Chile has been selected as the Guest Country of Honor at the 41st Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG), which runs April 17 – 25 this year. “The last time Chile was paid tribute to at FICG was in 2019 but its film industry has grown in spades since then,” said producer Gabriela Sandoval, advisory board member, CinemaChile and director at Chilean producers association, APCT.
Evidence is its robust presence at the Berlinale with three pics and three series as well as various film and TV projects participating in the European Film Market (EFM). The honor also comes not long after Chile launched its new film commission at Ventana Sur in December. The upcoming Goyas on Feb. 28, Spain’s Oscar equivalent, include a record number of Chilean contenders, led by Diego Cespedes’ debut feature “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” and Antonia Zegers vying for a best actress award for her role in “Los Tortuga.”
“Chile’s role as Guest of Honor Country at the Guadalajara International Film Festival underscores the strength of its national audiovisual production and content, positioning the country as a key creative partner in the region and boosting its international profile,” Sandoval noted.
Chile’s presence at FICG began in 2003 when it mounted a showcase of classic and recent films. That program featured works by such luminaries 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, its cinema has maintained a consistent presence at Mexico’s biggest film festival, hosted by the University of Guadalajara, taking part in main competitions, special screenings and industry programs. These include the Co-Production Meetings, the TV-centric Episodio Cero, a DocuLab, a local talent-focused Pitch Guadalajara and Talents Guadalajara, a Works in Progress program and the video game-centered FICGames.
Chilean involvement at FICG has also acted as a driving force for international outreach and co-production, fostering projects created in partnership with countries including Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Spain and Germany. For these initiatives, the annual event, led by festival director Estrella Araiza and Ximena Urrutia, who runs the industry section, has become a vital platform for creative exchange and industry collaboration.
“We have to learn from film industries that have done things well. Chile has managed to cut through the noise to the benefit of its cinema. It has succeeded in making its industry democratic, inclusive and plural,” Araiza told Variety.
According to ProChile, which forms part of Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Chile’s presence at this Ibero-American festival reaffirms cultural, creative and production ties with Mexico and with the global film industry, which closed 2025 with historic export figures exceeding $106 million—$82 million of which came from the audiovisual sector.”
Originally founded by Guillermo del Toro in his native Guadalajara, Mexico’s second biggest city, FICG has grown into a gargantuan festival, ranking as possibly the largest in Latin America.
Its final tally for last year’s attendance, including all activities, stands at 289,777, according to Araiza.
“Chile’s participation as Guest of Honor Country at 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 for moving toward more comprehensive and sustainable economic, social, and cultural development,” said the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Carolina Arredondo Marzán.
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