Berlin Golden Bear Winner Lila Avilés Wraps Production on ‘Cábula,’ Releases First Look Ahead of Venice Gap-Financing Market (EXCLUSIVE)
Mexican director Lila Avilés, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2023 Berlinale for "Totém," has completed production on her next feature, "Cábula," and released a first-look image ahead of its presentation at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, running from 4-6 September. Set in the fictional town of Mexicalpan, the film follows a devoted teacher, Toña, whose class trip to represent their community exposes them to elites seeking to exploit local customs, before she reaffirms her faith in education's transformative power. The project marks a significant follow-up for Avilés, who has twice represented Mexico in the Oscars' best international feature race and is regarded as part of a new wave of female Mexican filmmakers.
"Cábula" was written by Avilés with Miguel Vasallo and produced by Nicolás Celis, a "Roma" producer, through his Mexico City company Cuadernos de Cine, with Maria Zamora of Elastica Films co-producing. It stars Teresita Sánchez, whom Avilés has worked with on both her previous films and describes as her "muse," alongside Gabriela Cartol and Montserrat Marañón. The director said the film uses comedy as a form of resistance and pays tribute to underpaid teachers, and that the story has been in development since she was making her earlier films "The Chambermaid" and "Totém."
- Golden Bear winner Lila Avilés wraps her new film "Cábula"
- It will screen at Venice's Gap-Financing Market, 4-6 September
- Follows a teacher whose class trip exposes elite exploitation of local culture
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Mexicalpan is a fictional town invented for the film, and the story centres on Toña, a teacher whose pupils are drawn into contact with wealthy outsiders keen to profit from local traditions during a class trip. It sits within a broader body of work by Lila Avilés, the director behind it, who has built a reputation for films about work, care and community, often told through female protagonists.
Avilés is a significant figure in Mexican cinema: her 2018 debut "The Chambermaid" and 2023 film "Totón" both represented Mexico in the Oscars' international feature category, and "Totón" won the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival. She is frequently cited as part of a generation of women filmmakers reshaping Mexican film. Her regular collaborator Teresita Sánchez, who has appeared in her earlier films, stars again here alongside Gabriela Cartol and Montserrat Marañón.
The film's producers include Nicolás Celis, known for producing the Oscar-winning "Roma," and Maria Zamora as co-producer, giving the project an established industry pedigree. It is being introduced to potential financiers and buyers at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, an industry event held alongside the Venice Film Festival where unfinished or newly completed films are pitched to secure remaining funding or distribution deals.