Colombia to Showcase Three Productions at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival
Colombian cinema will once again enjoy a strong international presence with its participation in the 2026 Venice International Film Festival, one of the world’s most prestigious film events. This year, the country will be represented by three productions competing in different official and parallel sections of the festival: the short film Los poderes (The Powers) and the feature films El fin de los tiempos (The End of Times) and Meteorito (Meteorite).
Colombia’s participation highlights the remarkable growth of its film industry over the past decade and reflects the increasing international interest in stories produced in the country. Beyond showcasing emerging talent, the selected films explore themes such as memory, violence, social transformation, and new ways of portraying Latin American realities through cinema.
Three Colombian productions to compete in different sections of the Venice Film Festival
The short film Los poderes, directed by Salim Jaller, will have its world premiere in the Orizzonti Corti section, the festival’s international competition dedicated to short films. The Colombia-France co-production, created by Sugarmind Films, Evidencia Films, and Alta Rocca Films, was selected from more than 2,500 submissions from around the world and will compete alongside twelve other international productions. Filmed in black and white and starring Daniel Ochoa and Victoria Escobar, the film embraces a minimalist narrative style and a striking visual approach. Its selection also marks Jaller’s professional directorial debut after years of working in casting and actor coaching on numerous Colombian and international productions.
Meanwhile, El fin de los tiempos, directed by Bibiana Rojas Gómez and Juan David Cárdenas, has been selected for the International Critics’ Week (SIC), a section renowned for introducing emerging voices in independent cinema. The feature blends fiction and documentary to tell the story of a woman revisiting a past shaped by exploitation and violence across Latin America. One of the film’s most distinctive elements is its use of artificial intelligence as a storytelling tool to imagine alternative realities while reflecting on today’s political and economic structures, suggesting that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.
The third Colombian production is Meteorito, the second feature film by director Sebastián Múnera, which will also compete in the International Critics’ Week. The story follows two women attempting to enter the illegal business of smuggling cell phones into a prison, only to find themselves in an amusement park built on the former estate of a notorious drug trafficker. Through this journey, the film examines how everyday spaces continue to bear the marks of violence and the power structures that have shaped Colombia’s recent history.
Venice: A global showcase for Colombian cinema
The 2026 Venice International Film Festival will take place from September 2 to 12, once again reaffirming its status alongside Cannes and Berlin as one of the most influential film festivals in the world. Every year, the event brings together acclaimed filmmakers and emerging directors, serving as a key platform for international premieres and the discovery of new cinematic voices.
Colombia’s presence across multiple sections of this year’s festival demonstrates the diversity of its contemporary film industry. While Los poderes embraces an intimate visual language through the short-film format, El fin de los tiempos experiments with the intersection of documentary, fiction, and artificial intelligence, and Meteorito explores the lingering impact of drug trafficking and violence through a fictional narrative.
In addition to the official screenings, Colombia will also participate in spaces dedicated to co-productions and the development of new projects, strengthening ties with international producers, distributors, and investors. The country has also been invited as one of the special guest nations at this year’s edition of the festival, further reinforcing its growing presence on the global film stage.