Mexican actress Ilse Salas, winner of Mexico’s Best Actress Ariel Award for “The Good Girls,” will star in Quijote Films’ wry dramedy “To Die on Your Feet” (“Morir de Pie”), newly pitched at Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid.
This marks the second fiction feature for Chilean director María Paz González, whose debut “Lina de Lima” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and earned acclaim at FIC Valdivia. González, also a journalist, is known for her 2011 documentary “Hija.”
Described as a social‑critique dramedy about a profession threatened by AI, the story follows Cruz, an actress who works as a simulated patient for medical students. One night she witnesses a body falling from her building; instead of helping, she continues with her life. Security cameras capture her indifference, and she soon realizes her role has desensitized her.
Salas is one of Mexico’s most celebrated actresses of her generation. In addition to winning the Ariel Award for “The Good Girls” in 2019, she was nominated for Ariels for her work in Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “Güeros” and Abner Benaim’s “Plaza Catedral,” Panama’s nominee for the 94th Academy Awards.
“Latin American cinema is the cinema I watch, seek out, make and dream about. Our voice needs to reach farther and we are making it heard,” Salas said.
The dramedy has travelled globally through development and co‑production programmes at festivals such as Marseille, Toulouse, San Sebastián, Berlinale and Discovery TIFF 2029. It has already secured distribution deals with Hulu, HBO and Mubi across multiple territories.
“To Die on Your Feet” also received backing from the Pfeffer del Sur fund of the José Ignacio International Film Festival.
Like many Chilean projects, it boasts an international co‑production team spanning six countries. Lead producer Quijote Films (Chile) partners with Amore Cine (Spain), Sutor Kolonko (Germany), Tarantula (Luxembourg), Bocacha (Uruguay) and MartFilms (Mexico).
Giancarlo Nasi, representative of Quijote Films, commented: “We have spent years developing ‘Morir de pie’ as an international co‑production and having Ilse Salas join as the lead is a decisive step forward. She is an actress we have admired for a long time… Her career demonstrates extraordinary range, an exceptional level of acting and a very special connection with audiences. It is precisely that combination of humor, discomfort and emotion that María Paz González is looking for in this story.”
Meanwhile, Quijote Films, Chile’s largest international co‑production house with 35 completed projects, is preparing its first Chile‑Morocco co‑production: the documentary “Don’t Let the Sun Go Up on Me,” co‑produced with the French company Haut et Court and directed by Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir, winner of the Best Director award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2023.
The project is currently in development and participated in the Venice Production Bridge 2026.
In separate news, Chile’s Ministry of Cultures has revoked the Audiovisual Minority Co‑Production fund granted to “The Smell of Apples,” the nation’s first co‑production with Africa, following an administrative observation. The case is under review by Quijote Films’ legal team, while the film—directed by John Trengove—premiered in the Platform competition at TIFF 2026 and was a contender for South Africa’s Academy Award submission.
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