05/06/2025 - The programme, which will unspool from 9-11 June, hosts fiction and documentary titles with the aim of helping them find partners to get them finished and distributed

The 40th Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), which is being held in Mexico from 6-14 June, features Portugal as its guest of honour. What’s more, the gathering has now unveiled the selection of projects for the 21st edition of the Co-production Meeting, which will unspool from 9-11 June. The aim of this programme is to help the teams find suitable partners, so that they can ensure their projects’ completion and subsequent distribution.

The selected fiction films are La flecha de Cupido by Chile’s Manuela Martelli (1976, selected for the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) and Ernesto Meléndez Álvarez, which follows Antonio, who arrives in Chile to star in his partner’s new film, a gay romance set in 1973, but who falls in love with the other actor; Carácter by their fellow Chilean helmer Alfonso Gazitúa Gaete, which portrays how a young woman who suffers from panic attacks sets her sights on competing in female freestyle performance; Primero tomamos Anillaco by Argentina’s Paula Martel, about a teenage gang that traverses northern Argentina with a crazy plan – to assassinate the most despised former president; and La favorita de Dios by Ecuador’s Diego Ulloa, which shows how, when Pachi’s parents tell her they are planning to divorce, she tells everyone that the Virgin Mary can speak to her. El Bestia by Mexico’s Isidoro Sarfati tracks a boxer with delusions of grandeur, a ruthless coach and a struggle with his inner demons; Diamante, o Bailarina by Brazil’s Pedro Jorge Cabron depicts how, as she attempts to get closer to her unknown and homophobic father, a drag queen discovers a talent; and El extranjero by Argentina’s Sebastián Rodríguez unfolds during the football World Cup, as a Spanish journalist comes to the aid of a young woman wanted by the military government. El amor en los tiempos de Bacanería by the Dominican Republic’s Patricia Pepén introduces us to Zuleika, who is looking for love in the turbulent neighbourhoods of Santo Domingo, but who doesn’t know the meaning of self-love; Casilda by Mexico’s Urzula Barba Hopfner revolves around a former orchestra pianist addicted to cocaine who returns to Guadalajara after her older brother’s suicide; and Evolet by fellow Mexican director Ian Martín Castillón takes us to a fantastical realm where the illegitimate princess tries to usurp the throne destined for her half-brother.

On the other hand, the following documentaries are also locking horns: Juliette & Camille by Spaniard Paloma Zapata (Finding La Singla [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), which follows two racialised female musicians who join forces to create the soundtrack for a documentary; Rebelión de la memoria by Swiss producer Joël Jent, which is about a family of three people on different sides of the Peruvian Civil War, striving to escape a dark past; Brujas de la Isla by the Dominican Republic’s Crisfel Jimenez Contreras, about how women are attacked, exiled and accused when rumours start flying about them sucking children’s blood; Invicta by Cuba’s Inti Herrera, which follows Namibia, a woman who is undefeated in the country where only men have been able to box, and who was never able to represent Cuba in the ring; and La Centella by Mexico’s Nicolás Gutiérrez, a voyage through the mysterious phenomena that criss-cross the skies of his country.

Here is the full list of projects:

Casilda - Urzula Barba Hopfner (Mexico)
Producer: Urzula Barba Hopfner

Diamante, o Bailarina - Pedro Jorge Cabron (Brazil)
Producer: Heverton Lima

Carácter - Alfonso Gazitúa Gaete (Chile)
Producer: Alexis Sánchez

La Centella - Nicolás Gutiérrez (Mexico)
Producers: Jorge Diez, Nicolás Gutiérrez

Invicta – Inti Herrera (Cuba)
Producers: Neissy Delgado, Reymel Delgado

Rebelión de la memoria - Joël Jent (Peru/Switzerland/France)
Producers: Claudia Chavez, Sophia Rubischung, Charlotte Uzu

Brujas de la Isla - Crisfel Jiménez Contreras (Dominican Republic)
Producers: Yatnna Montilla, Laura Bennitez

Primero tomamos Anillaco – Paula Martel (Argentina/Chile/Brazil)
Producers: Paula Martel, Francisco Novick, Álvaro Manzano, Christian Nawrath Smith, Laila Pas, Diogo Faggiano

La flecha de Cupido - Manuela Martelli, Ernesto Meléndez Álvarez (Chile)
Producer: Ernesto Meléndez Álvarez

Evolet - Ian Martín Castillón (Mexico)
Producer: Alejandro Briseño

El amor en los tiempos de Bacanería - Patricia Pepén (Dominican Republic)
Producers: Cristian Mojica, Yoel Morales

El extranjero – Sebastián Rodríguez (Argentina/Spain)
Producer: Nicolás Torcanowsky

El Bestia - Isidoro Sarfati (Mexico)
Producers: Carolina Amador, Isidoro Sarfati

La favorita de Dios - Diego Ulloa (Ecuador/Spain)
Producer: Marta Baldó

Juliette & Camille – Paloma Zapata (Spain)
Producer: Sara Horta

(Translated from Spanish)