‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ Lead Natalia Reyes to Head Jury at Alternativa Film Festival in Colombia (EXCLUSIVE)

The Alternativa Film Festival, part of a global non-profit film initiative aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers from the global South, has tapped Colombian actress-producer Natalia Reyes to head the jury of its upcoming edition in Medellín, Colombia.  It has also unveiled its lineup of some 30 feature films and shorts, which includes “Belén,” Argentina’s Best International Feature entry to the 98^th Academy Awards and the acclaimed debut feature from Thailand’s Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, “A Useful Ghost.”

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The itinerant festival launched in Kazakhstan, Central Asia in 2023 and expanded to Indonesia, Southeast Asia in 2024.

Aside from screenings, talks and public events over April 21–30, the festival will also host Industry Days, a parallel professional program connecting filmmakers, producers and social impact leaders from Latin America and elsewhere. The Industry Days will take place over April 28-29, followed by an awards ceremony on April 30.

Aside from being an actress, activist and producer, Reyes also served as the youngest president in the history of the Colombian Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her international career launched with her star turn in “Terminator: Dark Fate” (2019), produced by James Cameron and directed by Tim Miller.

She toplined “Birds of Passage” (2018), which opened the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. Her other international screen credits include “Pickpockets” (2018), “Tomorrow Before After” (2023) and “Shadow Force” (2025).

Reyes made her debut as an executive producer alongside actor-producer Edgar Ramirez (“Emilia Perez”) while playing the lead in he well-received “It Would Be Night In Caracas,” which screened at the Venice Biennale.

This year, she returns to the big screen in Víctor García León’s “Better Class,” which premiered at the Málaga Film Festival.  It also stars Juan Diego Botto (“The Room Next Door”).

Said Reyes: “I’ve long admired the festival’s vital work in amplifying underrepresented voices from across the globe and the collaboration they foster within the film industry and across cultures.”

“This year’s Feature Competition showcases some of the most exciting new voices from Latin America and Asia and I’m thrilled to be working with the festival to bring this lineup of stories to a global stage. As an actress and producer, I deeply resonate with Alternativa’s mission, and I feel truly inspired to be part of stories that carry a purpose and contribute to meaningful change.”

Liza Surganova, head of Alternativa, said: “Natalia Reyes is a trailblazing creative, both within Latin America and on the wider global stage, who embodies the values of the Alternativa through her vital contributions to Colombian cinema. We are delighted to welcome her to lead our Features Jury this year and are thrilled to share the incredible shortlisted films from an exceptionally talented lineup of filmmakers from the Global South. Each of these films are incredibly deserving of a global platform, and we look forward to celebrating their artistic excellence and potential to transform our society.”

For the 2026 edition, there will be an expanded prize fund of $120,000 (an uptick of $20,000 from the previous edition) and a new award category for a feature film from the Latin American region, bringing the total number of awards to seven.

For this year, the Selection Committee, comprising curators, programmers and impact experts from Latin America, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, reviewed a record 1,831 submissions for the awards, including 677 feature-length films and 1,154 short films, with 1,095 titles deemed eligible.

The Committee shortlisted a total of 30 competition films, including 15 feature-length films and 15 shorts, with an additional six selected for the out of competition line-up.

Feature-length films of various genres, from documentaries to thrillers and comedies, have been selected from Latin America and Asia, while the short film categories are reserved exclusively for Latin America.

Official Competition, Feature Films:

“9-Month Contract,” Ketevan Vashagashvili, Georgia

“Becoming,” Zhannat Alshanova, France, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden

“Belén,” Dolores Fonzi, Argentina

“Brigitte, Planet B,” Santiago Posada, Colombia

“Cactus Pears” (“Sabar Bonda”), Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, India, U.K., Canada

“The Condor Daughter” (“La Hija Condor”), Álvaro Olmos Torrico, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay

“Cutting Through Rocks,” Sara Khaki; Mohammadreza Eyni, Iran, U.S., Netherlands, Qatar, Chile, Canada

“Gemstones” (“Piedras preciosas”), Simón Vélez, Colombia, Portugal

“Lost Land” (“Hàrà Watan”), Akio Fujimoto, Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany

“The Nature of Invisible Things” (“A natureza das coisas invisveis”), Rafaela Camelo, Brazil, Chile

“Only Heaven Knows” (“Dünüyö”), Nurzhamal Karamoldoeva, Kyrgyzstan, U.S.

“Queer as Punk,” Yihwen Chen, Malaysia, Indonesia

“The Reserve” (“La reserva”), Pablo Pérez Lombardini, Mexico, Qatar

“Runa Simi,” Augusto Zegarra, Peru

“A Useful Ghost” (“Pee Chai, Dai Ka”), Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Thailand, Singapore, Germany, France