GALA is thrilled to continue its 51st season with the presentation of the 15th annual GALA
Film Festival, celebrating innovation in Latin American cinema. The festival is curated by Carlos A. Gutiérrez, the Co-founder and Executive Director of Cinema Tropical in New York City, and runs December 2 – 6, 2026.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate the 15th edition of the GALA Film Fest with an outstanding lineup of films that showcase the richness, diversity, and vitality of contemporary Latin American cinema,” says Gutiérrez. “This year’s selection brings together compelling stories and distinctive cinematic voices that we’re excited to share with Washington, DC, audiences.”
During the festival, enjoy an art exhibition curated by Pablo Zúñiga, former director of the Organization of American States’ Art Museum of the Americas.
All films are DC premieres, will be screened in Spanish with English subtitles, and are appropriate for ages 13 and up. The festival schedule is as follows (subject to change):
OCA
Wed, Dec 2, 7 pm
Karla Badillo, Mexico/Argentina, 2025, 109 min. – DRAMA
Oca tells the story of Rafaela, a young nun who embarks on a pilgrimage and encounters travelers from diverse walks of life. Her journey becomes a lyrical and often poignant meditation on faith, doubt, and resilience in a world shaped by both spiritual and material forces, offering a quietly critical lens on devotion and institutional life, reimagining the spiritual cinema of Luis Buñuel through a contemporary, distinctly female perspective, and tracing the winding path between belief, destiny, and self-discovery.
Silver Hugo Award, New Directors Competition at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Q&A with director Karla Badillo
Post-screening reception
GUERRA DE VERANO (SUMMER WAR)
Thur, Dec 3, 7 pm
Alicia Scherson, Chile/Uruguay/Argentina/Italy, 2026, 106 min. – PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
In 1989 Chile, young American wargaming champion Udo and his girlfriend arrive at a seaside resort for a carefree summer vacation. But as he becomes increasingly consumed by a World War II strategy game, the line between play and reality begins to blur. Unexpected twists turn the sun-drenched coast into a landscape of suspicion, obsession, and uncertainty, making this film a hypnotic exploration of masculinity, desire, and the seductive illusion of control.
Post-screening reception
NO NOS MOVERÁN (WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED)
Fri, Dec 4, 7 pm
Pierre Saint Martin, Mexico, 2024, 100 min. – BLACK DRAMEDY
Socorro is a retired lawyer consumed by her obsession to find the soldier who killed her brother during the student protests of October 2, 1968, when demands for democracy and justice were brutally silenced in Mexico City’s Tlatelolco Square. Nearly six decades later, a new clue emerges and she sets out on a perilous quest for vengeance, putting her family, her legacy, and her own life in jeopardy. Ariel Awards for Best First Feature, Original Screenplay, Actress & Breakthrough Performance. Mexico’s official submission for the Best International Film Oscar.
Q&A with director Pierre Saint Martin
Post-screening reception courtesy of the Mexican Cultural Institute
LA CORAZONADA (A HEART AS WILLING)
Sat, Dec 5, 2 pm
Diego Soto, Chile, 2025, 78 min. – COMEDY
Nieves runs a modest inn with her son in the Chilean countryside, leading a quiet life. When a wandering motorcyclist arrives and falls for her, a late-blooming romance offers an unexpected glimpse of happiness. But everything changes with the arrival of a filmmaker who casts them in her adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” drawing them into the creative process and gradually blurring the line between performance and reality. A playful meditation on love, aging, cinema, and how stories transform those who inhabit them.
ABRIL
Sat, Dec 5, 5 pm
Hernán Jiménez, Costa Rica, 2026, 105 min. – DRAMEDY
After her divorce, Abril built her life around raising her teenage daughter, Valentina. But when Valentina announces that she wants to move in with her father, Abril suddenly faces a terrifying question: Who is she when she’s no longer taking care of someone else? As she struggles to come to terms with her daughter’s growing independence, an unexpected romance opens the door to the possibility of starting over. This film is a tender portrait of motherhood, identity, letting go, and rediscovering yourself in the face of adversity. Post-screening reception
LAS MUJERES PANTERAS (THE PANTHER WOMAN)
Sun, Dec 6, 2 pm
René Cardona, Mexico, 1967, 88 min. – ACTION
This entertaining and action-packed cult classic throws horror, comedy, noirish atmosphere, and lucha libre into the ring. At the center are the Panther Women, who unleash a campaign of blood sacrifice and terror in hopes of resurrecting their cult’s ancient leader. Their diabolical scheme soon meets its match in Golden Rubí and Loreta Venus, two fearless luchadoras who take the fight beyond the ring in a whirlwind of brawls, chases, masked heroes, and supernatural mayhem.
TRES HERMANAS (THREE SISTERS)
Sun, Dec 6, 5 pm
Joyce Ventura, Colombia, 2026, 80 min. – DOCUMENTARY
Living on different continents, three sisters connected by a lifetime of shared memories find themselves confronting the realities of growing old. Filmmaker Ventura and her two older sisters, Ethy and Bella, capturing intimate conversations and reunions that reveal their strikingly different ways of facing aging, loss, and mortality. A deeply moving meditation on sisterhood, the passage of time, and cinema’s power to bridge distance and preserve what might otherwise be lost.
Q&A with director Joyce Ventura
Post-screening reception
TICKET & GENERAL INFORMATION
Tickets for individual films are $10 or save 50% and get a Film Fest Pass for $35 to see all seven films. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.galatheatre.org or call 202-234-7174.
GALA is located at 3333 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC at the historic Tivoli Theatre. The venue has 4 wheelchair-accessible spaces and an elevator to transport people from the entrance to the lobby and to the house. Parking is available at a $4 flat rate in the Giant Food garage on Park Road, NW (must validate parking ticket in theatre lobby for discount). GALA is located one block north of the Columbia Heights Metro station (Green/Yellow lines).
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