QUEER PIX
Amor (es) ciego
Amor (es) ciego explores the many ways love shapes, complicates, and transforms our lives with angst and humour. Across these films, love appears as desire, discovery, and devotion. It can illuminate our deepest truths while blinding us to our faults, becoming both a blessing and a risk.
This year’s selection reflects the evolving landscape of queer Latin American storytelling, where love is no longer confined to struggle alone, but expands into joy, vulnerability, and possibility. Notably, for the first time, the program includes three films made by Latine filmmakers in the United States, highlighting how migration and new cultural contexts can create space for different expressions of queer affection and belonging.
Together, these stories invite us to embrace romantic love in all its beautiful contradictions.
Curated by Kathleen Mullen and Robert Rios
Sofia
Dir. Camila de Ilhéus | United States | 10 min | English and Portuguese
A quick waxing session turns into a nightmare when a Brazilian accidentally gets a brazilian.
Camila is an artist from Ilhéus, Brasil. A citizen of “in-betweens,” Camila explores what is lost, what is left and the continual negotiation of cultural identity. She is Tomorrow’s Filmmaker Today Fellow, a recipient of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund and the Rubys Artist Grant. In her free time, she likes to ride motorcycles and drink chocolate strawberry milkshakes.
Mienteme
Dir. Nico Blanco | United States/Colombia | 13 min | English, Spanish
Martín crashes Catalina and Felipe’s engagement party after years of estrangement, and one night together reignites everything they buried.
Nico Blanco is a queer filmmaker from Bogota, Colombia, who currently lives in Los Angeles, where he attended the AFI Conservatory. He has been part of the Film Independent Imaginar Residency, the Gotham Market and the Newfest/Concord Sound & Scene Initiative. His work focuses on desire as a force that we can’t control and how it drives us in constructive and destructive ways.
He directed the short films BOUND and COWBOY, CHOKER, HARNESS & HEART (Newfest ’23, Outfest ’23). He is currently shooting the queer nightlife documentary BORN TO BE KISSED IN THE DARK and writing his first narrative feature ASPHYXIA.
Crabs in the air
Dir. Esteban Guerrero Carranco | Mexico | 18 min | Spanish
After a devastating argument with his partner, Iván runs away in search of refuge and freedom. With no money or direction, he reconnects with an old love who has already rebuilt his life, reliving unresolved wounds and desires. That night, the past returns under the silent gaze of a crab…
Esteban Guerrero Carranco (30, Durango, Mexico) is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and author of the novella Chronicles of How to Defeat Death. His short films include Crabs in the Air, Papaya Has No Seeds, Today I Decide to Die, and Killer’s Monologue. He is also an experienced Prop Master for film and television productions.
My Girl
Dir. Lariss De La Vega | Mexico | 3 min | Spanish
“Mi Chica” is a tender love song about discovering a relationship that changes you for the better. Through simple, honest lyrics and a warm, organic sound, RUBIO celebrates companionship, commitment, and the feeling of finding someone who inspires personal growth and gives life a new sense of purpose. The video complements this idea with intimate and natural imagery, centered on a soft, warm aesthetic that reinforces the emotional connection and sense of closeness rather than a traditional narrative.
Lariss De la Vega is a Mexican director and photographer. She began her career at an early age exploring photography, a discipline through which she discovered her passion for cinema and visual storytelling.
She is currently based in Mexico City. Her work is defined by the fusion of cinematic narrative and music, creating bold, high-impact visual worlds.
Her career has led her to receive recognition at international festivals such as the Cannes Music Festival and the Berlin Film Festival, as well as a Latin Grammy nomination for the piece “Universo K23” by Mexican artist Kenia Os, which was exhibited in movie theaters.
She has collaborated with prominent Latin music artists including Peso Pluma, Belinda, Natanael Cano, Tito Doble P, and Camila, among others.
Her work has been featured in international media outlets such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, and VOGUE, and she has collaborated with global brands including Nike, Chevrolet, H&M, and Heineken, as well as international editorial platforms such as Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter.
Her pieces stand out for their strong cinematic narrative, a deep focus on storytelling, and the creation of fantastical, dramatic worlds, marked by explosive imagery and intense, corrosive color palettes.
Chulo
Dir. Joshua Hernández | Puerto Rico/United States| 14 min | Spanish, English
After their grandfather’s death, Gael travels to Puerto Rico seeking family and forgotten roots. There, they meet Mateo, a local who sparks an unexpected bond. What begins as a short visit turns into a month of desire and belonging, until one last night reveals how a fleeting encounter can change a life.
Joshua Hernández (he/they) is a filmmaker and actor of Puerto Rican descent. Their films EZRA and RIVER have screened at LGBTQ+ film festivals worldwide, including OutFest Fusion, NewFest, and Inside Out Toronto. They are a recipient of the 2026, 2025, 2024, and 2023 Miami Dade County Artist Grant, and a 2025, 2021 New York Foundation for the Arts Grant. Joshua’s television credits include THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY (Season 3), SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT, and DEAR EDWARD. They’re a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity Association.
Far Far Away from LA
Dir. Rita Hostt y Maruja Bustamante | Argentina | 17 min | Spanish, English
Katie, from the United States, and La Coneja, from Argentina, break up after an intense relationship because neither of them was willing to emigrate to stay together. One night, Katie shows up unexpectedly to “end things on better terms.”
RITA HOSTT is a screenwriter and actress with a degree from UNA (Universidad Nacional de las Artes) and a diploma from Patricio Vega’s Screenwriting LAB. She was born in Buenos Aires. She studied acting at The Acting Studio in New York with James Price, and on-camera acting with Marco Berger.
Working her way through the film industry via self produced work, in 2022 she wrote, produced, and starred in her first short film, Complejo de Algo, which received ten awards and was selected by more than thirty festivals around the world; she also won Best Actress at the Playa del Carmen Film Festival in 2024.
She is currently in pre-production for her feature directorial debut, a LGTBQI+ coming-of-age film, as both writer and director. In 2025, she began studying Film Directing at FUC (Universidad del Cine) to gain further tools for her artistic practice and to build connections with new filmmakers.
MARUJA BUSTAMANTE is an Argentine performer, playwright, and director. With more than 25 years of experience in the performing and audiovisual arts, she has created works such as Adela está cazando patos, Mayoría, Paraná Porá, Trabajo para Lobos, Rabia Roja, and Potencia Gutiérrez. As an audiovisual creator, she developed the web series Plan V, the short film Kuala Lumpur/Kangerlussuaq, and the feature film Tencha Reina. She has acted in Doberman by Azul Lombardía, in the documentary Rosa Patria by Santiago Loza, and in the feature film Permitidos by Ariel Winograd.
Trained at the Universidad del Cine, the Universidad Di Tella, and the Laboratorio del Guión, her work weaves together theater, performance, and audiovisual language, and is recognized for its poetic force and critical perspective.