Sanfic Industria Turns 15 With Netflix-Backed Queer Incubator and Genre Push

Sanfic Industria runs November 2-6 in Santiago, and its 15th edition arrives with Netflix money, a Books at Berlinale 2027 berth and 33 projects selected from more than 300 applications. Gabriela Sandoval, who co-founded the Santiago International Film Festival, heads the industry arm, which unspools alongside the festival's November 2-8 dates.

What is new this year?

The program adds several initiatives:

• Sitges' Woman In Fan Lab, the Spanish festival's female genre directors initiative, extends to the Southern Cone for the first time, covering Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
• A newly expanded Santiago-Guadalajara Queer Incubator, backed by Netflix.
• The inaugural online Fantastic WIP, a work-in-progress strand for genre films in post, reviewing six selected projects.
• Books at Berlinale 2027, tied to Chile's status as guest of honor at next year's Frankfurt Book Fair.

The Books at Berlinale call targets Chilean producers with literary adaptation projects in advanced development and a proven international co-production track record. Two winners will emerge from eight projects. Their teams will take part in a November 6 day of business meetings and an English-language pitch session, with accreditation fees, travel and accommodation covered for Berlinale 2027.

The Fantastic WIP extends a genre push that began roughly seven years ago with Sanfic Mórbido LAB, led by Pablo Guisa.

Bringing Woman In Fan south was, in Sandoval's words, a natural decision. "We're very interested in leveling the playing field for genre cinema in the region. It has a number of male directors, which is great, but there are also many impressive female genre filmmakers from the Southern Cone," she said.

Who made the Santiago Lab cut?

The Santiago Lab selected 16 fiction and 17 documentary projects from over 300 applications. Since last year it has drawn more established directors alongside first-timers. "The idea is for them to work in teams with the objective of having the more experienced directors nurture the new ones," Sandoval said.

The fiction slate includes Sergio Castro San Martín's Atacama Desert supernatural drama "The Girl," from the co-director of "The Pack"; "Skin," the next project from Nicolás Acuña, who helmed "Allende, The Thousand Days" and "Besieged"; and "Leave and Let Go," the feature debut of Marilú Varsky, produced by "The Red Hangar" company Brava Cine.

"We have a powerful selection of debut films with experienced producers behind them," said Sandoval. "For many of these filmmakers, Santiago Lab has been the starting point of their professional journey."

What themes dominate?

Documentaries lean personal. "There's a stronger focus on more personal themes, like recovering memories or looking back at historical events through a personal lens, often connected to family relationships or individual experiences," Sandoval noted.

Fiction is broader. "With fiction, there's quite a mix," she said. Projects incorporate elements of the fantastic, alongside thrillers — especially political thrillers — and rising science fiction, with several works tackling forced displacement and other social and political issues.

Which honors will Sanfic hand out?

Fábula producer Juan de Dios Larraín ("The Count") will receive recognition for his contributions to Ibero-American cinema at the opening ceremony, which opens with "The Man I Love," Ira Sachs' AIDS drama starring Rami Malek. Actress Antonia Zegers ("Chile '76") will also be honored, with a retrospective spanning "Post Mortem" (2010) and "The Club" (2015), both by Pablo Larraín; "The Dogs" (2017) by Marcela Said; "A Fantastic Woman" (2017) by Sebastián Lelio; and "The Punishment" (2022) by Matías Bize. She will also lead one of the festival's talks or panels.

Filmmaking duo Marité Ugás and Mariana Rondón ("Bad Hair," "It Would Be Night in Caracas") will be recognized at Sanfic Industria's closing night on November 6. The festival closes November 7 with "Los Relatos" by Spanish director Miguel del Arco ("The Furies").

The Santiago Lab fiction lineup

• "America Freedom" (Vane Miller, Chile/Sweden): A woman separated from her family 40 years ago under Chile's dictatorship travels to Sweden to find her biological mother. Backed by Chile's Museum of Memory and Human Rights, with a distribution letter of intent from Storyboard Media. "Exile does not always mean leaving a country," say Miller and producer Jetzabel Moreno.
• "Cachalote" (Emmanuelle Kesch, Spain/Peru): A tuna fisherwoman's fight against industrial fishing on La Palma intersects with a 20-ton stranded sperm whale. Producer Claudia Chievos, a Tribeca winner, says the film is "told entirely from the perspective of Inés, a tuna fisherwoman, and the intimate world of her family."
• "Chicago's Ferris Wheel" (César González Álvarez, Chile): A 1992 road movie in which a housewife flees north with her wheelchair-bound mother-in-law for a Camilo Sesto concert.
• "Dedé" (Rita Hostt, Argentina/Uruguay): On its ninth script draft, seeking a Spanish co-producer for a 2027-28 shoot.
• "Electra and the Wrath of a Thousand Titans" (Cris Arredondo, Chile): A coming-of-age story about a 17-year-old transgender musician. "As a trans non-binary filmmaker, I wanted to tell a story about the desire to be seen, heard and loved without compromising who we are," says Arredondo.
• "Elisa y Adriana" (David David, Colombia): A mother with Alzheimer's fights to preserve the memory of her son, disappeared by the Colombian army. Targeting a 2028 release.
• "Fátima's Return" (Gabriela Calvache, Mexico): A psychological thriller from the director whose "La mala noche" repped Ecuador at the 2020 Oscars.
• "Halfway" (Sebastián González Méndez, Chile): Starring Paulina García as a 70-year-old woman reuniting with her estranged son; the director calls it "a reflection on time: the time we have left and the time we've had."
• "Leave and Let Go" (Marilú Varsky, Argentina): Won the Cimarrón Award at Ventana Sur Guiones 2025; shooting is set for November 2027.
• "Nosara" (Victor Vargas, Costa Rica): A dark comedy about gentrification. "Paradise isn't lost. It's sold," says Vargas.
• "Not Quite There" (Constanza Tejo Roa, Chile): An absurdist dramedy about fatherhood at nearly 70; shooting planned for the second half of 2028.
• "Skin" (Nicolás Acuña, Chile/Argentina/Brazil): Co-written with script consultant Miguel Machalski ("Million Dollar Baby"), with a Brazilian co-production deal being finalized and a late 2027 shoot planned.
• "The Girl" (Sergio Castro San Martín, Chile/Bolivia/Switzerland): Set in 1930, it follows a 10-year-old girl who can locate gold by scent along the Chile-Bolivia border.
• "The Others" (Juan Ignacio Ceballos, Argentina): A debut blending social realism and fantasy; shortlisted for Sundance's 2026 Development Track.
• "The Professionals" (Ana Milena Saavedra, Colombia): A supernatural drama about a painter stranded in a village where night never falls.
• "Where the Houses Face the Sun" (Diego Boggioni Troncoso, Chile): An Atacama Desert-set debut starring Alfredo Castro, with 50% of its budget secured and a shoot set for August-September 2027.

With Netflix backing, a Berlinale literary pipeline and a debut-heavy lab, Sanfic Industria's 15th edition positions Santiago as a serious launching pad for the region's next generation of filmmakers.