The 2025 Ibero-American Huelva Film Festival will offer far fewer titles than other film festivals. The sense of curation is also part of the fun. However, it is very difficult to choose 10 titles because the choices are the same. Variety’s 10 titles focus primarily on thrillers for a wide audience, most of which are very recently declined titles. Variety magazine could have easily chosen a completely different title.
“A bright future” (Lucia Garibaldi, Cimarrón, Uruguay, Argentina, Germany)
A moving sci-fi retro-futuristic fable about the false seductions of capitalism, set in an unspecified region of Latin America plagued by vermin and mass extinction of cats and dogs. There, the brightest young people are offered a one-way ticket to the prosperous and highly productive North. But Camilla, one of the ticket winners, is increasingly thinking about giving up traveling. This year’s Tribeca Viewpoint winner built Garibaldi’s cache following his debut film, “The Sharks.”
“Ellas en la Ciudad” (Reyes Gallego, Movistar Plus+, Las Ajuelas Film, Canal Sur)
Gallego’s feature debut, co-written and produced by Rafael Cobos, is a portrait of the women who helped shape the suburbs of Seville in the ’70s, proving them to be the backbone of their communities and part of Spain’s cultural heritage. The women themselves also face the camera and express their dissatisfaction with living solely as housewives. A popular title at Talento Andaluz in Huelva.
“Flowers for Antonio” (Elena Molina, Isaki LaCuesta, Boomerang TV, Caballo Films, Spain)
Antonio Flores, a wonderful man and loving father who was also a talented singer and composer, died of an overdose in 1995, two weeks after his mother. His daughter, “Money Heist” star Alba Flores, who was 8 years old at the time, asks why and tries to capture his essence, his duende. Movistar Plus+ is famous for its fiction series. Directed by Molina and LaCuesta in their prime, “Flowers for Antonio” exemplifies an attempt to address Spain’s recent history through a bio-documentary and a broader focus. It’s an exciting discovery for those who want it.
“Isla Negra” (Jorge Riquelme Serrano, Laberinto Films, El Quisco, Chile)
Variety previously reported that the film is a hard-hitting and disturbing home invasion thriller set in a luxurious beach house, based on real events, starring the “absolutely brilliant” Alfredo Castro, and highlighting class disparities in Chile and the rash of evictions due to real estate development projects on Chile’s beautiful coast. This is Riquelme’s third feature film, following “Camaleón”, which won the San Sebastian 2019 New Director Award, and “Some Beasts”, which won the Audience Award at Filmer Fest in Switzerland. 70
“It will be night in Caracas” (Marite Ugas, Mariana London, Red Rum, Absolute Artist, Impression Entertainment, Mexico, Spain)
Variety magazine enthusiastically reported in October that “Natalia Reyes and Edgar Ramirez star in this tense, moving, and sadly cautionary tale of surviving societal collapse, set in the backdrop of the 2017 Caracas riots.” “Rarely have the lines between historical re-enactment and genre re-imagining been so effectively blurred,” continued critic Jessica Kiang, praising how the film mined “pulp fun” and its “deftly propped dystopian roller coaster ride.” Further consecration to Ugas and London for “Bad Hair” which won San Sebastian’s highest award, the Golden Shell, in 2013.
“November” Tomás Corredor (Burning, Piano, Vulcana Cinema, Toden Film, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Norway)
It’s shot like an action documentary, often in the dark and with long shots, but in a claustrophobic box format and interspersed with archival footage. After M-19 forces stormed Colombia’s Palace of Justice in November 1985, guerrilla fighters, magistrates, and civilians ended up locked together in one of the toilets, convinced that they would likely die if Colombian forces retake the palace. “‘November’ is about human fragility in the face of the intractable reality of impending death. It’s a story about resistance,” Corredor told Variety. It was distributed by Cineplex and also acquired by Prime Video.
“Pendaripen” (Alfonso Sanchez, Enciende TV)
Where did the Romani people (Gitanos in Spanish) come from?Answer: Cannauj in northern India. How did it enter Spain?Answer: Via Huesca in the Pyrenees. This vigorous denunciation establishes an accurate record of the history of the Romani people, documenting centuries of racial discrimination and recent historic legislation, although discrimination remains. Sponsored by national broadcaster RTVW and Andalusian state television Canal Sur. The latest work from Huelva Premio Luz winner Sanchez.
“The Reborn” (Santiago Estevez, Le Tiro, El Otro Film, Zabriskie Film, Yagan Film, Rio Film, Argentina, Chile, Spain)
From the producers of “La Residencia” and “Upon Entry,” the Shanghai Gold Cup winner is a tense and propulsive hard-boiled thriller about brothers Manuel and Oscar fighting for survival after faking a man’s death for the mob, an operation that goes spectacularly awry. I was moved by Estevez’s The Education of Rey (2017). Argentina’s La Nación newspaper gave it a positive review, calling it “an intelligent exploration of complex emotional dynamics.” “The Reborn,” set in the majestic Mendoza Andes, is sure to enhance Estevez’s reputation. Distributed by Latido Films.
“Vainilla” (Mexico, Red Rum, Mayra Hermosillo)
Set in the late 1980s, this film depicts a family of seven women of different generations and ideologies as they struggle to protect their home from the perspective of the youngest, 8-year-old Roberta. Hermosillo’s first feature film, full of warm humor, was created by actor-turned-director Stacey Perskys Redrum, co-executive producer of “Narcos: Mexico” and producer of Rodrigo Prieto’s “Pedro Paramo.” One of the most anticipated upcoming titles at last year’s Ventana Sur, it was eventually acquired by Spain’s Bendita Film Sales and had its world premiere at Venice Days, where it received applause from viewers.
“Wheels, Weed & Rock’n Roll” (Jose María Cravioto, Mexico)
From top-class maverick Clavioto to director “El Chapo,” he is currently directing Alex Pina’s “The Billionaire Banker.” Here he delivers an often comedic knockabout mockumentary about what he calls one of the most important episodes of the Mexican counterculture: the Abandaro festival. The event, which was meant to be a car race, turned into Woodstock, Mexico, and was trumpeted by one far-right commentator as a “hell of naked depravity, blood, potheads and death.” The Mexican government cracked down on rock and roll, and it took a decade to recover.
