The climax of the 41st edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) was met with great enthusiasm—a celebration of collaboration, a passion for cinema, and a love of storytelling that transcends the screen and touches the soul.
The red carpet shone brightly at 6:00 p.m. to welcome the voices that bring the screen to life, including Lola Dueñas, Damián Alcazar, Cristo Fernández, Samuel Kishi, Fernando Cuautle, and Eugenio Caballero, as well as members of the jury and the teams behind the films in competition.
In the Plácido Domingo Hall at the Santander Performing Arts Complex, the evening’s host, Andrés Zuno, offered a warm welcome and expressed his gratitude to the audience, sponsors, collaborators, supporters, the jury, the transportation team, and the volunteers, all of whom made the Festival possible.
The host acknowledged the importance of Chile’s presence as this year’s Guest of Honor and asked Estrella Araiza, the FICG’s executive director, to come on stage to present the FICG Industry Tribute to Elena Vilardell, technical and executive secretary of Ibermedia, in recognition of her tireless work in building collaborative networks among Ibero-American countries.
“Everything good that has happened in my program over the more than 28 years we’ve been running it has happened in Guadalajara. The program originated here, as did the meetings of officials and film industry representatives. At the time, it was led by Jorge Sánchez and Gerardo Herrero, and it got its start here. The first meeting was in Havana, but it began in Guadalajara. We launched Ibermedia TV, and we organized all the meetings of the Ibero-American film archives—they were all held here. So, thank you very much, Guadalajara,” said the honoree.
Vilardell read a letter in which she also said: “My job is a desk job—the kind of work that, technically, no one pays attention to. I’m a civil servant, and civil servants don’t receive recognition. We do our jobs, period. That’s why, now that the Mexican film industry has decided to give me this award, I feel satisfaction and pride, but it’s also a huge surprise. That is why, overwhelmed and filled with joy, I accept this honor, which reaffirms to me that this large family of Ibermedia—of the dream-makers that is cinema—exists and is worthwhile. It sure is worthwhile,” said Vilardell, who left the stage visibly moved, wiping a few tears from her face.
The video*Así fue* was also screened, offering a look back at everything that took place during FICG41 through footage of screenings, events, red carpet appearances, and master classes held from April 17 to 25, 2026.
Following Elena Vilardell, American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky received the International Tribute, which was presented to him by Guillermo Arturo Gómez Mata, president of the FICG Board of Trustees.
Upon taking the stage, the director of acclaimed films such as*The Wrestler*(2008),*Black Swan*(2010),*Requiem for a Dream*(2000), and*Mother!* (2017) thanked the audience and shared that Mexico is his favorite destination in the world; he also mentioned that during his stay in Guadalajara he visited his favorite artists, adding:
“Being here—and by that I mean at this film festival—is a reminder of how important it is to tell stories. Storytelling is humanity’s original technology. It’s what makes us human. It’s what makes us better human beings. And being at this film festival with all these storytellers, all these stories, and the audience that receives them is, for me, a constant reminder of how important it is to keep creating.”
“So to all the young film students in Guadalajara, the young filmmakers, just remember that you’re doing the right thing—we need you. Keep working, keep fighting. I know it’s really tough out there. But if you tell a story that means something to you, you’ll find an audience—hopefully not just at festivals like this one, but all over the world.”
When the most anticipated moment of the night arrived, the announcement of the FICG41 winners began. The awards ceremony started with the FIPRESCI Prize for*Oca*and continued with the FEISAL Prize for the Chilean film*Aquí se escucha el silencio*.
“She [Gabriela Pena, director] is the third generation to carry these traumas caused by human rights violations during the Chilean dictatorship. And she, with great intuition, great courage, great patience, and great love, decided to take up the torch of this story so she could care for her grandparents and ensure that their memory, too, could find peace. And, as the film says, they do this by opening the door to everything that hurts and everything that heals. So I hope that, with this small gesture, we can care for our history with love and great respect—a history that so often remains cyclical,” said Picho García, co-director of*Aquí se escucha el silencio*.
The string of surprises continued with the Ibero-American Fiction Feature Film category, which awarded the prize for Best Debut Film to*Barrio triste*and saw a tie for Best Performance between Nicolás Zárate for*Hangar rojo*and María Magdalena Sanizo for*La hija cóndor*. Hangar Rojo alsowon awards for Technical and Artistic Achievement, Screenplay, Directing, and Ibero-American Film.
“Looking to the past is necessary in order to build the future—a better present. At a time when fascism is resurging, it is more necessary than ever […] to consider cinema, theater, and acting from both an artistic and a political perspective,” said actor Nicolás Zárate about*Hangar Rojo*,a thrillerset during the 1973 coup d’état in Chile.
Next came the awards ceremony for the Ibero-American Documentary Feature Film category. The award for Best Technical and Artistic Achievement went to*La fabulosa máquina del tiempo* byEliza Capai; the award for Best Director went to Paula Cury for*Niñas escarlata*; and the award for Best Ibero-American Documentary went to*Niñas escarlata*. In addition, an honorable mention was given to*Flores para Antonio*by Elena Molina and Isaki Lacuesta.
At the fifteenth edition of the Maguey Awards, the jury presented its awards, beginning with an honorable mention for*Nuestro cuerpo es una estrella que se expande*by Semillites and Tania Hernández Velasco, followed by the Best Performance Award for Yuri Gomes and Teca Pereira for*Feito pipa*, the Jury’s Maguey Award for*Soy Mario* by Sharon Kleinberg, and, finally, the Maguey Award for Best Film, presented to*Feito pipa*.
“We made this film with a lot of love,” said director Sharon Kleinberg about*Soy Mario*, “and we know there are many stories that have still been hidden and that need to be told. It’s important that, as a society, we open our consciousness and our minds and question the beliefs we were taught as children about what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman; that we open our minds so we can embrace the integration of masculinity and femininity within a single person.”
Meanwhile, at the “Made in Jalisco” festival, *Mi lugar favorito*was awarded Best Jalisco Short Film and*El círculo de los mentirosos*was awarded Best Jalisco Film. In the Socio-Environmental Film section,Black Water was named Best Socio-Environmental Film, and in the Genre Film category,Hablando con extraños received an honorable mention, followed by the award for Best Genre Film, won byAlpha. Toward the end of the ceremony, in the Ibero-American Short Film category, an honorable mention was awarded to*Replikka*, and the award for Best Ibero-American Short Film went to*Tres*.
The lineup concluded with the Mezcal Award.*La misma sangre*won over the Young Jury. However, the Audience Award, presented by Estrella Araiza, went to*Querida Fátima*,as did the awards for Best Film and Best Director.
“What I appreciated most about Rodrigo [Reyes, co-director and producer] was that he listened to us—that he listened to everything we wanted to say about Fátima, about what had happened—because in this country, no one listened to us. We’re certain that justice is built on listening,” exclaimed Lorena Gutiérrez, Fátima’s mother.
“As long as they don’t listen to us, we won’t make any progress toward truth and justice in this country. Rodrigo did it. At home, we used to talk about how we wanted the whole world to know what happened to Fátima, that we had no reason to stay silent, that we had no reason to be afraid, that the worst thing that could happen to us had already been done to us.”
The producer, Inti Cordera, said emotionally upon receiving the Mezcal Award for Best Film that the movie came to be thanks to “a combination of solidarity and trust that has crossed the borders between Mexico and the United States so that this story could be told and make its way here to this Festival, which I appreciate so very much, and which today demonstrates that not only is cinema—regardless of genre—a powerful act of creation, creativity, intelligence, and will, but it also shows us that cinema has the social power to help us not only change the world, but to imagine that we can do so.”
The award for Best Technical and Artistic Achievement went to cinematographer Diego Tenorio for*Ciudad de muertos*, while the award for Best Performance went to Oustin de León for his role in*Soy Mario*.
Andrés Zuno enthusiastically extended an invitation to visit two exhibitions that engage with the memory and history of cinema: “41 Years of Posters from the Guadalajara International Film Festival,” on display at Paseo Chapultepec and open through April 30, and “Correspondences: Orozco-Eisenstein,” at MUSA, which will remain open through August 2, 2026, as an extension of the Festival.
He then invited the jurors and winners of the various competitions onto the stage for a group photo, bringing to a close an edition dedicated to uniting us through stories from around the world—stories capable of transporting us to new worlds and opening a window onto the richness and diversity of cinema.
The closing ceremony culminated with a screening of the film*Un hijo propio*(2026), by acclaimed director Maite Alberdi. This documentary tells the story of Alejandra, a Mexican woman who pretends to be pregnant for several months in front of her family and husband, leading her to face a complex psychological and social crisis that ultimately turns into a media scandal.
“When I heard this story, I couldn’t believe that what was happening was real. It was utterly extraordinary, and I became convinced that reality is stronger than fiction—that reality is more unusual and goes beyond the extraordinary. I quickly connected with the question the film raised for me about the social pressure on women, about gender norms, and about the pressure we often feel regarding motherhood.”
A two-time Oscar nominee and winner of numerous awards, Alberdí has been recognized for her work onfilmssuch as*The Mole Agent*(2020),*Infinite Memory*(2023), and*La once*(2014).
WINNERS OF FICG41
Mezcal Award
- Mezcal Award for Best Mexican Film: Dear Fatima by Lorena Gutiérrez Rangel, Su Kim, Jesús Quintana Vega, Rodrigo Reyes, and Dawn Valadez
- Best Director: Dear Fátima by Lorena Gutiérrez Rangel, Su Kim, Jesús Quintana Vega, Rodrigo Reyes, and Dawn Valadez
- Best Technical and Artistic Achievement: Diego Tenorio (cinematographer) for City of the Dead
- Best Performance: Oustin de León for Soy Mario
- Audience Award: Dear Fatima by Lorena Gutiérrez Rangel, Su Kim, Jesús Quintana Vega, Rodrigo Reyes, and Dawn Valadez
- Youth Jury Award: The Same Blood by Ángel Ricardo Linares Colmenares
Ibero-American Feature-Length Fiction Film
- Best Technical and Artistic Achievement: Red Hangar
- Best Performance: Tied—Nicolás Zárate for *Hangar Rojo* and María Magdalena Sanizo for *La hija cóndor*
- Best Screenplay: Luis Emilio Guzmán for *Hangar Rojo*
- Best Debut Film: Barrio triste by Stillz Honorable Mention to Nunkui by Verenice Benítez
- Best Director: Juan Pablo Sallato for *Hangar Rojo*
- Best Ibero-American Fiction Film: Hangar Rojo
Ibero-American Feature-Length Documentary
- Best Technical and Artistic Achievement: The Fabulous Time Machine by Eliza Capai
- Best Director: Paula Cury for *Niñas escarlata*
- Best Ibero-American Documentary: Scarlet Girls by Paula Cury Honorable Mention: Flowers for Antonio by Elena Molina and Isaki Lacuesta
Maguey Award
- Maguey Award for Best Performance: Yuri Gomes and Teca Pereira for *Feito pipa*
- Maguey Jury Prize: I Am Mario by Sharon Kleinberg
- Maguey Award for Best Film: Feito pipa by Allan EvertonHonorable Mention: Our Body Is an Expanding Star by Semillites and Tania Hernández Velasco
International Animated Feature Film
- Best Animated Feature Film: Heart of Darkness by Rogério Nunes
Made in Jalisco
- Best Film from Jalisco: The Circle of Liars by Nancy Cruz Orozco
- Best Short Film from Jalisco: My Favorite Place by Alejandro Hidrogo Arechiga, Luis Zamarroni, Mariana Salazar, and Sergio Campestre
Social and Environmental Film Award
- Best Social and Environmental Film: Black Water by Natxo Leuza
Genre Film Award
- Best Genre Film: Alpha by Julia DucournauHonorable Mentions: *Motherwitch* by Minos Papas and Talking to Strangers by Adrián García Bogliano
Ibero-American Short Film
- Best Ibero-American Short Film: Three by Juan Ignacio Ceballos Honorable Mention: Replikka by Piratá Waurá and Heloisa Passos
Rigo Mora Award
- Best Animated Short Film: Once in a Body by María Cristina Pérez González Honorable Mention: The Ghost of the Country House by James A. Castillo
FIPRESCI Award: Oca by Karla Badillo
FEISAL Award: Here You Can Hear the Silence by Gabriela Pena and Picho García
FICG41 STATISTICS
General Information
Total attendance: 223,355
Attendance at screenings: 29,985
Movies shown: 200
Series: 4
Movies
Feature films in competition: 57
Feature films out of competition: 67
Short films in competition: 52
Short films not in competition: 8
Work in Progress (feature films): 12
Series: 4
Total screenings: 352
Social Media and the Media
Social Media Impressions: 17,039,700
People reached on social media: 6,017,679
Social media interactions: 2,826,238
Social media content views: 12,162,107
Press releases: 1,967
Media Partners: 9
Reach: 2,419,053,314 people
Market value: $156,511,221.60
Accredited media representatives: 539
Master Classes and Panels
Number of lectures and panel discussions: 20
Attendance: 6,285
Industry Programs
Market screenings: 11
Participants in Industry Meetings
Participants: 762
Views: 2,521
Meetings with Industry Programs: 643
Requested appointments: 6,382
Visits to the Industry Meetings platform: 89,000
Guadalajara Builds
Movies: 6
Guest Experts – Moderators: 2
Allies: 18
Awards: 18
DocuLab: Documentary Lab
Movies: 6
Experts and guests: 13
Allies: 10
Awards: 10
Co-Production Meeting
Projects: 18
Allies: 14
Awards: 22
Episode 0
Projects: 7
Allies: 9
Awards: 9
Pitch Guadalajara
Projects: 27
Mentors and audience: 709
Allies: 23
Awards: 34
Talents Guadalajara
Participants: 33
Mentors and guests: 22
Talent Project Market
Projects: 6
Allies: 12
Awards: 13
FICGames PlayTest
Participating video games: 11
Audience: 1,034
Industry Partners
Partner companies: 54
Mobility Partners: 11
Allies in attendance: 96
FICGeneration
Number of participants: 63
Number of participating universities: 14