Netflix joins Santiago-Guadalajara Queer Incubator

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Six projects, six countries, one global heavyweight in their corner: Netflix is joining as a strategic partner in the second edition of the Santiago-Guadalajara Queer Incubator and doubling the prize for the best project from $5,000 to $10,000. What this means for you: one of the world's largest streaming companies is deliberately putting money and infrastructure behind a Latin American structure designed to ready queer feature films from the region for the international market.

What is the Incubator — and who's taking part this year?

The Santiago-Guadalajara Queer Incubator is a Latin American support network for up to six feature-length fiction projects directed by LGBTIQ filmmakers. It is organized by Chile's Sanfic Industria, the industry arm of the Santiago Film Festival, in collaboration with the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) and its queer competition section Premio Maguey.

The six projects and their makers:

• Fer Elías Rioseco (Chile) – "Decoración de interiores" about Catalina, who breaks into strangers' apartments to redesign them.
• Yoksan Xu (Chile) – "Pulso": A trans woman from the provinces arrives in Santiago and gets caught between dream and disillusionment.
• Luis Diego Pérez (Costa Rica) – "No culpen a la bestia" about nine-year-old Iván, who is mourning his best friend.
• Jimena Román (Paraguay) – "Mundo": Two friends return after ten years to their old summer house and question their feelings.
• Samara Pérez (Puerto Rico) – "Un funeral fantástico": A drag queen plans her own farewell party.
• David Pulido (Mexico) – "Lo que una chica siente": A trans woman returns to Veracruz to inherit her grandmother's house.

According to Sanfic Industria, the selection follows an intersectional approach with particular focus on trans and non-binary identities, as well as on filmmakers from regions with limited access to funding and networks.

What Netflix is concretely bringing in

The support runs through the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity. Netflix is funding the travel and accommodation costs of the six teams for both program stages — a point that, in the industry, often makes the difference over whether a Latin American project can appear on the international stage at all.

Pierre Emile Vandoorne, VP of Public Affairs for Netflix in Latin America, frames the engagement like this: "We believe it is essential to open up spaces for diverse voices from the region — voices that bring fresh perspectives and authentic storytelling. Supporting the Incubator for another year allows us to create concrete opportunities for the LGBTIQ community, together with those who tirelessly expand access to the audiovisual industry."

The schedule: Chile in November, Mexico in March

The second edition runs in two stages. The opener is Sanfic Industria from November 2 to 6, as part of the 22nd edition of the event in Santiago de Chile. In March 2027, the 42nd edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival will follow.

Both stages include group mentoring with international industry professionals. Confirmed mentors include the Venezuelan filmmaker Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás of Lima-based Sudaca Films (production of the San Sebastián winner "Bad Hair"), the Chilean actor Alfredo Castro — a longtime Pablo Larraín collaborator — as well as Emilio Papimija and Michel Salazar. On top of that come market activities, networking sessions, and the tie-in with Premio Maguey, which Sanfic Industria calls the most influential queer film competition in Latin America.

The second edition — and the weight of the moment

Netflix had already backed the first edition back in August 2025. The new run is, according to Gabriela Sandoval, co-founder of Sanfic and director of Sanfic Industria, a growth step: "We are building a space that not only provides creative support, but allows makers to circulate, build networks, and reach concrete industry opportunities." And she sets the context straight: "At a time when the rights of the LGBTIQ community are facing new setbacks, it is more necessary than ever to create spaces where these stories can develop, become visible, and find their audience."

That this need isn't abstract is clear from a look at the 2027 Oscar season: in the running are "Narciso" by Marcelo Martinessi (Paraguay), "Feito Pipa" by Allan Deberton (Brazil), "Llueve sobre Babel" by Gala del Sol (Colombia), and "En el camino" by David Pablos (Mexico) — four Latin American films that attest to the creative density of queer material coming out of the region. Estrella Araiza, general director of the Guadalajara Festival, sums it up: "Today, more than ever, we must learn — and relearn — how to acknowledge vulnerability. From there, with honesty and joy, we will go on defending everything beautiful and valuable that it represents."