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Jonás Cuarón's CAMPEÓN GABACHO at the 24th FICM

Omar Sosa

The 24th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) officially began with a screening of Campeón Gabacho. Mexican director Jonás Cuarón was joined by Aura Xilonen, author of the novel and screenwriter of the film; the film's producers Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez, and Nicolás Celis; actor Juan Daniel García Treviño; composer Mateo Cuarón; the festival's founder and director, Daniela Michel; and FICM'S president, Alejandro Ramírez. A press conference was held before the film's screening.

Campeón gabacho is based on the novel of the same name by Aura Xilonen, winner of the first edition of the Mauricio Achcar Prize, awarded by Librerías Gandhi and Penguin Random House in 2015.

The film follows Liborio, played by Juan Daniel García Treviño, a young migrant whose only talent is taking a beating. He crosses the Rio Grande to escape Mexico's harsh reality and seek a better life in the United States, settling in a Latino neighborhood in New York City. With his fists, his love, and his words, he confronts the cultural barriers and prejudices that endanger his dreams—and becomes a hero in a foreign land.

“It’s a story set in the United States, but I feel it’s a very human story that will resonate with audiences in Mexico and around the world," said Nicolás Celis, founder of Pimienta Films. ”It’s a very honest film.” 

Alfonso Cuarón, speaking about his role in this film, noted that he felt like a tourist because the people who truly brought this film to life were Jonás, Gabriela Rodríguez, and Nicolás Celis, who have been working together since Año uña (2007), Jonás’s debut film. “On the creative side, it was just like it always is when Jonás, Alejandro, or Guillermo finish a film. He sent over the cut, we discussed it, and then he made his own decisions,” he added.

Alejandro Ramírez said that after seeing Campeón Gabacho, he knew it was the ideal choice to open this year’s festival, and that he wanted to get involved with the film’s distribution in Mexico and Central America through Cinépolis Distribución.

Juan Daniel García Treviño said that Campeón Gabacho was one of the greatest discoveries of his career. “When I made my first movie, people would ask me what other characters I’d like to play, and I’d say a boxer so I could throw some punches,” the Mexican actor said, expressing his excitement about playing Liborio. “Beyond building this character based on my own understanding, it taught me what it means to build a character from scratch, from the ground up,” he added about what he learned from this production.

“Morelia has been one of the festivals that has shaped my life, and to be presenting it here—where children grow up knowing about cinema—is a dream come true,” he added.

The young actor made his debut in Ya no estoy aquí (2019, dir. Fernando Frías), winner of the Audience Award for Best Mexican Feature Film and the Ojo Award for Best Mexican Feature Film at the 17th FICM. This year, he is presenting two feature films.

On the difference between his portrayals of migration in Desierto (2015) and Campeón Gabacho (2026), Jonás Cuarón said, “After finishing Desierto, I read Aura Xilonen’s novel and fell in love with the vision, the character, and the sense of humor. It struck me as a way to tell that same story but through a different lens—a very emotional one.”

Daniela Michel spoke of her excitement at being able to open this year’s festival with Campeón Gabacho. “Our goal has always been to support Mexican cinema, especially young filmmakers. We try to stay in touch with the more than 2,000 Mexican filmmakers who have presented their films here. When I saw Campeón gabacho, I felt an incredible surge of energy.” Daniela highlighted Cuarón’s vision in this film, which takes immigrants out of the sad stereotype they’re often pigeonholed into.

Gabriela Rodríguez, the film’s producer, added her thoughts on the topic of immigration. “It’s a different way of looking at such a serious issue. Jonás infuses it with so much humanity and humor, and many of us who are immigrants understand that everything is a challenge, but we’re also human beings who need community, laughter, and all the things that other people need.”

“It was a pleasure to embrace this story and have Jonás as the director. It’s a pleasure to work with someone who has a vision, who knows what he wants so clearly that all I have to do as his producer is help him bring it to life,” she concluded.

Aura Xilonen, author of the novel that inspired Campeón Gabacho, thanked the audience and the festival for coming together around this work. “With Jonás, we produced some fantastic writing; we each had our old battered laptops, but we still managed to write, amid some very emotional ups and downs.”

She shared that there was no initial plan to write a novel, but rather a collection of writings that gradually took shape. Her grandfather, who loved theater, film, and literature, was a major source of inspiration for her, and the writing process allowed her to discover a special bond with him.

“Aura’s novel is full of poetry. Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to translate that poetry into cinematic language. That’s why I decided to work with her,” Jonás Cuarón said about this process. From the very beginning, both of them wanted the film to be a completely new creation—a discovery they would make together. What he enjoyed most about this process was the constant search for visual metaphors to bring Xilonen’s text to the screen.

Regarding the essence of Liborio’s character, the director explained, “Liborio’s character already had a certain sense of humor, but when we met Juan Daniel, we realized that—unlike in the novel—we wanted him to be more outgoing, more of a fighter.”

García Treviño thanked Cuarón for allowing him to be himself, as that trust was what enabled him to bring the character to life. “I can be myself. I can break everything, and no one’s going to say anything to me—quite the opposite. Jonás is paving the way for me so I can go around kicking things everywhere,” he said regarding discovering his own essence in the character of Liborio.

Jonás Cuarón seized the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Fernanda Guerrero, the production designer. “For me, this is a film with a strong stylistic and visual identity, so it was very important to be able to control the entire set. We decided that the best option was to build this universe in Mexico City,” he said.

The international premiere of Campeón Gabacho was at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, where it won the Audience Award in the Narrative Spotlight category. It will premiere in Mexican theaters on October 29.