JIIFF LAB

Formed in Radio and Television at FAAP, with a specialization in film and documentary from The New School in New York, she has been the director of the Mostra Internacional de Cine in São Paulo since its 13th edition. She is responsible for film selection, programming, production, workshops, debates, and editorial publications. She has co-produced prominent films such as “O Estranho Caso de Angélica” (Cannes, 2010) and “Do Visível ao Invisível” (Venice, 2008). She was awarded the Governor’s Award (2011) and the Chevalier of the L’Ordre National du Mérite (2017).

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.

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.

Luigi Chimienti co-founded dispàrte. He has produced features and shorts selected and awarded worldwide, while also attending international workshops. His latest productions are: Cuerpo Celeste (Tribeca), Terra Vil (Tallinn Just Films), Windless (Karlovy Vary Proxima), Los Domingos Mueren Más Personas (Cannes ACID), Margini (Venice Critics’ Week), Maternal (Locarno Competition). He’s an EFA and EPC member and a MAIA, MIDPOINT, EAVE and Rotterdam Lab alumnus.

Has over fifteen years of experience in the Latin American film industry, with a background in distribution, marketing, and audience development. She founded the production and distribution company Interior XIII and was Director of RivieraLAB and of the Locarno Industry Academy for Mexico and Panama. She is the producer of Paraísos artificiales; Los mejores temas, El palacio, Killing Strangers, and Minotauro; as well as Te prometo la anarquía. Since 2020, she has worked at MUBI in Latin America, leading the company’s growth in the region.

Benjamin Domenech is an Argentine producer and founder of Rei Cine, a company that develops, produces and finances films, series and interactive content for a global audience. His Producer credits include works by filmmakers such as Lucrecia Martel, Marcela Said, Luis Ortega, Valeria Bertuccelli and Benjamín Naishtat, amongst others. He is a member of the AMPAS/Oscars®, EAVE, IFP and the Argentine Academy.

It’s midnight in Buenos Aires and three people make a wish on a shooting star: a boxer wishes for fame, a heartbroken musician asks to find love again, and a teenage girl wishes her father would come back to life. But something goes wrong—due to the star’s miscalculation, each person is granted someone else’s wish, unleashing chaos..
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DIRECTOR: Ingrid Pokropek (Argentina)
Director, screenwriter, teacher, and film producer. Among her most notable works is Los Tonos Mayores (2023, her debut feature), which premiered at the Berlinale and received awards at Jeonju (Grand Prize), Málaga (Best Ibero-American Film), and Seattle (Special Jury Mention). She has directed several short films that have premiered and been awarded worldwide. She is the co-founder of the production company 36 caballos.

PRODUCER: Juan Segundo Álamos (Argentina)
Producer and teacher. A graduate of the Directing program at Universidad del Cine, where he teaches Film History I. He is an EAVE Puentes alumnus. He founded the production company 36 caballos, through which he has produced several acclaimed feature films and established his career as a producer. His most recent production, Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed (Hernán Rosselli), premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and won Best Film awards at Gijón, FICUNAM, and Márgenes.

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In a city ravaged by fires, Liz—a lonely content moderator—discovers that her virtual lover is a being trapped inside her computer. As the boundaries between the real and the digital begin to blur, Liz becomes obsessed with giving it a physical body through a bioprinter that uses human blood, risking her own humanity in the process.

DIRECTOR: Valeria Hofmann (Chile)
A Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter specializing in information technologies and genre cinema. Her short film AliEN0089 (2023) premiered at Sundance, and La siesta del carnero (2020) competed at the Málaga Film Festival and FICUNAM. Her earlier works include GOD (2019) and Propaganda (2014), both awarded the Young Jury Prize for Most Innovative Film at Visions du Réel. She participated in Berlinale Talents in 2024.

PRODUCER: Úrsula Budnik (Chile)
An audiovisual producer, she founded Horamágica in 2003, through which she has produced feature films, series, and festivals. She produced Sebastián Lelio’s La Sagrada Familia and Navidad. She is part of the team behind the Alga Film Residency. Together with Augusto Matte and Fernando Bascuñan, she created the “Máquina” production model, through which they are producing the feature film Daemon, winner of Ibermedia Development and an ICAA fund, and selected for the Berlinale’s EFM.

Nora (42) lies when she says she is pregnant and walks away from her cancer treatment. To embark on this possible journey toward personal freedom, she must let go of the ties that have turned her into a mirror-woman—reflecting others rather than herself. She must learn to float, to become light. Her decision may seem incomprehensible at first to everyone around her, but it will ultimately illuminate the path of those she loves.
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DIRECTOR: Rosa María Rodríguez Pupo (Cuba)
She graduated in Executive Production from EICTV (2022), in Directing from the University of the Arts (ISA) (2013), and from ENA (2007). She is an executive producer at GatoRosafilms, a collective based in Havana. She directed La trenza (2021, Best Film at HFFNY), Nara (short film in competition at FINCL), Órgano (2019, Gibara Post-Production Award), I Love Papuchi (2018, FINCL and Cenesex Award), and La costurera (Gibara Festival and Frankfurt Cuba in Film Award).

PRODUCER: Cristina Gallego (Colombia)
Director, film producer, and writer. She has received numerous awards as a director and producer, including Colombia’s first Academy Award nomination (Embrace of the Serpent) and the Golden Shell (Los Reyes del Mundo). Since 2001, she has dedicated herself to producing, co-founding Ciudad Lunar with Ciro Guerra and producing feature films recognized at major international festivals. She is a member of the Colombian (ACACC), Mexican (AMACC), and American (AMPAS) film academies.

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A Spanish woman travels to Uruguay in search of her absent father. As a child, a cassette her mother played on repeat made her believe her father was the French composer Erik Satie. At 37, a DNA test reveals that 29% of her genetics are French, and the childhood fantasy gains new force. She decides to legally acknowledge her father before a notary, creating an unprecedented legal procedure. Her fear of failure leads her to hire a French actor to stand in for her father.

DIRECTOR: Joana Carro (Spain)
Joana Carro (Lisbon, 1988) works at the intersection of cinema, writing, editing, and visual arts. She co-directs Fulgencio Pimentel (Gràffica Award and National Award) and has translated more than thirty books. She has held residencies at Cité des Arts (Paris), LABoral (Gijón), and CITL (Arles). She is developing her debut feature, My Name Is Erik Satie, selected for Novos Cinemas, Meditalents, TAI Incuba, Mallorca Talent Lab, and MECAS, where it received the Cine por Hacer Award.

PRODUCER: Marco Bene (Spain)
Producer and curator. A graduate in Art History from Goldsmiths (London), he has produced 16mm films and curated experimental cinema programs at MoMA, in Lisbon, and in Paris. He collaborates with Esnatu Zinema (executive producer: Jaione Camborda), the company behind films such as O Corno (Golden Shell at San Sebastián; screened at 40+ festivals) and Arima (Best Director, Nuevas Olas Sevilla; Best Film, Márgenes).

After the 1972 plane crash of a group of young Uruguayans in the Andes mountain range, Madelón sets out in search of her missing son. Driven by the faith that he may still be alive, she refuses to give up even as the world loses all hope of finding survivors. Inspired by true events, the film portrays the epic journey of a mother who not only confronts the mountain that separates her from her son, but also another mountain: her own past, in search of a miracle.
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DIRECTOR: Horacio Reyes Páez (Uruguay)
A director and screenwriter based in Vienna. He studied Film Directing at Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. His short films have screened at international festivals, where they received awards. In addition to directing, he has taken on roles as cinematographer, producer, and music composer. He is currently developing his first fiction feature, La Otra Montaña (The Other Mountain), with the Uruguayan production company U FILMS.

PRODUCER: Virginia Hinze (Uruguay)
She holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication and has more than two decades of experience in the audiovisual sector. Throughout her career, she has served as a juror and advisor for various national and international funds. In 2012, she co-founded U FILMS, a production company focused on international co-productions and independent distribution. She is President of ASOPROD, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Uruguay, and a board member of EGEDA Uruguay.

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