Cannes Docs

Runtime: 100' / 52'

Expected release: May 2026

Production stage: Post-production

Budget: €314,335 (67% in place)

1st feature: No

Looking for: Gap financing to finalize post-production, and a sales agent to help expand the reach of this intimate and deeply resonant story on cross-border adoption. We are also looking for strategic partners and festivals for the film’s international launch.

Synopsis:

Two Chileans adopted in Europe embark on a journey. Daniel was declared dead at birth; Juan dreams of a wounded woman. Both seek to understand their origins, find a mother, and reconstruct their stories. Landless Children is an invitation to a journey—both mental and physical—into the depths of a forgotten land.

Director’s Profile:

René Ballesteros (Chile, 1975) is a psychologist, film director, and screenwriter. After working with incarcerated youth and street children in the Araucanía region of Chile, he studied documentary filmmaking at Université Paris VIII, EICTV (Cuba), and Le Fresnoy (France). In 2010, his debut documentary feature La Quemadura won the Joris Ivens Award at Cinéma du Réel, Best Documentary at Documenta Madrid, and Best Chilean Director at SANFIC, among other honors. In 2011, he was selected for the Cinéfondation Résidence of the Cannes Film Festival. As a screenwriter, he co-wrote Los versos del olvido by Alireza Khatami, which received the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. His second documentary, Los sueños del castillo, premiered at the 2018 Valdivia International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Chilean Film.

Producer’s Profile:

Nicole Bonilla (Chile, 1990) is a film producer and cultural manager. She served as coordinator of the International Programs of the Audiovisual Fund and the Chile Film Friendly Program at the Film Commission Chile, within the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. In 2019, she founded La Madre, a production company dedicated to documentary films that spotlight stories of women, childhood, and sexual dissidences.
Her debut as a producer was “Travesía Travesti” (Travesti Odyssey) by Nicolás Videla, a Chile–Argentina co-production that premiered at IDFA in 2021. She is currently preparing the release of “Landless Children” by René Ballesteros, co-produced with France, while continuing to develop and produce new projects.
Alongside her work as a producer, she serves as Operations Manager at Screen Capital S.A., an asset manager company focused on the entertainment industry.

Runtime: 80'

Expected release: 'May 2027

Production stage: Production

Budget: $250,000 (60% in place)

1st feature: No

Looking for: Festivals, sales agents, distributors, gap financing

Synopsis:

Revisiting old VHS tapes, Máxima, an Argentine sex worker, longs for the wild, glamorous days of cashing big in Miami, while confronting the ghosts of a childhood scarred by neglect and abuse. As she reconciles with her past, she finds strength in the urgent needs of her trans-Latinx community, fueling her drive to move forward.

Director’s Profile:

Nicole Costa is a Chilean-born, New York-based actress, filmmaker, and producer. She received the award for Best Actress at the Queer Lisbon Festival. Her documentary film “The Journey of Monalisa” (2019) premiered at DOC NYC, IDFA, DocsBarcelona, among others, and was awarded by Cinema Tropical as Best Latinx Film in the United States in 2021, among others.

Producer’s Profile:

In 2013, Daniela Camino co-founded Mimbre Films. She has produced and distributed short and feature films, including “AliEN0089” (Sundance 2023, Best International Direction for Short, Clermont-Ferrand LABO Prize 2024), “Going Back Home: Mother VR” (IDFA DocLab 2023), and the documentary “The Journey of Monalisa” (IDFA 2019).

Runtime: 90'

Expected release: February 2026

Production stage: Post-production

Budget: $147.000 (70% in place)

1st feature: No

Looking for: Festivals, sales agents, distributors, co-producers, gap financing, strategic guidance.

Synopsis:

Roberto, a young Cuban actor, wanders the streets of Havana hallucinating about being part of the cast of a Netflix series. His uncle, who is the ‘best bookseller in the world’, advises him through the heroes of the homeland. The murder of the producer, a counterrevolutionary proposal and conversations where Chile’s arteries are glimpsed, could be the grand illusion for all the characters.

Director’s Profile:

His project titled “Los Iluminados” was premiered in the official selection of FICValdivia (2015) and won Best National Feature Film at the Cine//B_8 Festival (2016). In 2022 he made his first film as producer “Voy y Vuelvo”, a film by Cristián Sánchez that premiered at the “Chilean Gala” of FICValdivia (2023) and BAFICI (2024). He is currently developing his next feature films where he explores between documentary and fiction genre; “La Gran Ilusión”,(Chile 2026) Doc:Lab Award -FIDBA 2023 and selected for WIP MAFIZ 2024, Award in Finaliza Lab of BoliviaLab 2024. At the same time, “Viajero Inmóvil” (Chile 2025) ends, selected and recently awarded at the Docs-In-Progress of Cannes Docs(2024) and at Encuentros Australes of FICValdivia(2024) as the best Chilean film of the future.

Producer’s Profile:

Producer, director, and university professor. He studied History at the University of Concepción, an Film at the Universidad Mayor Film School, and he is pursuing a Master’s degree in artistic creation. His short film as a director, “A had a borrowed house,” has been shown at festivals in Chile and around the world. He has worked as general producer and assistant to directors such as Sebastián Moreno and Ricardo Larraín. As a producer, he has directed films such as “Raíz,” by Matías Rojas Valencia, winner of “Best Chilean Film” at FICValdivia 2013 and with its international premiere at the San Sebastián Film Festival. He has worked with Chilean production companies such as Quijote Films alongside Giancarlo Nasi. In 2023, as executive producer and co-producer, he was part of the acclaimed TVN series “La Cacería,” directed by Juan Ignacio Sabatini and produced by Villano.

Runtime: 90' / 50'

Expected release: January 2026

Production stage: Editing

Budget: $260.000 (57% in place)

1st feature: Yes

Looking for: Co-producer, sales agents, distributors and festivals

Synopsis:

The tiger of the east, is a documentary that follows a young Chilean cowboy named Custodio, who also composes rancheras and Mexican corridos, he dreams of reaching Mexico with his music. Custodio must overcome each of the difficulties that stand in his way to achieve his ultimate goal, which is to be able to play with Los Tigres del Norte.

Director’s Profile:

Filmmaker with more than 15 years of experience in sound for film and television. He founded Queltehue Films in 2013, a production company specializing in direct sound and sound post-production, participating in documentary pieces such as Chassange-Santiago, Searching A New Earth for the BBC and the series Habitantes Del Pacifico, broadcasted by TVN in 2015. In 2016 he ventured into audiovisual creation, working in the collective production of the short docu/fiction Silvia, exhibited at Chicago Film Festival, Antofadocs and International Film Festival of La Serena.

Producer’s Profile:

Filmmaker born in the disappeared Chuquicamata camp. Her debut film is the documentary “The Closing of the Desert”. In 2012 she created Yareta Films, a film and television production company. “Perrocuento” is her foray into directing in animation for children’s audiences, winner of the SecsTV award of the Prix Jeunesse Iberoamericano, 2019. In 2019 she was in charge of the Film Commission of the Antofagasta region and served for 3 years as General Producer of the Antofacine International Film Festival. She is currently Executive Producer of the feature film “The tiger of the east” and is in post-production of her short documentary “Mateo and the City”.