The film “I Am Always Your Maternal Animal” (Siempre soy tu animal materno), the second feature by Costa Rican filmmaker Valentina Maurel, winner of the Horizontes Latinos award in 2022, will open the San Sebastián Film Festival section, which this year includes a dozen titles from eight countries in the region.
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The section is dedicated to works directed by filmmakers of Latin American origin, produced wholly or partially in Latin America. Among the selected films are four Mexican productions, three Chilean, and two Argentinian, as well as films from Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay.
The program includes the world premiere of “The French Teacher” (A Professora de Francês), the fourth feature film by Brazilian director Ricardo Alves Jr., a psychological thriller in which a woman returns home after her father falls ill and is taken in by neighbors from a religious congregation who threaten her identity and sanity.
The Colombian duo of Juan Gelacio and Esteban Hoyos returns to the San Sebastian Film Festival with “Five Years, Four Months”, which premiered in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The film tells the story of a woman who follows a dark rumor to find her son, who disappeared during Colombia’s armed conflict.
Werner Herzog, Premio Donostia de la 74 edición del Festival de San Sebastián
El cineasta de 83 años será reconocido por todo su recorrido como director, productor, actor y guionista.https://t.co/aRtJXWnT3L
— El Cultural (@elcultural) August 7, 2026
The text reads, “Werner Herzog will receive the Donostia Award at the 74th San Sebastian Film Festival. The 83-year-old filmmaker will be recognized for his entire career as a director, producer, actor, and screenwriter.”
Argentina is represented by “The River Train”, directed by the late Lucas A. Vignale and Lorenzo Ferro, who makes his directorial debut at a festival where he has participated several times as an actor.
Argentina’s presence is rounded out by “The Illusion of an Endless Summer,” a documentary by photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti filmed over 25 years, which follows the childhood, adolescence, and motherhood of two cousins in the pampas.
Meanwhile, Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor returns to the festival with “La Pendra,” a loose adaptation of Pilar Quintana’s novel of the same name, after opening the Horizontes Latinos section in 2025 with “Clean”. The film was awarded a Palm Dog at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight.
Mexican director Bruno Santamaría Razo makes his fiction debut with Six Months in the Pink and Blue Building, which premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week and received the Best Project Award at the Co-Production Forum and the Dale! Award in 2022.
These titles join the previously announced productions: Ashes in the Mouth, by Diego Luna; Sad Girls, by Fernanda Tovar; Flies, by Fernando Eimbcke; the Chilean film The Thaw, by Manuela Martelli; and the Paraguayan film Narcissus, by Marcelo Martinessi, which will close the section.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | Costa Rica makes history with the creation of the first symphony orchestra comprised exclusively of women. This initiative by the Ministry of Culture and Youth brings together 70 performers from Costa Rica and other Latin American countries. pic.twitter.com/lU2VPu1lan
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) March 5, 2026
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