A presence that brings production, talent, incentives, services and new business opportunities into dialogue, within a programme that connects Mexico with the international audiovisual industry.
Mexico will be the Country in Focus at Iberseries & Platino Industria 2026, which will take place from 29 September to 2 October at Matadero Madrid. The leading international gathering for the Ibero-American industry is organised by EGEDA and Fundación Secuoya, in collaboration with FIPCA, and is sponsored by Madrid Film Office and Madrid Film Region, among other collaborating entities.
Driven by EGEDA México, this special presence by Mexico will highlight the scope and diversity of an industry that brings together independent production, studios, service companies, platforms, institutions, creators and professionals with a growing international presence.
With more than 120 accredited professionals, Mexico is the country with the second-highest participation in this edition, behind only Spain. Its presence will not be limited to activities specifically designed for the Country in Focus: Mexican professionals will also take part in keynotes, conferences, talks, industry meetings and sessions devoted to some of the issues transforming the audiovisual business.
Producing in Mexico Is Awesome. New Conditions to Compete
One of the central activities of the Country in Focus will be “Producing in Mexico Is Awesome. New Conditions to Compete”, on Tuesday, 29 September.
Mexico combines scale, strategic location, experience, technical talent and infrastructure to develop productions with international reach. This is complemented by a network of specialised companies and services capable of supporting projects at different stages, from filming through post-production.
The conversation will bring together different industry perspectives to analyse the country’s current capabilities and the conditions that strengthen its competitiveness as a production territory.
Participants will include Guillermo Saldaña, Director General of the Mexico City Film Commission; Mónica Lozano, CEO of Alebrije Cine y Video; Andrea Bilbatúa, CEO of New Art Group; and José Miguel Álvarez, Director General of EFD Studios México.
Production, filming facilities, technical services, infrastructure and post-production will form part of a conversation aimed at showing what it means today to develop an audiovisual project in Mexico and the opportunities the country offers for domestic and international productions.
Amores perros: Mexico, Country in Focus Gala Screening
Mexican cinema will also have a special place with the gala screening of Amores perros, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, which will take place on Tuesday, 29 September in Cineteca’s Sala Azcona.
Twenty-six years after its release, Amores perros remains a landmark work of contemporary Mexican cinema and a benchmark for Ibero-American filmmaking. Premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, where it won the Grand Prize, it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, won the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language and received 11 Ariel Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best First Feature.
The screening will be introduced by Mónica Lozano, associate producer of the film, in a presentation by Estudio México Films and with distribution by MUBI.
Its inclusion in the Mexico, Country in Focus programme offers an opportunity to return to a film that marked a decisive moment in the international projection of Mexican cinema and that, more than two decades later, retains its artistic and cultural relevance. In recognition of its significance, the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences granted it a Cinematic Achievement Recognition on its 25th anniversary.
Mexico will have its own space in Plaza Matadero
Country in Focus status will also have a visible expression within the market. Mexico will have its own container and a special presence in Plaza Matadero, one of the main spaces for circulation and professional meetings at Iberseries & Platino Industria.
Throughout the four days of the event, this space will serve as a reference point for the Mexican delegation and will bring companies, institutions and professionals from the country closer to international producers, executives and partners.
Thus, Mexico will take part in the MAI Audiovisual Market, expanding its presence within the professional and business spaces of this edition.
The initiative seeks to ensure that the Country in Focus translates into a central presence within the market, in keeping with the relevance and strength of its industry, in order to generate conversations and facilitate new professional connections.
Katina Medina Mora: from Mexican independent cinema to global series
Mexican talent will have another of its highlights with the previously announced Keynote by director and screenwriter Katina Medina Mora: “Directing Without Borders: From Mexican Independent Cinema to Global Series”.
After developing feature films in Mexico such as LuTo, Sabrás qué hacer conmigo and Latido, Medina Mora has built an international career that includes productions such as Emily in Paris, Selena: The Series, XO, Kitty, Swagger, The Summer I Turned Pretty and Off Campus.
The conversation, moderated by Axel Kuschevatzky, will explore what it means to move from developing one’s own projects to joining productions with established universes, teams and working models; what changes in the craft of directing when working for different platforms; and how an individual perspective can find its place within international productions.
Medina Mora will also take part in “Women in Ibero-American Fiction: Building Bridges from Dynamo”, a conversation on how to foster local talent and facilitate its incorporation into international teams and markets without losing the identity of the stories.
Matchmaking Session | Mexico, Country in Focus
40 professionals. 5 leading hosts. New business opportunities.
Mexico’s presence will also include a component directly aimed at building professional relationships. On Thursday, 1 October, a Matchmaking Session | Mexico, Country in Focus will bring together 40 professionals in a series of meetings with five hosts connected to different strategic areas of the Mexican audiovisual industry.
The following will take part in these tables:
CFilma | Guillermo V. Saldaña Puente
Director General of CFilma (Mexico City Film Commission), an organisation dedicated to facilitating and promoting audiovisual activity in the capital. Under his leadership, CFilma has worked on policies and mechanisms aimed at strengthening Mexico City as a production destination and creating better conditions for audiovisual activity.
New Art Group | Andrea Bilbatúa Ferrer
CEO of New Art Group, a company specialising in dubbing and post-production for the Latin American market. Since 2020, she has led a new stage for the company linked to technological innovation, the evolution of post-production processes and the industry’s new needs.
EFD Studios | José Miguel Álvarez Ibargüengoitia
Director General of EFD Studios México, a company specialising in audiovisual production services that offers solutions in camera, lighting, motion control, grip, sound stages, post-production and virtual production. Álvarez also has more than two decades of experience in the audiovisual sector and an extensive previous career at IMCINE.
IMCINE / EFICA / COMEFILM | Yunuen Cuenca and Diana Álvarez Segoviano
The representatives of the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE) will present the opportunities linked to the new Tax Incentive for Cinematographic and Audiovisual Production (EFICA), a federal tax incentive aimed at attracting and encouraging domestic and international film and audiovisual productions in Mexico.
The table will also provide an opportunity to learn about the work of the Mexican Film Commission (COMEFILM), part of IMCINE, which supports audiovisual productions throughout the country through the coordination of its 42 film liaison offices and promotes Mexico as a filming destination.
Talipot Studio | Regina Solórzano
CEO of Talipot Studio, a Mexican production company with a strong international presence. The company has participated as a co-producer on films such as Los Reyes del Mundo, Annette, Bergman Island, Siberia and Eureka, and has led productions such as Tú eres mi problema, The Dead Don’t Hurt and Juana. It is currently developing several television series with creators including Rodrigo Prieto, Gibrán Portela, Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer. Solórzano also participated as a co-producer of Triangle of Sadness, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
The session will provide, in a single space, access to filming, incentives, institutions, technical services, post-production and production, with interlocutors capable of opening concrete conversations about projects, needs and possibilities for collaboration. The next partnerships start here.
Networking session
Mexico will host a cocktail reception to promote a professional networking space designed to generate agile and productive meetings that can lead to new contacts and conversations and bring together professionals from different countries.
The opening will be led by EGEDA México, accompanied by CFilma and Sin Sentido Films.
Mexico, a cross-cutting presence throughout the Iberseries & Platino Industria programme
The Country in Focus brings together Mexican professionals and companies who will take part in conversations related to production, platforms, content development, new formats and Ibero-American cooperation.
Iberseries & Platino Industria is adding the workshop “Thinking Like a Producer: Creative Business Strategy” to its programme, a training session aimed at producers, directors, screenwriters and development executives, focused on strengthening fiction projects from a creative, industrial and market perspective.
Leonardo Zimbrón, SVP of Co-production at 3Pas Studios, will share tools for developing projects and business models adapted to today’s audiovisual market. A producer with extensive experience in film and television, he has worked with companies and platforms such as Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Netflix and Amazon MGM Studios, and has participated in productions including Nosotros los Nobles, Club de Cuervos and Cada Minuto Cuenta.
Mónica Lozano will also take part in “Only Producers in the Building: Challenges as a Catalyst for Change”, alongside international producers who will address new financing structures, collaboration between territories and strategies for developing projects in a changing landscape. She will also participate in the conversation commemorating 30 years of FIPCA (Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers), an organisation of which she was vice-president.
Amazon MGM Studios will bring together talent from Mexico, Argentina and Spain in “New Voices, Great Stories: Amazon MGM Studios’ Commitment to Emerging Talent”. Participants from Mexico will include, among others, Camila Misas, Head of Local Originals Mexico, Amazon MGM Studios.
New formats will also have Mexican representation. Clo Fernández, Manager Future Development at Telemundo Studios, will take part in “Microdramas: What the New Format Brings into Play”, alongside Javier Williams, SVP Spanish Language Content at 3Pas Studios (USA) and CEO of Visceral (Mexico), to analyse how short-form content is beginning to be incorporated into the strategies of studios and production companies.
Fernández will also take part in the presentation of the Ibero-American Audiovisual Overview, an annual report and statistical analysis of the Ibero-American region and the Spanish-speaking community in the United States, devoted this year to the changes being driven by artificial intelligence, vertical formats and true crime.
For his part, Juancho Cardona, Director General of 11:11 Films & TV, whose main hub is in Mexico, will take part in “How to Watch a Series with Your Eyes Closed”, which will use Las vidas de Marilú as a case study to trace the process of adapting a narrative podcast into a series: from creative development through production, financing and presenting the project to platforms and potential partners.
Mexico’s presence at Iberseries & Platino Industria showcases an industry in motion: talent working both inside and outside the country, companies connected to different markets, an increasingly international network and a new framework for competition. This is the audiovisual Mexico arriving in Madrid this year.
