07/07/2025 - The remake of the 1977 Venezuelan film classic stars Spanish actor Fran Berenguer alongside Venezuelan actors Jorge Reyes and Mimi Lazo

Filming has just wrapped in Caracas on El pez que fuma, a reinterpretation of the Venezuelan classic originally released in 1977 and directed by Román Chalbaud, who co-wrote the film with José Ignacio Cabrujas. This new version is directed by Venezuelan actor and filmmaker Luis Fernández, who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Spanish actor Fran Berenguer (who appeared in the Prime Video teen films Culpa mía and Culpa tuya) alongside Venezuelans Jorge Reyes and Mimi Lazo (who appeared in the original film and stage adaptation, and now returns to portray the same character).

Shot entirely in Venezuela, this feature film tells a story of desire, power and betrayal, set in a brothel in the 1970s where fiction gradually begins to blur with reality. “It's always a challenge to revisit a classic that made such an impact in its time,” says Luis Fernández. “More than a remake, this version tells the story of a group of artists who come together to shoot a film and, in the process, uncover an unexpected love story that changes their lives.”

The brothel El pez que fuma is much more just than a brothel: it’s a refuge, a system, a dysfunctional family held together under the rule of La Garza (played by Mimi Lazo), a strong and wise woman who has created order from chaos. But that order is threatened by the arrival of Jairo (played by Fran Berenguer), a seductive yet calculating young foreigner determined to overthrow Dimas (Jorge Reyes), La Garza’s strongman, and climb to power—no matter the cost. A film crew sets out to remake this Venezuelan cinema classic. While the film is being shot, the cast and crew find themselves caught up in the very drama they are portraying on screen. Passions and secrets being to mirror the story they are telling, turning the set into an increasingly dangerous reflection of the film’s plot.

"The film is cinema within cinema. It allows us to pay tribute to the original creators and celebrate our craft, while exploring fundamental themes: the power of women in a patriarchal universe, passion, ambition, true love amid chaos and memory, that existential questioning that comes with maturity," continues the director. "We've been developing this film since 2019. It’s been a complex journey, full of coincidences and revelations, both in fiction and in real life. I believe all of that comes through on screen.”

El pez que fuma is produced by Patricia González for the Spanish company El Sueño Eterno Pictures and by Mimi Lazo for the Venezuelan company Broadway en Español in association with José Antonio Varela (Divarte) and Jorge Reyes (Producciones Etiopía).

(Translated from Spanish)