Mariana Rondón & Marité Ugás

Filmmakers Marité Ugás (Lima, Peru, 1963) and Mariana Rondón (Barquisimeto, Venezuela, 1966) share a passion: telling their own stories through film. They have been doing this for decades with their production company, Sudaca Films. Their method is based on constant dialogue, and they have sometimes described themselves as a single voice split into two bodies. When one writes and directs, the other produces. They broke with this alternating collaborative system in their latest film, It Would be Night in Caracas. The urgency of the project, which was due to circumstances beyond their production company, led them to co-direct, and the result could not have been better, as evidenced by the three nominations at the 2026 Platino Awards —sponsored by Iberia—: Best Film, Best Actress (Natalia Reyes) and Best Supporting Actor (Edgar Ramírez). Marité and Mariana, who spoke to us on a video call from New York a few days before the ceremony, expressed their pride in the film’s reception, especially in Venezuela. Unfazed by estrangement, Mariana emphasised the need to portray the reality of her country and, above all, that of her compatriots. Through the eyes of Adelaida, the protagonist of this chilling thriller, we travel deep into Caracas in 2017, a city in turmoil where street protests coexist with brutal repression.

What drew you to Karina Sainz Borgo’s novel (It Would be Night in Caracas) and led you to adapt it?
Mariana Rondón (M.R.). I remember reading the novel full of emotion, the emotion of reliving my own feelings and experiences for the first time in a written text.
Marité Ugás (M.U.). We immediately envisioned telling the story as a thriller, maintaining a relentless pace that never let up, while still preserving its intimate, very feminine perspective.

You’ve been pooling your talent for years through Sudaca Films, but you hadn’t co-directed a film since your debut in 1999. Why this time?
M.U. We made our first film, A la media noche y media, together out of ignorance (laughs). As with any debut film, we wanted to tell everything. Later, we decided that each of us needed to find our own voice. So, we opted for a system of alternating directing. In any case, we’re both always immersed in the projects. In the case of It Would be Night in Caracas, the co-direction stemmed from the urgency to tell this story. We were working on Zafari, Sudaca Films’ latest production, when the opportunity to direct it came up, and we decided to see how we’d fare with the challenge of directing together again.
M.R. Yes, the urgency stemmed primarily from the need for this film to reach Venezuelans, who haven’t had many opportunities to see their story reflected on screen. The entire world is now in contact with Venezuelans because the diaspora includes 9.2 million people. The urgency lies in how to explain to ourselves and to others what has happened to us. Keep in mind, this is fiction, not a documentary. The thriller conveys that state of anxiety and shock, the harshness of confronting a totalitarian state. We believe its importance lies in the fact that it’s not limited to the Venezuelan experience but can be extrapolated to the rest of the world due to the weakness of current democracies.

“The urgency stemmed primarily from the need for this film to reach Venezuelans, who haven’t had many opportunities to see their story reflected on screen”

‘It Would be Night in Caracas’ received three nominations at the 2026 Platino Awards: Best Film, Best Actress (Natalia Reyes) and Best Supporting Actor (Edgar Ramírez). © Courtesy of EGEDA

The film was shot in Mexico. What is it like to portray Venezuela from exile? What perspective does distance offer?
M.R. I think we’re portraying it before the right time. These complex historical processes take time to process. But, as Marité said, there’s an urgency to talk about what has happened to us, and Mexico was the perfect platform. Perfect, above all, because when we spoke with the producer, we said: “We need to have a lot of Venezuelans in the film.” We couldn’t make it without them, and it turns out that Mexico is full of compatriots. Even the last extra is Venezuelan! Making a Mexican city resemble Caracas was incredible; art direction did an extraordinary job understanding its light, its architecture, its physical spaces…
M.U. Yes, everyone focused on that, on telling the story of exile from exile. We needed a place that felt real. It was really beautiful.
M.R. At times, it felt like we were actually in Caracas. All the young people who appear in the scenes where we recreated the protests were Venezuelan. Marité always says that when we yelled “Cut!”, they didn’t stop because they were reenacting their own lives. Many had taken part in those demonstrations and fled Venezuela afterwards.
M.U. They were portraying themselves on those crazy nights, and their adrenaline was pumping… They wouldn’t let go; they couldn’t let go. The production had to set up a help line for them because we were throwing them into a spiral of painful memories.

It Would be Night in Caracas premiered at the Venice Film Festival. How has it been received? Is it being shown in Venezuela?
M.R. We released it in cinemas throughout Latin America except in Venezuela, but it is being seen in my country. A month after its theatrical release, it came out on Netflix Latin America, and in Venezuela, it was number one for a while. Now we’re doing a festival tour in the United States —we did one in Europe before— and they are all sold-out screenings. Locals are attending, but also many Venezuelans, and it’s been extremely exciting.

‘It Would be Night in Caracas’ is a thriller that portrays the social protests experienced in the capital of Venezuela in 2017. © Courtesy of EGEDA

The Platino Awards have become a showcase for Ibero-American film. What does the nomination for Best Film mean to you?
M.U. The nomination gives the film visibility, and that’s precisely what we want: for it to be seen by as many people as possible. The more it is promoted, the more people will keep looking for it on the platform. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to promote its upcoming release in Spanish cinemas.
M.R. It Would be Night in Caracas hasn’t been able to participate in awards that depend on nationality. In the case of Venezuela, it is the state that grants films nationality, and obviously, our film’s plot wasn’t well-received. The film was not granted nationality, and that’s why we couldn’t be at the Goya or Academy Awards. The film was the Venezuelan Academy’s submission for international awards, but it didn’t pass censorship.
M.U. The Platino Awards are the only ones where that censorship pressure doesn’t apply.

“I think it’s important that, as a film community, we have such a relevant space as the Platino Awards, so that people know we’re there and can reach large audiences”

Do you think the Platino Awards help promote Ibero-American audiovisual production?
M.R. I think it’s important that, as a film community, we have such a relevant space as the Platino Awards, so that people know we’re there and can reach large audiences. This is important for investors. The Platino Awards can even become a platform for academies to be more independent of states, to be powerful and able to defend themselves. Because states will continue to exist and will continue to do what they shouldn’t in relation to art and freedom of expression.

There’s a lot of talent in Ibero-American cinema. Who should we be on the lookout for?
M.R. The great thing about cinema is that it never stops because people have the need to tell stories. It’s fascinating how we reinvent ourselves all the time. I was just reading about young Argentine cinema, which is being made without money, and how well the films are turning out. I would also highlight Venezuelan cinema being made outside of Venezuela.
M.U. Venezuelan cinema from the diaspora is fascinating.
M.R. Venezuelan films are being made in Italy, in the United States, in Chile, everywhere. Peruvian documentary cinema is also doing extraordinary things. And, right now, Spanish female directors are making the best films. It’s the rebirth of Spanish cinema.