Mexico’s Guadalajara Film Festival, based in Mexico’s second city and Guillermo del Toro’s hometown, is celebrating its 40th anniversary by doing what it always does: introducing Mexican films and talent, especially new voices, to the world.
In its latest initiative, Berlin’s legendary Kino Babylon will host a showcase of recent notable titles from the Festival de Guadalajara (FICG in common parlance), headed by Estrella Araiza since 2019.
The FICG Goes to Berlin showcase will open on April 8th, running from January 30th to February, in preparation for the 2026 edition of the festival, which will run from April 17th to 25th. Kino Babylon opened in 1929 and, despite its ups and downs, is still going strong and is the perfect venue for Guadalajara’s 40th anniversary showcase.
The festival, which was founded in 1986 and focuses on films from Mexico and other Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal, has seen booms and busts of state funding, strengthened through COVID-19, and is now in its 40th year, if not the largest film festival in Latin America, with 289,777 attendees in 2025 for its 40th edition, including all activities, according to Araiza’s final tally. This popularity may be rivaled only by Brazil’s Rio Film Festival.
Guadalajara, an industry pioneer and scheduled to host the 22nd Co-Production Conference and the 20th Guadalajara Construyer Pics in Post Showcase in 2026, welcomed 1,473 industry participants to its 2025 program, which also incorporated the TV-focused Episodio Cerro, DocuLabo, local talent-focused Pitch Guadalajara and Talent Guadalajara. Talent Project Market and video game themed FICGames playtest.
Estrella Araiza, Director of the Guadalajara Film Festival
Provided by FICG
FICG comes to Berlin: 10 highlights of the lineup
More than just a celebration, FICG Goes to Berlin is part of the festival’s transformation from a one-off event to a year-round cultural and entertainment business driver. The event will include 18 fiction features and 9 documentary features. Below, Variety takes a closer look at the 10 Berlin-bound trips that were highlights of Guadalajara in its 2024 and 2025 editions.
“The 10” and the “FICG Goes to Berlin” showcase in general also say a lot about current Mexican cinema.
Variety’s selection also includes better-known titles and directors. Case in point: “State of Silence,” the fourth documentary film by Mexico’s Santiago Maza (“The Thunder Feast”), produced by Diego Luna (“Ardor”), had its world premiere at Tribeca and was picked up by Netflix for North America and Latin America.
Similarly, “Rock, Weeds and Rocanrol” is the latest work from one of Mexico’s biggest mavericks, José Manuel Cravioto. He is the showrunner on “Diablelo” and also the director of “El Chapo” and Alex Pina’s “The Billionaire Banker.” “Colina” won the 2025 SXSW Audience Award globally and received eight Mexican Academy Ariel Award nominations.
Of the eight other films selected by Variety, six are first solo feature debuts, reflecting Guadalajara’s status as an important platform for the exhibition and international promotion of new voices.
Some of the major titles in FICG Goes to Berlin have major social points. “State of Silence,” for example, begins by pointing out the alarming death toll of Mexican journalists and delivers a memorable homage to those who continue to put their lives at risk.
“Rock, Weed, and Locanolol” nails the unyielding conservatism of the Mexican establishment. But FICG Goes to Berlin draws on a wide range of features, from Autorist and LGBTQ (“After”) to a crossover love story (“Café Chanel”).
Above all, many of the FICG Goes to Berlin titles explore fundamental relationships, for example between father and son, mother and son, as the world goes pot. “We wanted to highlight the love between fathers and sons in the hopes that their story would reflect our own aspirations and inspire us to believe that we, too, can achieve our dreams,” says Pulley of “The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine.”
Of course, movies that depict such deep bonds can stir strong emotions. For example, when the father-son story “Concert for Other Hands” is performed at Berlin’s Kino Babylon, expect very few dry eyes in the house.
Variety has picked out just 10 of the films that will be shown at FICG Goes to Berlin:
“Then” (“Después”, Sofia Gómez Córdoba, Mexico)
After losing her son to a very likely suicide at the age of 20, Carmen must accept that no matter how deep their relationship was, there were still hidden secrets as a future of self-discovery opens up. Gomez Cordova said the film is “an examination of motherhood in the midst of changing societal norms regarding gender roles, romantic relationships, and sexuality.” Produced by Bruja Azul in Guadalajara.
“Café Chairer” (Fernando Barreda Luna, Mexico)
Tessa La’s “After Lucia,” starring Tessa La, is her second romance drama set in the beautiful port of Tampico.It depicts Alfonso (Maurice Isaac) and Katia (La), who have a deep sense of loss, starting a cafe and awakening to life while stopping. This is the second feature film directed by Barreda Luna, produced by his label Nopal Army Films (“Crocodile”).
“Concert for Other Hands” (“Concerto para otras manos” Ernesto González Díaz, 2024, Mexico)
“That’s what every father wants: for his son to share his hobbies and passions,” classical pianist José Luis says in “Concerts for Other Hands.” However, her son David was born with short arms and four fingers. Remarkably, he is about to perform in public the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that Jose Luis composed for him. A documentary film by González Díaz (“Escucha”), winner of the 2025 Mexican Film Journalists Award for Best Documentary, about the relationship between a father and son.
“Colina” (Ursula Barba Hopfner, Mexico)
“It’s like Mexico’s ‘Amelie,’ a refreshing, endearing, surprisingly sharp champion of happy endings,” Variety said. Co-starring Ted Lasso actor Cristo Fernandez, the stylized drama follows a 20-year-old girl who has never left her neighborhood until she searches for a writer at a local publishing house who can save her job and the lives of her co-workers. The film is produced by Mandarina Cine, who also starred in “Nudo Mixteco” and “The Devil Smokes,” which won the Berlinale Perspective Award.
“The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine” (“La fabulosa máquina de cosechar oro”, Alfredo Poulai, Chile, Netherlands)
The story of Toto, a charismatic gold miner who became the top prize winner in Guadalajara, Sanfic, and Lima in 2024. A devoted son builds a gold mining machine virtually on his own to help his sick father. The emotional relief on their faces when they finally get the machine up and running is worth its weight in gold. From Chile’s ambitious Juntos Films.
“Molusco” (“Molusco”, Mauricio Bidot, Mexico)
Director Bido’s latest documentary and third full-length feature. The film chronicles the life and times of famous Mexican graphic artist José Ignacio Solzano, known professionally as Jisoo, who shot to fame with El Santos, Variety recalls. There are also people who are both stars and people in the news, such as Guillermo del Toro and Diego Luna.
“Rock, Weed, and Rocanlol” (“Automobile, Mota y Rocanlol” by José Manuel Cravioto), Mexico
A 70’s mockumentary based on truth. It tells the story of how El Negro and Giustino fly into Woodstock, Mexico to organize a car race with 150,000 participants. Mexico’s fiercest men had a field day, railing against “a hell of naked depravity, blood, potheads, and death.” The government cracked down on rock and roll, and it took 10 years to recover.
“Rock, Weed, and Rocanlol” by Jose Manuel Cravioto
“State of Silence” (“Estado de silencio”, Santiago Maza, Mexico)
Mexico’s recent standout player by any standard. What makes “State of Silence” stand out is the intimacy with which it follows the lives of four journalists who refuse to be silent about the heart of Mexico: the toxic mix of organized crime syndicates, local government, and narcopolitics. In a fast-paced interview, Maza explained to Variety that “State of Silence” achieves a beautiful cinematic result, with the idea of ennobling the extraordinary courage of the journalists portrayed.
state of silence
Provided by: La Corriente del Golfo
“Twelve Moons” (“Dose Lunas” Victoria Franco)
“Una Pequeña Confusion,” an entry in the 2025 Tribeca International Narrative Competition, is a smash hit led by Ariel Winograd’s Mexican BO star Ana de la Reguera (“Ana,” “Nacho Libre”). Here, she plays Sophia, 40, an architect who struggles with infertility and spiraling addiction, and is depressed after a loss. Shot in black and white by director Victoria Franco and ace director Sergio Armstrong (Neruda), the film marks Franco’s solo debut, having directed his brother Michel Franco’s 2013 film Through the Eyes. “Twelve Moons” is produced by Michel Franco and distributed by The Match Factory.
“We Shall Not Be Moved” (“No nos moverán” Pierre Saint Martin, Mexico)
Mexico’s 2026 Oscar pick, Variety hailed it as an “auspicious” debut, calling it “a searing chamber piece about the country’s unhealed wounds.” Veteran actress Luisa Huertas plays Soccolo, an aging lawyer seeking extrajudicial revenge decades after her brother was murdered in the 1968 Tlatelolco student massacre. “Meticulously conceived,” Variety said, the film was produced by Mexico’s Barrios Lobos (“The Darkness”).
we are not moved
Courtesy of Barrios Lobos
