GALA Film Fest: Latin American Innovation

GALA Film Fest: Latin American Innovation presents seven films from Latin America at GALA Hispanic Theatre, including six contemporary works by emerging directors and a classic from Mexico’s Golden Age of cinema. The program spans drama, psychological thriller, black comedy, comedy, dramedy, documentary, and action, with every film presented as a Washington, D.C. premiere.

Screenings include post-film conversations with selected directors and receptions hosted by participating embassies or cultural institutions. All films are in Spanish with English subtitles.

When: December 2–6, 2026

Venue: GALA Hispanic Theatre

Tickets: Individual tickets are $10 per film. A festival pass for all seven films is $35.

Language: All films are in Spanish with English subtitles.

Schedule: Wednesday, December 2, at 7 p.m.: *Oca*. Thursday, December 3, at 7 p.m.: *Summer War / Guerra de verano*. Friday, December 4, at 7 p.m.: *We Shall Not Be Moved / No nos moverán*. Saturday, December 5, at 2 p.m.: *A Heart as Willing / La corazonada*, followed by *Abril* at 5 p.m. Sunday, December 6, at 2 p.m.: *The Panther Woman / Las mujeres panteras*, followed by *Tres hermanas / Three Sisters* at 5 p.m.

Lineup: The festival opens with *Oca*, directed by Karla Badillo, a 2025 Mexico-Argentina drama running 109 minutes. The film follows Rafaela, a young nun from a declining congregation who begins a pilgrimage after a new archbishop arrives. Her encounters with travelers from many walks of life turn the journey into a lyrical reflection on faith, doubt, resilience, destiny, and self-discovery. The film received the Silver Hugo Award in the New Directors Competition at the Chicago International Film Festival and features Natalia Solián, Cecilia Suárez, Raúl Briones, and non-professional performers. It offers a contemporary, distinctly female reimagining of the spiritual cinema associated with Luis Buñuel.

On December 3, the festival presents *Summer War / Guerra de verano*, directed by Alicia Scherson. This 2026 psychological thriller from Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Italy runs 106 minutes. Set in Chile in 1989, it follows Udo, a young American champion of World War II strategy games, who arrives at a seaside resort with his girlfriend. His obsession with the game gradually erodes the boundary between reality and play, while a mysterious local encounter and the disappearance of another tourist transform the vacation into a story of suspicion and uncertainty. Adapted from Roberto Bolaño’s novel *The Third Reich*, the film stars Dan Beirne, Lux Pascal, David Gaete, and Aline Kuppenheim and explores masculinity, desire, obsession, and the illusion of control.

Friday’s selection is *We Shall Not Be Moved / No nos moverán*, a 2024 Mexican black comedy directed by Pierre Saint Martin and running 100 minutes. Socorro, a retired lawyer played by Luisa Huertas, remains consumed by the search for the soldier who killed her brother during the student protests of October 2, 1968, in Mexico City’s Tlatelolco Square. Nearly six decades later, her pursuit has damaged her relationships with her sister Esperanza and her son Jorge. When a new clue appears, Socorro begins a dangerous quest for revenge that threatens her family, legacy, and life. Shot in striking black and white, the film examines the long-lasting wounds of Mexico’s modern history. It won four Ariel Awards and was selected as Mexico’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Saturday’s first film is *A Heart as Willing / La corazonada*, a 2025 Chilean comedy directed by Diego Soto and running 78 minutes. Nieves operates a small rural inn with her son and lives amid routine and postponed dreams. When a wandering motorcyclist arrives and falls in love with her, she glimpses the possibility of a later-in-life romance, though the relationship appears unlikely to last. Their lives change when a filmmaker casts them in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s *The Tempest*, drawing them into the filmmaking process and blurring the line between performance and reality. The film reflects on love, aging, cinema, and the way stories can transform ordinary life.

At 5 p.m. Saturday, the program continues with *Abril*, a 2026 Costa Rican dramedy directed by Hernán Jiménez and running 105 minutes. Recently divorced and under financial strain, Abril has organized her life around raising her teenage daughter, Valentina. When Valentina says she wants to live with her father, Abril must confront who she is outside motherhood. An unexpected relationship with Gabriel, a charming bartender, introduces the possibility of beginning again. Set in San José, the film stars newcomer Maricarmen Merino, director Hernán Jiménez, and François Arnaud in his first Spanish-language role, and explores motherhood, identity, independence, and rediscovering oneself.

Sunday begins with *The Panther Woman / Las mujeres panteras*, René Cardona’s 1967 Mexican action classic, which runs 88 minutes. Combining horror, comedy, noir atmosphere, lucha libre, supernatural chaos, and 1960s Mexican B-movie sensibilities, the film follows a cult attempting to revive its ancient leader through blood sacrifice and terror. Their plans bring them into conflict with Golden Rubí and Loreta Venus, two fearless luchadoras who fight their way through brawls, chases, masked heroes, and supernatural danger. The cast includes legendary dancer and actress Yolanda Montes, known as Tongolele, and comedian Manuel “Loco” Valdés.

The final film is *Tres hermanas / Three Sisters*, a 2026 Colombian documentary directed by Joyce Ventura and running 80 minutes. Ventura films herself and her two older sisters, Ethy and Bella, who live on three different continents and share a lifetime of memories. Their intimate conversations and reunions reveal contrasting ways of confronting aging, loss, physical vulnerability, and mortality. With candor, tenderness, and humor, the documentary considers sisterhood, the passage of time, fragmented memory, and cinema’s ability to bridge distance and preserve what might otherwise disappear.

Talkbacks: A question-and-answer session with director Karla Badillo follows *Oca*. A Q&A with director Pierre Saint Martin follows *We Shall Not Be Moved*. A Q&A with director Joyce Ventura follows *Tres hermanas / Three Sisters*.

Receptions: Receptions are scheduled after *Oca*, hosted by the Embassies of Mexico and Argentina; after *Summer War*, hosted by the Embassies of Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Italy; after *A Heart as Willing*, hosted by the Embassy of Chile; after *Abril*, hosted by the Embassy of Costa Rica; and after *Tres hermanas*, hosted by the Embassy of Colombia. These receptions are marked as to be confirmed by the festival.

Run time: Individual films run from 78 to 109 minutes. *Oca* runs 109 minutes, *Summer War* 106 minutes, *We Shall Not Be Moved* 100 minutes, *A Heart as Willing* 78 minutes, *Abril* 105 minutes, *The Panther Woman* 88 minutes, and *Tres hermanas* 80 minutes.

Premieres: All seven films are presented as D.C. premieres.

Ages: Age guidance is not provided.