Italian filmmaker Giorgio Giamp\u00e0\u2019s feature debut is one of the 15 projects selected for San Sebasti\u00e1n\u2019s 2026 Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum<\/p>\n
Mexico\u2019s Madrefoca Cine has boarded \u201cIsabel Hern\u00e1ndez,\u201d Italian filmmaker Giorgio Giamp\u00e0\u2019s feature debut, joining Zoe Films, LaDoc and Fiasco on the Italy-Mexico co-production.<\/p>\n
The project is among the 15 titles selected for the 2026 Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum at the San Sebasti\u00e1n Film Festival.<\/p>\n
Its San Sebasti\u00e1n berth comes as Zoe Films builds a growing festival presence. The Italian company has Ali Asgari\u2019s \u201cA Bit of Light\u201d in competition at the Venice Film Festival and Shawn Garry\u2019s \u201cAfter Elena,\u201d starring Alfredo Castro, heading to Toronto\u2019s Centrepiece section.<\/p>\n
The move brings producer Alejandro Saevich into a production team comprising Zoe Films\u2019 Lorenzo Cioffi and Giamp\u00e0 and Fiasco\u2019s Elena Fortes. Madrefoca, co-founded in 2023 by Saevich, is also behind Nathalia Acevedo\u2019s \u201cSal\u00f3n de Belleza,\u201d selected for competition at Venice Days this year.<\/p>\n
Written by Giamp\u00e0 with Melissa Nocetti, \u201cIsabel Hern\u00e1ndez\u201d follows a young agronomist living in the Guatemalan jungle who recognizes the father who abandoned her as a child in a documentary about Latin American migrants in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Her search for answers leads to two men recently deported by ICE who knew him: a young man whom her father raised like a son and a former soldier who claims to know the secret behind his disappearance. Their conflicting accounts force Isabel to confront a past shaped by Guatemala\u2019s civil war and fractured memories of the man she barely knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsabel tries to piece together the past, claim a future of her own, find her own peace,\u201d Giamp\u00e0 said.<\/p>\n
The film grows out of seven years of research Giamp\u00e0 carried out in Guatemala, living with forest communities and spending time with Mayan survivors of the genocidal massacres of the 1980s, former guerrillas and people deported from the U.S. by ICE.<\/p>\n
Giamp\u00e0 plans to work largely with non-professional actors \u201cwhose own lives resonate with the story,\u201d extending the film\u2019s research-driven approach into its casting.<\/p>\n
Shooting is planned for autumn 2027. \u201cIsabel Hern\u00e1ndez\u201d is part of TorinoFilmLab FeatureLab 2026, previously participated in the EAVE Producers Workshop 2025 and has received development support from Film Commission Regione Campania.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2023, Zoe Films\u2019 previous productions include Asgari\u2019s \u201cDivine Comedy,\u201d selected for Venice Horizons in 2025, and Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman\u2019s \u201cVittoria,\u201d which played Venice Horizons Extra in 2024. Its short-film slate includes Giamp\u00e0\u2019s \u201cAstronauta,\u201d selected for Clermont-Ferrand\u2019s 2026 International Competition, and Mel Nocetti\u2019s \u201cI Used to Call That Man Home,\u201d which played Rotterdam earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum will run Sept. 21-23 as part of the 74th San Sebasti\u00e1n Film Festival, which takes place Sept. 18-26.<\/p>\n