Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.- Four feature films with producers from Baja California were selected for the 37th Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG). This event is recognized for being the most important festival in Latin America, as reported by the Secretary of Economy and Innovation, Kurt Honold Morales. These films are included in the first selection announcement within the categories created to recognize works of fiction, documentary and animation.

The “Made in Jalisco” section includes the documentary "Escocia No Es Un Banco", directed by Carlos Matsuo and Cristian Franco, about Carlos Maevans' journey from Jalisco to Tecate, Baja California to convince the rest of the band members of "Los Nuevos Maevans" to meet and revive the anti-system dream of their youth. Each one has made a different life and has been kept away from that dream, while Cristian desperately searches for a way to finance their return, never giving up until he is trapped in the pandemic generated by COVID-19. In the words of producer Abraham Ávila: "Making this film is a success because it was in a pandemic, no one was betting that it could be done, sometimes we ourselves almost abandon it, but it was achieved and that is the message of the film. The pandemic gave us the best possible ending.”

The candidate for Best Animated Feature Film includes the documentary “Home Is Somewhere Else”, directed by Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos. This project combines animation, poetry and real conversations to portray three stories of young people who have grown up in the United States within Mexican immigrant families. According to producer Mariana Marín, “it is a film that bets narratively and aesthetically on speaking from another place about the experiences of immigrant families, bets on the talent of Mexican animation and, above all, bets on bringing these issues closer to the public.

“Me siento muy afortunada de formar parte de esta producción.” Este proyecto fue producido por Brinca Taller de Animación en asociación con Shine Global y “de la mano de un talentoso grupo de animadores mexicanos que trabajaron durante dos años en la producción, mientras atravesamos la pandemia de Covid-19, por lo que te toda la animación se realizó a distancia. Estamos muy contentos de que  este esfuerzo colectivo nos lleve al Festival de Guadalajara”, amplió Marín.

Similarly, as reported by the Baja Film Commission, the “Mezcal Section” includes two films with locations within the state. The documentary "Far From Home", written and directed by Carlos Hernández Vázquez, about a group of children and adolescents, originally from Mexico and Latin America, who await the decision on their asylum request to enter the United States in shelters in Tijuana. This feature film had the production participation of local producers Adriana Santos and Marla Arreola.

In the same section, the fiction field, “Guardado, Hermano” is included, Jorge Sanders-Ortega's first feature film, which recently had its international premiere at the Porto Alegre International Fantastic Film Festival (FANTASPOA) in Brazil. This film was produced by Diana Trejo, who commented: “it is not just the debut of me and Jorge, it was also the first feature film where students and friends worked, which makes it something very special. Leo, one of the protagonists, who was also an inspiration for the story, recently passed away, so premiering at FICG fills us with pride and nostalgia for not being able to share this dream with everyone involved."

The Guadalajara International Film Festival will take place from June 10 to 18 and will have Poland as its guest of honor.