SANTIAGO / MADRID — Chilean production companies Madre Content and Quijote Films are teaming up for Nativity (Nacimiento), the second feature from acclaimed filmmaker Francisca Alegría. Known for The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future, Alegría will present the project on June 10 at the ECAM Forum Co-Production Market in Madrid.
Quijote Films, producers of The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, will lead production. Madre Content, co-founded by Alegría in 2023 with Fernanda Urrejola, Gabriela Rosés, and Cristóbal Güell, will formally join the project later to help close financing gaps.
Written and directed by Alegría, Nativity is a magical realist drama about the rebirth of a violent man. The story follows Cristián, a Chilean fisherman who disappears at sea and returns months later, changed both physically and spiritually. As he tries to reintegrate into his village, people begin to suspect he is not the same person. Haunted by past secrets and guided by Marisol, a woman with her own trauma, Cristián begins a surreal journey toward redemption in a world where the line between myth and reality fades.
Alegría said the idea began in 2014 after meeting a fisherman in a small Chilean town. “I thought he would be a typical macho man,” she said, “but he turned out to be very sensitive and tender. That contradiction stuck with me. One day, I imagined a fisherman being struck by a metaphysical force while harvesting seaweed—and that became the heart of this story.”
Like her debut feature, Nativity uses magical realism—a genre rooted in Latin America’s literary tradition—to explore deeper themes. While her first film addressed climate change, this new story tackles violence against women through symbolic storytelling.
“I’ve experienced an abusive relationship myself,” Alegría shared. “I didn’t want to approach it with realism, but with allegory. The issue is widespread, and while progress has been made, the rising rates of feminicide are still alarming.”
Producer Giancarlo Nasi, founder of Quijote Films and co-producer of international titles like The Settlers and The Blue Trail, emphasized the importance of global partnerships. “Co-production is how we survive and thrive,” he said. “Chile is isolated geographically, but our stories connect with the world.”
Nasi highlighted Chile’s production incentives, which offer up to 40% rebates to foreign partners. He is currently developing projects with Peru and South Africa and is reuniting with directors Theo Court (White on White) and María Paz González (Lina from Lima).
In addition to pitching Nativity, Alegría will attend ECAM Forum as co-producer for Madre Content on Nadine Luque’s A Decorous Woman, a project in development with Parina Films.
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