Mexico’s Madrefoca Boards ‘Isabel Hernández’ as Zoe Films Builds Festival Momentum (EXCLUSIVE)

Mexico’s Madrefoca Cine has boarded “Isabel Hernández,” Italian filmmaker Giorgio Giampà’s feature debut, joining Zoe Films, LaDoc and Fiasco on the Italy-Mexico co-production.

The project is among the 15 titles selected for the 2026 Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum at the San Sebastián Film Festival.

Its San Sebastián berth comes as Zoe Films builds a growing festival presence. The Italian company has Ali Asgari’s “A Bit of Light” in competition at the Venice Film Festival and Shawn Garry’s “After Elena,” starring Alfredo Castro, heading to Toronto’s Centrepiece section.

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The move brings producer Alejandro Saevich into a production team comprising Zoe Films’ Lorenzo Cioffi and Giampà and Fiasco’s Elena Fortes. Madrefoca, co-founded in 2023 by Saevich, is also behind Nathalia Acevedo’s “Salón de Belleza,” selected for competition at Venice Days this year.

Written by Giampà with Melissa Nocetti, “Isabel Hernández” 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.

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’s civil war and fractured memories of the man she barely knew.

“Isabel tries to piece together the past, claim a future of her own, find her own peace,” Giampà said.

The film grows out of seven years of research Giampà 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.

Giampà plans to work largely with non-professional actors “whose own lives resonate with the story,” extending the film’s research-driven approach into its casting.

Shooting is planned for autumn 2027. “Isabel Hernández” is part of TorinoFilmLab FeatureLab 2026, previously participated in the EAVE Producers Workshop 2025 and has received development support from Film Commission Regione Campania.

Founded in 2023, Zoe Films’ previous productions include Asgari’s “Divine Comedy,” selected for Venice Horizons in 2025, and Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman’s “Vittoria,” which played Venice Horizons Extra in 2024. Its short-film slate includes Giampà’s “Astronauta,” selected for Clermont-Ferrand’s 2026 International Competition, and Mel Nocetti’s “I Used to Call That Man Home,” which played Rotterdam earlier this year.

The 2026 Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum will run Sept. 21-23 as part of the 74th San Sebastián Film Festival, which takes place Sept. 18-26.