Co-written by Larrazabal and Cuban writer Fabián Suárez, *Malecon* is a co-production involving Spain and the United States. Filmed entirely in Cuba and featuring a talented cast, the movie tells the story of Elvis, an ex-convict separated from his childhood sweetheart who grapples with romantic conflicts, migration issues, and the country’s sordid world of prostitution.

Chile is submitting *El deshielo* by Manuela Martelli, a film about the search for a German skier who went missing in the Andes in 1992; Colombia is putting forward *Llueve sobre Babel* by Gala del Sol, a dark fantasy set in a bar called Babel.

Paraguay is competing with *Narciso* by Marcelo Martinessi, set in 1959 during the Stroessner dictatorship, while Bolivia presents *La hija condor* by Alvaro Olmos, a story about a Quechua midwife aspiring to be an artist whose mother tries to steer her back to her traditional place.

Meanwhile, Ecuador is submitting *Hiedra* by Ana Cristina Barragán—the first Ecuadorian filmmaker to win the Best Screenplay award in the Orizzonti section of the Venice International Film Festival; Peru is competing with *Vino la noche* by Paolo Tizon, and Uruguay with *Un cabo suelto* by Daniel Hendler, according to *The Hollywood Reporter*.

Mexico has submitted *En el camino* by David Pablos, and Panama is putting forward *Chichero* by Aaron Bromley and Arturo Montenegro, a film about a young Quechua man escaping the armed conflict in Peru.

El Salvador is submitting *Vertices* by Arturo Lopez; Costa Rica presents *Si no ardemos, como iluminar la noche* by Kim Torres; Venezuela, *La muerte no tiene dueno* by Jorge Thielen Armand; Guatemala has shortlisted *Los imaginarios* and *Cordillera de fuego*; and in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic proposes *Melodrama* by Andres Farias.

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