Filmmaking Titans Tatiana Huezo & Elisa Miller Ignite Morelia Festival with Fresh Features!

The 12th edition of Impulso Morelia, a key section of the Morelia Film Festival, is currently showcasing a diverse range of upcoming projects from both established and first-time Mexican filmmakers. This unique forum is dedicated to works-in-progress, offering a crucial space for dialogue, feedback, and exchange to help refine films before their public release. Out of approximately 90 submissions, six entries were carefully selected, demonstrating a remarkable variety and a consistent sensibility that permeates the entire selection.

Andrea Stavenhagen, head of Impulso, highlighted the thematic depth of this year's films, noting that characters are portrayed not merely as vulnerable but as complex, contradictory, and fragile. A prevailing desire across all selected works is to approach these characters with profound empathy, speaking in various ways to the inherent vulnerability of the human condition. The selection includes a strong representation of women filmmakers, with three projects led by acclaimed directors such as Tatiana Huezo, known for “Tempestad” and “Prayers for the Stolen,” and Elisa Miller, celebrated for “Hurricane Season.” Both are backed by leading producer Pimienta Films, known for its work on films like “Roma.”

Running from October 18-20, the selected films-in-post are evaluated by a distinguished panel of international industry experts. This year’s panel includes Ted Hope, co-founder of The Good Machine; Mexican producer-writer Julio Chavezmontes of Piano; Tribeca director Cara Cusumano; French multi-hyphenate Sandrine Dumas; and Carlos R. Rios, director of D’A – Festival de Cinema de Barcelona. The forum emphasizes that Impulso is more than just an exhibition platform; it's an opportunity for filmmakers to receive guidance on editing, discuss current cuts, and engage in meaningful dialogue with peers and professionals, ultimately contributing to the process of finding each film’s final form.

Various awards, in both cash and kind, are at stake to support the projects. The prestigious José María Riba Impulso Morelia 12 Award, presented by Cinépolis Distribution and Profest 2026, offers a cash prize of $14,740 (250,000 pesos) to cover post-production and/or promotional processes and services. Additionally, Estudios Churubusco Azteca will provide image and sound post-production services valued at $41,280 (700,000 pesos), which can be allocated to one or two projects. Further in-kind post-production services, valid for two years, are awarded by Estudios Splendor Omnia and Caffeine. The winner of the José María Riba Award LatAm also receives a promotional campaign valued at $1,500 from the digital media platform LatAm Cinema.

The six selected projects for Impulso Morelia 12 include: “Galerna” by Tatiana Huezo, a fiction film produced by Pimienta Films and Elastica Films, which follows Lúa and Noé casting first-time actors for a sci-fi pic, exploring a Mexico that challenges their resilience and vulnerability. “Homeboys,” a debut feature documentary by Alonso Garibay and Alejandro Bernal, from Norteña del Sur and Documotora, centers on Roberto Hernández, a deported ex-convict who founded a shelter for deported gang members, confronting his past amidst a crisis. Javier Toscano’s documentary “Katechon,” from Didascalia Films, weaves together the struggles of three human-rights activists from Western Sahara, Kurdistan, and Palestine, exploring resilience and self-determination through a Global South perspective. “Legit” (“Legítima”) by Elisa Miller, produced by Pimienta Films, is based on actual events, chronicling Yakiri Rubio’s fight against a misogynistic system after being convicted for killing her attacker in self-defense, with the help of lawyer Ana Katiria Suárez. Teresa Camou’s documentary “Raká,” from EFICINE, Teresa Camou Guerrero, La Furia Cine, and Avalancha Studio, uses the tree as a metaphor to tell the story of Miguel and Rosa, a Rarámuri couple, deeply rooted in a land marked by violence and deforestation, committed to restoring rivers and forests. Lastly, “Springtime” (“Primavera”) by Alfredo Mendoza Aguilar, a debut fiction feature from Fontana Films and Oriente Cine, focuses on Maria Carmela, who, grappling with depression and illness, makes a life-changing pact with Fito, a troubled, drug-addicted teen.