In the 37th edition of the Toulouse Film Festival, Colombia was represented with a selection of fourteen productions that reflect the country's diversity and talent: Horizonte (Horizon), Malta, and Querido trópico (Dear Tropics) in the feature film competition; Alma del desierto (Soul of the Desert) in the documentary competition; Estamos en el mapa (We Are on the Map) and Afuera el mundo cae sobre mi cuerpo (Outside the World Falls on My Body) in the short film category; two short films in the Focus: Indigenous Voices and Perspectives section; and the country's participation in activities for professionals. Querido trópico and Alma del desierto received prizes.
Rencontres Cinémas d'Amérique Latine de Toulouse aims to promote encounters between Latin American filmmakers, the public, professionals, and the media through cinema that reflects both the reality and the imagination of the peoples and countries of Latin America.
This year, Colombian cinema was represented in the Fiction Feature Competition by Horizonte, César Acevedo's second feature film, which came to the festival after its world premiere in the Discovery section of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and its participation in the São Paulo International Film Showcase in 2024. Also in the competition was Malta, by Natalia Santa, which had its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2024 and its commercial release in Colombia in July 2024. Another Colombian entry was Querido trópico (Panama, Colombia) by Ana Endara, a film that won the Audience Award and the Best Performance Award for Paulina García and Jenny Nava at the Biarritz Latin American Film Festival (France, 2024). The film was also screened at festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival (Canada, 2024), San Sebastián (Spain, 2024), the Official Selection of the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival (Brazil, 2024), and the Rome Film Festival (Italy, 2024). In Toulouse, it was awarded the Grand Prix of this section, the French Film Critics Guild Award, and the Gaziers Award.
In the Documentary Feature Competition, Alma del desierto by Mónica Taboada-Tapia was presented. Produced by Beto Rosero, the film continues its international festival tour after its premiere at the Giornate degli Autori, the independent section of the Venice Film Festival (2024), where it won the Queer Lion Award. It also received two awards at the Havana Film Festival and participated in events such as the São Paulo Film Showcase, IDFA, and DOC NY, among others. In Toulouse, it won the Grand Prize in that competition.
In the Short Film Competition, in the documentary category, Estamos en el mapa by Santiago Rodríguez Cárdenas was presented. The short film, part of Volume 5 of the Refresh catalog of Colombian short films, also participated in DOC.Coimbra – International Documentary Festival. In the fiction category, Afuera el mundo cae sobre mi cuerpo, directed by Andrés Acevedo Zuleta, was included. This short film has also been featured at other festivals, such as the Huesca International Film Festival (2024).
In the Focus: Indigenous Voices and Perspectives section, the selection included J+RA (La palabra) (J+RA, The Word) by Isabel Peña and Aipa'a Yem by Luzbeidy Monterrosa and Luis Tróchez Tunubalá. In the Fiction Discoveries section, Yo vi tres luces negras (I Saw Three Black Lights) by Santiago Lozano was included, a film that won the Corazonada Award at the 36th Toulouse Festival and this year was part of the Cine Región program, along with Querido trópico.
In the Documentary Discovery section, Igualada by Juan Mejía Botero was featured. The film has stood out at events such as the Sundance Film Festival, where it had its world premiere, Doc NYC Presents, Gira Ambulante Mexico, É Tudo Verdade Brazil, Seattle International Film Festival, and Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival (FICCI), among others.
In the Young Audience section, the animated short Ramón by Natalia Bernal was shown. In the Reprises section, the feature film Mi bestia (My Beast) by Camila Beltrán was included, which participated in ACID Cannes, Sitges - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, and others. Also included were productions filmed in Colombia, such as Guerrilla de las FARC, el futuro tiene una historia (FARC Guerrilla, The Future Has a History) by French director Pierre Carles and Pepe (Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France) by Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias. The latter was inspired by a Colombian story and involved Colombian professionals as part of its production team.
In the Panorama des associations section, Alis by Nicolás Van Hemelryck and Clare Weiskopf, Igualada by Juan Mejía Botero, and Un nuevo amanecer (A New Dawn) by Priscila Padilla were screened.
Finally, in the section dedicated to professionals, in Cinéma en Construction, the 2025 selection, marked by indigenous and Afro-descendant presence, included Babúmoon by Rubén Mendoza/Rubén Tabcharani, produced by Karol Muñoz and Tomás Campuzano of Siete Cueros Árbol de Cine. Claudia Triana de Vargas, director of Proimágenes Colombia, participated in the festival focusing on sharing knowledge about innovative models of alternative and traveling cinema circuits, identifying co-production opportunities with French producers, and strengthening relations between the two film industries. During her participation, she met with key institutions and networks such as CNC and Cinéphilae to learn more about the functioning models of art-house and independent cinemas in the Occitanie region.
