Mexican actress Ilse Salas, winner of Mexico’s Best Actress Ariel Award for “The Good Girls” (“Las niñas bien”), will lead the cast of the Quijote Films wry dramedy “To Die on Your Feet” (“Morir de Pie”), which has been pitched this week at the Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid.
This is the second fiction feature of Chilean director María Paz González who first broke out with her fiction debut, “Lina de Lima,” which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and won at FIC Valdivia. A journalist as well as filmmaker, she is also known for her 2011 feature documentary, “Hija.”
Described as a social-critique dramedy about a profession threatened by AI, “To Die on Your Feet” follows Cruz, an actress who works as a simulated patient for medical students. One night, she sees a body fall from her building and instead of helping, simply carries on with her life. Security cameras capture her actions. Unable to explain herself, she realizes that her profession has made her insensitive.
Salas is among the most acclaimed Mexican actresses of her generation. Aside from bringing home Mexico’s prestigious Ariel Award for “The Good Girls” in 2019, she was nominated for the Ariel for her performances in Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “Güeros” and Abner Benaim’s “Plaza Catedral,” Panama’s shortlisted entry to 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,” said Salas.
The dramedy’s trajectory has taken it across the world through a variety of development and co-production programs in such festivals as Marseille, Toulouse, San Sebastián, the Berlinale and Discovery TIFF 2029. It has already been snapped up by Hulu, HBO and Mubi for various 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 has enlisted a team of co-producers from various countries. The six-country co-production includes lead producer Quijote Films (Chile) alongside Amore Cine (Spain), Sutor Kolonko (Germany), Tarantula (Luxembourg), Bocacha (Uruguay) and MartFilms (Mexico).
Said Quijote Film’s Giancarlo Nasi: “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, from films by filmmakers we love, such as ‘Güeros’ (Berlinale, Tribeca), to outstanding productions for major streaming platforms. Her career demonstrates extraordinary range, an exceptional level of acting and at the same time, a very special connection with audiences. It is precisely that combination of humor, discomfort and emotion that María Paz Gonzalez is looking for in this story.”
Meanwhile, Quijote, the Chilean production company with the largest number of completed international co-productions — 35 to date, including Chile’s first co-production agreements with Ukraine and South Africa — is now preparing a new milestone: the first Chile–Morocco co-production, the feature documentary “Don’t Let the Sun Go Up on Me,” co-produced with French company Haut et Court.
It will be directed by Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir, winner of the Best Director Award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2023 for “The Mother of All Lies.” The project is currently in development and participated in the Venice Production Bridge 2026.
However, the news comes amid a separate controversy: Chile’s Ministry of Cultures revoked the Audiovisual Minority Co-Production fund awarded to “The Smell of Apples,” the first Chilean co-production with the African continent, following an administrative observation.
The case is currently under review by the Quijote Films’ legal team, who are determining the next steps, just as the film, directed by John Trengove (“The Wound,” “Manodrome”), has had its world premiere in the Platform competition at TIFF 2026. Platform is the festival’s only competitive section and this year, the winning film also receives a direct spot in the Academy Awards race for Best International Feature Film. Pic was a strong contender to represent South Africa in that race, which has however gone to “Variations on a Theme” by Devon Delmar and Jason Jacobs.