Chile is country of honor at the 41st Guadalajara Film Festival
Chile has been selected as the host country of honor on the 41st Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG), which takes place this year from April 17 to 25. “The last time Chile was honored at the FICG was in 2019, but the film industry has grown tremendously since then,” said producer Gabriela Sandoval, member of the CinemaChile advisory board and director of the Chilean producers association APCT.
Proof of this is its robust presence at the Berlinale with three pictures and three series, as well as several film and TV projects participating in the European Film Market (EFM). The honor also comes not long after Chile launched its new film commission in Ventana Sur in December. The upcoming Goyas on Feb. 28, Spain’s Oscar equivalent, includes a record number of Chilean contenders, led by Diego Cespedes’ feature debut “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” and Antonia Zegers vying for the best actress award for her role in “Los Tortuga.”
“Chile’s role as guest of honor at the Guadalajara International Film Festival underlines the strength of its national audiovisual production and content, positioning the country as a key creative partner in the region and strengthening its international profile,” said Sandoval.
Chile’s presence at FICG began in 2003 when it hosted a showcase of classic and recent films. That program included works by greats such as Raúl Ruiz, Miguel Littín, Aldo Francia, Ricardo Larraín, Silvio Caiozzi and Patricio Guzmán, who received the Ibero-American Cinema Tribute, along with a retrospective of his films.
Since then, the cinema has maintained a consistent presence at Mexico’s largest film festival, organized by the University of Guadalajara, where it participates in major competitions, special screenings and industrial programs. These include the Co-Production Meetings, the TV-focused Episodio Cero, a DocuLab, a local talent-focused Pitch Guadalajara and Talents Guadalajara, a Works in Progress program and the video game-focused FICGames.
Chilean involvement in FICG has also acted as a driving force for international outreach and co-production, boosting projects created in collaboration with countries such as Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Spain and Germany. For these initiatives, the annual event, led by festival director Estrella Araiza and Ximena Urrutia, who leads the industry section, has become an essential platform for creative exchange and collaboration within the industry.
“We must learn from the film industry that has done well. Chile has managed to break through the noise in favor of cinema. It has managed to make its industry democratic, inclusive and pluralistic,” Araiza said. Variety.
According to ProChile, part of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Chile’s presence at this Ibero-American festival reaffirms its cultural, creative and production ties with Mexico and with the global film industry, which closed 2025 with historic export figures of more than $106 million – of which $82 million came from the audiovisual sector.”
Originally founded by Guillermo del Toro in his native Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, FICG has grown into a massive festival, possibly the largest in Latin America.
According to Araiza, the final number of visitors from last year, including all activities, is 289,777.
“Chile’s participation as host country of honor in the 2026 Guadalajara International Film Festival is good news for the sector and for the country as a whole. Culture and the creative industries not only represent our identity and who we are; they are also a key sector towards a more inclusive and sustainable economic, social and cultural development,” said the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Carolina Arredondo Marzán.
