent years, certain themes have become more visible across submissions. She points to a growing sense of collective grief, not always tied to a specific event, but present in tone and atmosphere. Alongside it is another current running through the work.
“A kind of social anxiety,” she says. “A sense of the world transforming rapidly.”
At the same time, many of these stories return to something more grounded. There is a recurring focus on connection and solidarity, on the idea that even in moments of uncertainty, there is still a shared humanity that holds people together.
“It is like both things exist at the same time,” she says. “That sense of loss, but also a reliance on each other.”
At LFI, that awareness informs how she approaches the organization’s Industry Programs. The work is not only about responding to shifts in the industry, but helping shape where it is going. That includes engaging with new technologies, expanding who is included in the conversation, and building pathways that connect across programs and disciplines.
For her, the impact is visible in real time. Artists move through these spaces, build on one another’s work, and carry those experiences forward into new projects and collaborations.
Still, at the center of everything is the same instinct that first drew her in. A search for something genuine.
“When a film feels truly connected to the story it is telling, you can feel it,” she says. “There is no separation between the language of the film and the heart behind it.”
It is not something easily defined, but it is unmistakable when it is there. And it is what continues to guide her through every submission, every selection, and every festival cycle still taking shape.