La misteriosa mirada del flamenco 

Diego Cespedes, Chile

2026 - 1h48

Diego Cespedes, a young Chilean director, has rightly highlighted the word ‘mirada’: his own "gaze" never ceases to amaze with its inventiveness and freedom. His film was rightly awarded the "Un Certain Regard" (a certain gaze) prize at Cannes in 2025.

We are in the early 1980s, in the Chilean desert. Lidia, aged 11, is growing up in a flamboyant family that has found refuge in a drag cabaret on the outskirts of a mining town. This small queer community is soon confronted with a strange virus nicknamed “the plague” — never referred to by its real name, AIDS — and with male violence.

As this mysterious deadly disease begins to spread, a rumor claims that it is transmitted by a mere glance. The community quickly becomes the target of collective fears and fantasies.

It is a young girl, Lidia, who confronts her father and the villagers in a bid to secure help, as persecution is on the rise due to a belief in a local myth.

The atmosphere captures everyday life through the close, sensory bond between siblings, yet the narrative remains constantly linked to the myth and the confinement.

This confinement is felt in the scenes shot near windows, revealing the forbidden outside world, and in static shots due to the characters’ inability to take action.

Female courage and male violence intertwine in this one-of-a-kind film.

"A strange western, magnificent in its audacity" – Télérama