– BERLINALE 2026: The producer discusses his Generation entry and the transnational production identity of his company Potenza Producciones
From southern Italy to Berlin, Cannes and Latin America, Potenza Producciones has steadily built a transnational production identity grounded in long-term relationships with filmmakers. With Sad Girlz [+see also:
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interview: Carlo d’Ursi
interview: Fernanda Tovar
film profile] selected for the Generation section of the Berlinale and several new projects by both established and emerging Latin American directors nearing completion, producer Carlo d’Ursi reflects on Potenza’s positioning between Europe and the Latin American film ecosystem.
Cineuropa: How does Potenza become, through your work, a true cultural brand and symbolically a “gateway to Europe” for new Latin American talent?
Carlo d’Ursi: It is a process that has developed over time, rather than a declared strategy. In recent years, we have worked with Latin American filmmakers who already had a trajectory in international festivals and were looking for a stable interlocutor in Europe.
With Costa Rican director Patricia Velásquez, whose previous film was presented at Locarno, we are producing ¿A dónde van las aves cuando llueve?, a Spanish-Costa Rican co-production supported by Ibermedia and developed within programmes such as Locarno Open Doors. With Colombian filmmaker Juan Sebastián Mesa, selected at the San Sebastián Co-Production Forum and rewarded at Venice with Los Nadie, we are working on Lovers Go Home!, continuing a path already established in international markets.
In other cases, such as Sad Girlz by debuting director Fernanda Tovar, the project passed through Next Step in the Cannes Critics’ Week and San Sebastián’s WIP Latam, and has now reached the Berlinale. The idea is not to position ourselves symbolically as a “gateway”, but rather as a partner that supports filmmakers who are already present on the festival circuit as they consolidate their European trajectory.
You have Sad Girlz selected for the Berlinale and, at the same time, you are finalising other projects by filmmakers already rewarded at Venice, Cannes and Berlin. How do the discovery of new voices and the dialogue with established auteurs coexist within Potenza’s strategy?
For us, the two dimensions are complementary. We collaborate with filmmakers who are already recognised at major festivals while also working with emerging directors who come from that same circuit.
Arca, directed by Chilean filmmaker Matías Bize, stems from the work of an author who has presented his films in Venice and with whom we had already collaborated on The Memory of Water [+see also:
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interview: Matías Bize, Elena Anaya & …
film profile], and who has a consolidated trajectory in international arthouse cinema. At the same time, we are developing projects such as Dios y la cumbia del diablo by Carlos Lenin, selected for the Berlinale Talent Project Market and awarded at the Berlinale Co-Production Market, or La escuela pesada by Argentine filmmaker Hernán Rosselli, whose first feature Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed [+see also:
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This dialogue between established auteurs and new voices is not a clear-cut division: it often consists of trajectories that intertwine over time and allow the company to maintain a consistent presence within the festival circuit.
Your path seems to build a stable axis between southern Italy, Spain, Europe and Latin America. What role do you play in making Potenza not only a production company, but also a platform of trust for Latin American talent looking towards Europe?
The main work is about building continuity. Many Latin American filmmakers arrive in Europe after passing through festivals such as Cannes, Berlin or San Sebastián, but without a stable production network. We try to support them beyond a single project.
My role is to keep the channels between these territories open: producers, funds, markets and festivals. Madrid and southern Europe are natural points of connection. If Potenza is now perceived as a platform of trust, it is because over the years we have built relationships with filmmakers who already orbit the major festivals and are looking for long-term European production continuity.
