CARABALÍ; TODOS LOS PECES

Program:

CARABALÍ
Medhin Tewolde Serrano, Mexico / Colombia, 2026, short documentary
WRITTEN BY Medhin Tewolde Serrano | CINEMATOGRAPHY Xun Sero | EDITING Nicolas Défossé | SOUND Carlo Massarelli, Martin de Torcy | MUSIC Jose Edier Solís Caicedo | FEATURING Héctor Marino Carabalí
19 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

A community leader from the Valle del Cauca, Colombia, receives countless death threats from paramilitary groups. To save his life, he is forced to leave his community—his family, his land, everything he knows and loves. In his wake, he leaves a void that no one can fill. In exile—far from home, alone, and in an unfamiliar place that remains hidden from the audience—Carabalí is overcome by doubt: Was the struggle worth it? Did he sacrifice his life for a cause that might already be lost?

Yet, even from afar, he strives to maintain contact and strengthen the bonds that keep him connected to his family, his community, and the struggle. The voices of his loved ones accompany him in his daily life, reminding him of who he is and showing him that he is not alone. From this tension between "there"—the vivid memory of his homeland—and "here"—the precarious space of exile—emerges a delicate, poignant tapestry of longing, resistance, and the unwavering conviction that the struggle must continue, no matter where one happens to be.

Director Medhin Tewolde Serrano—an Eritrean-Mexican filmmaker who has spent years exploring themes of Afro-descendant identity and migration—approaches her protagonist with profound sensitivity. It does not judge, it does not explain; it observes—finding in its imagery a language for what words often cannot capture: the loneliness of exile, the power of memory, and the quiet dignity of a man who never ceases to hope. A film about the unsung heroes who risk their own lives to ensure a dignified existence for others.


TODOS LOS PECES
Brenda Vanegas, El Salvador, 2022, feature film
SCREENPLAY Brenda Vanegas | CINEMATOGRAPHY Nadia del Pozo, Mario Soundy, Brenda Vanegas | EDITING Carlos Siri | SOUND Enrique Pocasangre, Pablo Mondragón | MUSIC Pablo Mondragón | CAST Larissa Maltez, Emi Mena, Alejandra Nolasco
80 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

On the shores of Lake Coatepeque, in a landscape that feels like something out of a dream, lives Lucía. She is eleven years old and the eldest of eight siblings. Her childhood is no childhood at all: she sells whatever she can at the market to support her family, all while enduring abuse from her mother and stepfather. She finds solace only in the waters of the lake—teeming with countless small fish—and in the quiet bond she shares with her siblings, who, like her, are learning to survive in a world that offers them nothing.
One day, Lucía returns home from the market to find the house empty. Her siblings are gone. No one knows where they have been taken, and her mother refuses to speak about it. What follows is not merely a search, but an act of resistance: Lucía refuses to give up on her siblings. Driven by an unshakeable instinct and a tenacity that needs no explanation, she sets off—away from the lake and into a world that is both unknown and hostile to her.
In her feature film debut, director Brenda Vanegas tells a story based on true events. She sheds light on the precarious conditions in which children grow up in El Salvador and addresses the issue of child trafficking, all without descending into pure tragedy. Instead, through the imagery of the lake, the voices of the children, and Lucía’s steadfast gaze, she discovers a language of hope—finding the tools of joy and affection that keep these children alive. It is a powerful, deeply moving portrait of a childhood on the margins of society—and of the strength that blossoms from our love for those we have lost.