Berlin Golden Bear winner wraps Cabula, shares Venice first look
Berlin Golden Bear winner Lila Avilés ("Totém") has wrapped production on her next feature film, "Cábula," and released an exclusive first-look image with Variety. She will present the project at the Venice Gap-Financing Market from Sept. 4–6 as she seeks partners to complete financing.
Key Takeaways
- Berlin Golden Bear winner Lila Avilés has finished shooting "Cábula," her follow-up to "Totém."
- An exclusive first-look image was shared with Variety.
- The film screens for partners at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, Sept. 4–6.
- Teresita Sánchez leads as teacher Toña; Nicolás Celis and Maria Zamora produce.
- Avilés frames the story as comedy used to resist a "cruel, dehumanizing world."
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What is Cábula about, and who stars in it?
Set in the fictional Mexican town of Mexicalpan, "Cábula" follows Toña, a compassionate teacher devoted to her students' creativity. An invitation to represent their community takes Toña and her class to the capital. There they meet an absurd group of elites intent on appropriating and exploiting their customs.
Despite challenges and betrayals, Toña reaffirms her calling and her faith in education's transformative power. Per Avilés' director's statement to Variety, the film "uses comedy as resistance" and treats humor as "an escape valve and a collective mirror to question power," while paying tribute to underpaid teachers as "anonymous heroes."
The cast mixes seasoned professionals and local talent. Veteran Mexican actress Teresita Sánchez — who appeared in both "The Chambermaid" and "Totém" — plays Toña. Gabriela Cartol and Montserrat Marañón also star. Speaking from Mexico City, Avilés called Sánchez her "muse," likening her to Federico Fellini's wife, Giulietta Messina.
"She has that energy that can make you cry, can make you laugh," Avilés said. "She's a magic woman. She has that power." She described Toña's "quiet, nurturing presence" as a "moral counterweight to the surrounding chaos," and said Sánchez is "really connected to her students, to her vocation."
Who is producing Cábula, and why does Venice matter?
Avilés co-wrote the script with Miguel Vasallo. Nicolás Celis — a producer on Oscar-winning "Roma" — produces for Cuadernos de Cine, the Mexico City company he founded in 2008 and a sister shingle to Pimienta Films. Maria Zamora of Elastica Films co-produces.
Celis told Variety it is "a true privilege to team up with a visionary like Lila Avilés," adding that after "Tótem," they are "thrilled to begin our collaboration with 'Cábula.'" He said the Venice Gap-Financing Market "provides exactly the platform we need to gather the partners who will help bring her vision to life."
That market runs Sept. 4–6, putting the newly wrapped film in front of international decision-makers as financing is closed — a key next step after cameras stopped rolling.
How does Cábula fit Avilés' path after Totém?
"Cábula" is Avilés' long-awaited third feature after "The Chambermaid" (Toronto 2018 premiere; Ariel First Feature Film Award) and "Totém," which won the Golden Bear at the 2023 Berlinale. Variety's Peter Debruge called "Totém" an "intimate, emotionally rich" drama with a "generous, open-ended style."
Her films have twice represented Mexico in the Oscar race for best international feature. A former actress who directed theater before filmmaking, Avilés is often cited among female directors reshaping Mexican cinema. She told Variety the three features sit on a continuum.
"When I started to do 'The Chambermaid,' I already had 'Totém' in my heart. While I was doing 'Totém,' I knew I wanted to do 'Cábula,'" she said. "Sometimes we have stories, and those stories go out [into the world]. It's that persistence of stories that…are not in the mind, but in the heart."