Sanfic Industria, the industry section of the Santiago International Film Festival, will run from Nov. 2 to 6 alongside the festival’s Nov. 2-8 program. The section is led by Sanfic co-founder Gabriela Sandoval and returns for its 15th edition with new activities and several prizes in cash and kind.
This year’s additions include the Sitges Film Festival’s Woman in Fan initiative for female genre directors from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay; an expanded Santiago-Guadalajara Queer Incubator supported by Netflix; the online Fantastic Work in Progress showcase; and Books at Berlinale 2027. The latter is aimed at Chilean producers with literary adaptation projects in advanced development and experience in international co-productions. Eight projects will be considered, with two winners receiving accreditation, travel and accommodation to represent Chile at Books at Berlinale 2027.
Sandoval said six projects are being reviewed for Fantastic Work in Progress, continuing Sanfic Industria’s focus on genre cinema, which began with Sanfic Mórbido LAB. The section will also honor Fabula producer Juan de Dios Larraín for his contribution to Ibero-American cinema during the opening ceremony.
The Santiago Lab selected 16 fiction and 17 documentary projects from more than 300 applications. The program pairs experienced directors with emerging filmmakers, with the aim of encouraging collaboration and professional development. Sandoval described the fiction selection as particularly strong because it combines debut films with experienced producers behind them.
The fiction projects cover a broad range of subjects and styles, including political and social issues, displacement, family relationships, memory and identity. Genre elements are present in several titles, while science fiction and thrillers are also gaining ground. The documentary projects place greater emphasis on personal themes, including the recovery of memories and the examination of historical events through family and individual experiences.
Among the fiction projects are The Girl by Chilean filmmaker Sergio Castro San Martín, a supernatural historical drama set on the Chile-Bolivia border; Skin, Nicolás Acuña’s drama about an actress trying to regain custody of her daughter; and Leave and Let Go, the debut feature of Argentine filmmaker Marilú Varsky, produced by Brava Cine.
Other selected titles include America Freedom, about a woman searching for her biological mother decades after being separated from her family during Chile’s dictatorship; Cachalote, which follows a female tuna fisher opposing industrial fishing after the discovery of a stranded sperm whale; and Chicago’s Ferris Wheel, a 1992 road movie about a woman fleeing her husband’s infidelity with her wheelchair-bound mother-in-law.
The lineup also includes Electra and the Wrath of a Thousand Titans, centered on a transgender teenager pursuing music; Elisa y Adriana, a drama about Alzheimer’s, disappearance and memory in Colombia; and Fátima’s Return, an Ecuadorian director Gabriela Calvache psychological thriller about a teenager returning home after years in a psychiatric hospital.
Further projects include Halfway, starring Paulina García and Pedro Fontaine; Nosara, a dark comedy about gentrification in Costa Rica; Not Quite There, a dramedy about a man confronting fatherhood late in life; and The Others, which combines social realism and fantasy as a boy searches for a missing friend during a flood near Buenos Aires.
Where the Houses Face the Sun, set in the Atacama Desert, follows villagers resisting their community’s final eviction. The project has secured half of its budget and is scheduled to shoot in August and September 2027, with Alfredo Castro, Paola Giannini and Emilia Noguera among its cast.
Actress Antonia Zegers will also be recognized at the festival’s inauguration with a retrospective featuring Post Mortem, The Club, The Dogs, A Fantastic Woman and The Punishment. Filmmaking duo Marité Ugás and Mariana Rondón will receive a recognition for their contribution to Ibero-American cinema during Sanfic Industria’s closing night on Nov. 6.
Sources: Variety.