10 · 19 · 26

The 24th FICM Welcomes Marc Turtletaub and Luis Gnecco for the Presentation of BORGES AND ME

Omar Sosa

During the 24th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), American producer and director Marc Turtletaub presented his latest feature film, Borges and Me. The acclaimed Chilean actor Luis Gnecco, who portrays Jorge Luis Borges, was also present at the screening.

Turtletaub has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for his work as a producer on Little Miss Sunshine (2006, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris).

The film is based on the book of the same name by author Jay Parini, a fictionalized autobiography of sorts, and had its international premiere at the 2026 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Much of the film was shot in Scotland.

“It is a warm, moving, and at times, very melancholic film. It’s a sort of intergenerational road trip—a portrait of an unlikely friendship, full of both comedy and pathos,” remarked festival programmer Chloë Roddick, as she introduced Gnecco.

“It is a film defined by very subtle movements—subtle movements of the soul—and for me, it was a true challenge and a real honor to be able to portray Jorge Luis Borges,” the actor commented. He invited the audience to stay for a Q&A session following the screening, noting that, in his view, the primary goals of a film are the enjoyment it provides and the dialogue it sparks.

In the early 1970s, writer and student Jay Parini finds himself tasked with driving the blind poet Jorge Luis Borges through the Scottish countryside. Over the course of an eventful journey, the two forge a complex and profound bond, steeped in poetry, music, and melancholy.

Before the Q&A session began, the author thanked the audience in Morelia for their attendance. He said he discovered this book two years after its publication in a bookstore in Hawaii: “I was reading it there in the bookstore, I took it off the shelves and started flipping through it. Two pages later I was completely hooked.”

The Chilean actor, who had previously played Pablo Neruda in Neruda (2016, Dir. Pablo Larraín), commented that he felt fortunate to be able to play the role of both writers, whom he admires as an avid reader.

“It’s not that I have a particular preference; honestly, I’d like to take on all kinds of roles. When you’re tasked with playing writers like these, it’s a major challenge at first—like climbing a mountain—but an actor’s job is to create believable, flesh-and-blood human beings,” he added.

The Chilean actor also took a moment to acknowledge Turtletaub’s work as a director: “A huge part of why this turned out so well was meeting this man, who guided me along that path in such a spectacular way. The final result is thanks to the talent, warmth, and profound humanity of Mr. Marc Turtletaub.”

In response, the director commented: “Before becoming a director—and I actually started directing quite late—I was a producer on a great many films. I’ve worked with many excellent actors, but I had never worked with someone who arrived on set as thoroughly prepared and ready to do the work as Luis Gnecco.”

One of the attendees highlighted the use of music in the storytelling, to which the American director responded by acknowledging the work of Volker Bertelmann, the composer for Borges and Me. Bertelmann has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score, for Conclave (2025, dir. Edward Berger), All Quiet on the Western Front (2023, dir. Edward Berger), and Lion (2017, dir. Garth Davis). An emotional attendee congratulated both artists on their work on the film. “Your performance touched my soul. You are a man of incredible sensitivity, great charisma, and impressive talent,” she said.

To the loud sound of applause, Turtletaub and Gnecco bid the audience in Morelia farewell, reiterating their gratitude for the opportunity to be there.