Ecuadorian Success "Hiedra" Competes at the Havana Film Festival

Strange, but beautiful, profound, and sensitive—this is how art director Claudia Hidalgo described the film "Hiedra" (2025) today during a press meeting at the 46th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in this capital.

It is a dramatic work by director Ana Cristina Barragán. Over 98 minutes, the audience connects with the conflicts of Azucena, a 30-year-old woman with childhood trauma who spies on teenagers in an orphanage, especially 17-year-old Julio; both end up marked by laughter, attraction, tenderness, and the Oedipus complex.

"I believe the main value is the connection with the strange and even twisted emotions that the film awakens; no one remains indifferent," explained Claudia Hidalgo.

"Hiedra" is a point of national pride for Ecuador. A co-production with Spain, Mexico, and France starring Simone Bucio and Francis Eddú, it won Best Screenplay at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Film in the same event. At the 46th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, the feature film is competing in the main category, the Latin American Competition.

Regarding the casting process, Hidalgo acknowledged it lasted two years, with auditions involving a thousand people. The final cast includes only one actor with professional artistic training, a common practice among productions in the region.

The film's director is known for preferring close-ups, sparse dialogue, subtlety, and ambiguity. The film was shot amid a complex situation for culture in Ecuador.

In Claudia Hidalgo's words, there are funding cuts for what authorities deem "not worthwhile" and a greater focus on national security, which is why many national productions are made "for the love of art."