Landless Children

Runtime: 100' / 52'

Expected release: May 2026

Production stage: Post-production

Budget: €314,335 (67% in place)

1st feature: No

Looking for: Gap financing to finalize post-production, and a sales agent to help expand the reach of this intimate and deeply resonant story on cross-border adoption. We are also looking for strategic partners and festivals for the film’s international launch.

Synopsis:

Two Chileans adopted in Europe embark on a journey. Daniel was declared dead at birth; Juan dreams of a wounded woman. Both seek to understand their origins, find a mother, and reconstruct their stories. Landless Children is an invitation to a journey—both mental and physical—into the depths of a forgotten land.

Director’s Profile:

René Ballesteros (Chile, 1975) is a psychologist, film director, and screenwriter. After working with incarcerated youth and street children in the Araucanía region of Chile, he studied documentary filmmaking at Université Paris VIII, EICTV (Cuba), and Le Fresnoy (France). In 2010, his debut documentary feature La Quemadura won the Joris Ivens Award at Cinéma du Réel, Best Documentary at Documenta Madrid, and Best Chilean Director at SANFIC, among other honors. In 2011, he was selected for the Cinéfondation Résidence of the Cannes Film Festival. As a screenwriter, he co-wrote Los versos del olvido by Alireza Khatami, which received the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. His second documentary, Los sueños del castillo, premiered at the 2018 Valdivia International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Chilean Film.

Producer’s Profile:

Nicole Bonilla (Chile, 1990) is a film producer and cultural manager. She served as coordinator of the International Programs of the Audiovisual Fund and the Chile Film Friendly Program at the Film Commission Chile, within the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. In 2019, she founded La Madre, a production company dedicated to documentary films that spotlight stories of women, childhood, and sexual dissidences.
Her debut as a producer was “Travesía Travesti” (Travesti Odyssey) by Nicolás Videla, a Chile–Argentina co-production that premiered at IDFA in 2021. She is currently preparing the release of “Landless Children” by René Ballesteros, co-produced with France, while continuing to develop and produce new projects.
Alongside her work as a producer, she serves as Operations Manager at Screen Capital S.A., an asset manager company focused on the entertainment industry.