Generación JGeneración J

For young Latin American screenwriters and directors of fiction films

Generación J is focused on fostering the professional development of Latin American fiction screenwriters and directors. In this context, we select 10 emerging screenwriters and directors under the age of 32 who are currently writing their first fiction feature films.

At JIIFF 2026, Generación J takes place in José Ignacio over three in-person days, with activities hosted at Casa Neptuna (Fundación Ama Amoedo). The program is coordinated by Anahí Berneri, together with local and international experts.

The new focus of this edition is the emphasis on connections and creative exchange across Southern Cone countries, bringing together young talents from Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. Through partnerships with CinemaChile (Chile) and Universidad del Cine (Argentina), a regional space is created to support emerging filmmakers and strengthen creative and professional collaboration.

Generación J is further supported by NYFA (United States), ECAM (Spain), and Universidad del Cine (Argentina), providing awards that recognize the selected participants through scholarships, consultations, and mentorship. In addition to working within Generación J, the ten screenwriters and directors also have the opportunity to connect with Working JIIFF guests, take part in networking activities, and enjoy the festival’s screenings by the sea.

Each of these experiences strengthens relationships and opens concrete opportunities for the future of their projects.

COORDINATOR

Anahí Berneri

Anahí Berneri

Screenwriter and director. She wrote and directed six feature films that were internationally acclaimed. Among them, "Alanis" (2017 - Best Director at San Sebastián) and "Elena Sabe" (2023), produced for Netflix (Top Ten worldwide in non-English speaking categories). She also directed series for Amazon Brazil and HBO MAX. She is a thesis tutor at ENERC and head of Audiovisual Narrative at UNA. She has taught and mentored at NOKA Mentoring (Spain), EICTV (Cuba), Maryland College of Arts (USA), Universidad Católica (Chile), among others.

TUTORS

Armando Bo

Armando Bo

Screenwriter, director, and film and television producer. Academy Award and Golden Globe winner for Best Original Screenplay for Birdman. He directed the feature films El Último Elvis and Animal. In 2020, he founded ABOUT Entertainment and served as showrunner and executive producer for both seasons of El Presidente and for the series Cromañón. He is currently preparing as director the feature film Las Malas, based on the novel by Camila Sosa Villada.

Mercedes Reincke

Mercedes Reincke

Television writer and executive. She was Vice President of Content Development at Viacom International Studios, where she created scripted and unscripted formats for local and international audiences. In 2020, she founded ABOUT Entertainment together with Armando Bo, Natacha Cervi, and Ezequiel Olemberg. She was executive producer of the series Cromañón, the feature film Barreda, and the biographical series Moria, currently in production.

Natacha Cervi

Natacha Cervi

Producer and executive producer. In 2001, she co-founded the production company Rizoma, through which she produced more than 30 feature films, including El custodio, Medianeras, El motoarrebatador, and Distancia de Rescate. In 2020, she founded ABOUT Entertainment together with Armando Bo, Mercedes Reincke, and Ezequiel Olemberg. She was executive producer of Cromañón and Barreda, and she develops and produces fiction and non-fiction content for local and international markets.

Santiago Fillol

Santiago Fillol

Screenwriter and director based in Barcelona, a PhD, and a professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. A collaborator of Óliver Laxe, he co-wrote Mimosas, O que arde (Fire Will Come)—winner of the Silver Astor for Best Screenplay at Mar del Plata 2019—and Sirât. He directed Matadero (premiered at Locarno 2022) and co-directed the documentary Ich bin Enric Marco.

Yves Fogel

Yves Fogel

Founder and CEO of VAPAI Studio, an AI-driven audiovisual studio reimagining how stories are created and scaled. He has over 10 years of experience at the intersection of technology and visual media, and more than 7 years using AI as a tool for creative work. His practice blends creative direction, strategy, and workflow design to prototype and produce content with generative tools focused on speed, quality, and the exploration of “liquid” formats between cinema and interactive experiences.

PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR PROJECTS

CIMARRÓN

Abril Ayala

Abril Ayala
(Argentina)

Is a film director and sound professional, currently completing a BFA in Film Directing at Universidad del Cine. Recognized for her screenwriting, in 2024 she took part in a screenwriting workshop with Nicolás Gueilburt, where she developed her first feature film, Cimarrón. She has worked on more than twenty short films, as well as campaigns for the Latin Grammys and Spotify Argentina. She is currently writing Cimarrón and handling distribution for La Pared Gris.

Fantasy – Horror – Psychological Thriller. When two siblings inherit their father’s old Chevrolet Cimarrón, they discover inside it the tapes of an unfinished film. As they attempt to shoot it again, the movie spills into fiction, memory, and their relationship, pulling them toward an ending that was already written… or perhaps already filmed.

Atrapar la luz

Agustín Fernández Lombardo

Agustín Fernández Lombardo
(Uruguay)

Agustín is a Uruguayan audiovisual filmmaker. He directed the short film El mar no calma (2024), winner of the Best Uruguayan Short Film award at the 42nd FCIU, and screened at festivals such as Habitar el Cine (Venezuela) and Mientras Tanto Cine (Uruguay), among others. He has also directed other shorts and music videos, and has participated in performing arts works. He is currently developing his first feature film.

Drama. When Javier (20) learns of his best friend’s suicide, he retreats into a quiet, solitary grief. Soon he is pulled into a spiral of searching, as he begins to suspect that perhaps his friend never died.

ANULADO

Ilén Juambeltz

Ilén Juambeltz
(Uruguay)

She has written and directed award-winning short films, supported by production funds and screened at dozens of prestigious international festivals. She directed the Uruguayan story in the episode “Love” of Stories of a Generation with Pope Francis, an international Netflix docuseries. She has received awards from ACAU and has been selected for CDPAI (Carolina Foundation), Málaga Talents, Cannes’ First Co-Production Workshop, Montevideo Cine Lab, FRAPA, among others.

Thriller – Drama – Horror. Enzo, a young football star, is struck by a mysterious pain in his leg on the eve of a cup final. He feels his body deteriorating, yet doctors can find no real injury. As the club and the fans demand him as their savior, a mysterious entity seems to be claiming him as an offering.

GILES

James Snyder

James Snyder
(Uruguay)

An actor, writer, and director—above all, a storyteller. During his formative years in Uruguay, he discovered a deeper meaning in his passion for cinema, applying his multifaceted skills across several award-winning short films. More recently, he received the Best Short Screenplay award for his short film BYE-LINGO at the LatinUY Film Festival. The short was also a finalist at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival.

Coming of age. A coming-of-age story about an American boy during the summer of 2015 in Piriápolis, Uruguay, alongside a group of rebellious local teenagers whose wild adventures leave an unforgettable mark on his life.

TIEMPO EN EL AIRE

Juan Martín Lista

Juan Martín Lista
(Uruguay)

A director and screenwriter, currently completing the final stage of his degree at the Faculty of Information and Communication (FIC). Throughout his training, he has taken part in the production of short films, documentaries, and audiovisual programs developed in the academic sphere. In parallel, he has also pursued independent film projects.

Dramedy. Adrián was supposed to emigrate to Spain with his girlfriend, but at the last minute he decided not to board the plane. She left. He stayed. During the fourteen-hour flight, Adrián decided to use the time to postpone telling the truth to his family and friends.

LA LENGUA DE LA PAMPA

Mahiara Meret Sáenz Piña

Mahiara Meret Sáenz Piña
(Chile)

She is a writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker. She studies Audiovisual Communication with a specialization in Film at UNIACC. Her background in theater and professional makeup informs her visual language, centered on paradox, territory, and performance. She is the writer-director of Hagiofobia (2026), a dystopian horror and body-horror short film. She is currently developing Ándate a la punta del cerro (2026) and preparing her debut feature, La Lengua de la Pampa.

Magical Realism - Science Fiction. In a ghostly nitrate-mining town in Chile’s desert, Elena discovers a luminous orb that awakens visions, a forgotten language, and the silenced memories of the women of the pampas. The town believes she is possessed, and Matilde—its devout matriarch—tries to subdue her, while Elena’s spiritual awakening and her forbidden love for Agustina become an act of liberation.

POR UNA TUMBA ABIERTA

Marbella Tescari

Marbella Tescari
(Argentina)

She is a director and screenwriter trained at Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. She has worked as an Assistant Director on feature films and has directed three short films. She took part in the ABC BAFICI 2023 post-production mentorships and in BAFICI 2024 distribution workshops. She is completing the Film & Series Screenwriting program at the Screenwriting Lab and is developing her first feature film, *Por una tumba abierta* (*For an Open Grave*).

Crime Thriller. When Sol disappears after accepting the offer of a powerful client, Clara—a high-end escort—launches a search that pits her against corrupt police and a trafficking ring operating at the port. To save her, she will have to risk her life and her freedom.

Proyecto#03_Zapicán

Martín Fernández Santini

Martín Fernández Santini
(Uruguay)

Executive Producer of Invierno Tardío, starring Mirella Pascual and directed by Juan Recuero; and of the medium-length film Grapamiel con Açaí (Perí de Alencar), winner of the Audience Award at the Cortos en la Torta Festival. He also directed the music video Autoboicot for Mirá Ro (2023).

Horror. Milo, a young man obsessed with recording his life on VHS, travels with his father, Oscar, to the town of Zapicán after the death of an uncle he never knew. Oscar begins to show symptoms tied to a family secret that Milo will have to confront—one that will transform his father into a monstrous creature.

AZABACHE

Micaela Tyler

Micaela Tyler
(Uruguay)

Uruguayan filmmaker based in Madrid. A director and cinematographer, she trained in Audiovisual Communication and has extensive experience in film, documentary, and advertising. She has worked as a camera technician on international platform productions, and has directed and shot independent projects in a range of formats.

Drama Based on True Events. In the final years of Uruguay’s dictatorship, Luisa—a girl raised in hiding after fleeing Paraguay with her mother—runs away to a traveling circus when the long-awaited reunion never happens. There, she begins to face her past, stop living life on hold, and build her own identity.

GOLPEAN LAS OLAS

Valentina Reyes Villarroel

Valentina Reyes Villarroel
(Chile)

Chilean director and screenwriter. Her debut feature, Las mujeres de mi casa (2020), was recognized as Best Film at SANFIC16. She co-wrote the feature films Duele (2023) and El Claro (2025), both of which premiered at the Havana Festival of New Latin American Cinema. She is currently completing post-production on the short film Réplica, which she wrote and directed.

Drama. Norma (13) leaves her island in the Chiloé archipelago—where everyone knows her—to arrive in a city where no one is waiting for her. Separated from her family to continue high school, she searches for belonging through boxing and an intense friendship. When that bond breaks, she crosses a violent line that leaves her exposed, with nowhere to hide.

AWARDS

In this edition of Generación J, the awards are designed to support and enhance the growth of the participating writer-directors, recognizing the work carried out during the workshop and offering concrete opportunities for training, professional exposure, and specialized guidance to propel their projects and their next steps within the industry.

  • Universidad del Cine Award, consisting of participation in the 2026 edition of Talents Buenos Aires, under the same conditions as the other participants.
  • A NYFA scholarship for a 15-week online screenwriting course.
  • Impulso ECAM Awaard consisting of an ad hoc consultancy for a project in development: four hours of work with an industry professional, to be scheduled at any point during the current year.
Gen J 4ta Edición

GenERACIÓN J 4th EDITION

The novelty of the 2025 edition of Generación J was its focus on fostering the narrative development of Uruguayan films by working on screenwriting and directing skills. Ten emerging Uruguayan screenwriters and directors under the age of 32, who were writing their first feature films, were selected. For three days in José Ignacio, the participants explored new creative tools, received mentorship, and shared knowledge with peers, allowing them to strengthen their professional skills and projects.

Gen J 3ra Edición

GENERACIÓN J 3RD EDITION

In the third edition, Generación J became a space legitimized by the local industry. A space that laid the foundations for the professional careers of the participants, but also for their projects that, from this point on, began to be recognized by other training spaces and work laboratories. In the 2024 edition, we called on director-producer duos under 32 years of age to think together about the project they were developing; so that they could approach it dynamically and enhance it for its next stages.

Gen J 2da Edición

GENERACIÓN J 2ND EDITION

The 2023 edition brought together 10 new talents from Uruguay, meeting with specialists from the global film industry.

Gen J 1ra Edición

GENERACIÓN J 1ST EDITION

Generación J is starting in 2022 with the aim of training young emerging Uruguayan producers. A meeting that is not only a space for knowledge but also for the positioning of new talents in Uruguayan fiction cinema.

Casa Neptuna

Casa Neptuna

The Generación J training space is held at Casa Neptuna, the space for artists of the Ama Amoedo Foundation. A space for thought and creation designed by the artist Edgardo Gimenez.