Production has officially wrapped on “Hijas Únicas,” the debut feature from Chilean producer and filmmaker Alba Gaviraghi, marking the end of an ambitious multinational effort backed by Chile’s Agosto Cine and Equeco, Germany’s Nabis Filmgroup and Mexico’s Varios Lobos, with additional support from Argentina’s Gentil Cine. Shot in May and June 2025 across Santiago and Chile’s Central Coast, the film is now in post-production ahead of a planned 2026 release.
The coming-of-age drama, set in 2006 Santiago, follows 16-year-old Antonia as she defies her single mother in search of her absentee father, hoping to secure permission for a school trip to Argentina. Along the way, she reconnects with a half-sister she never knew and ultimately learns that her mother’s love may be the only anchor she needs. Described as an emotionally intimate portrait of girlhood and identity under socio-political strain, “Hijas Únicas” is built around a fiercely autobiographical core, channeled through Gaviraghi’s feminist and visually visceral lens.
“In a country where making a debut film is very difficult, achieving it as a woman represents an even greater challenge, so I am very excited to have been able to film this very personal story surrounded by an extraordinary human and artistic team,” says the director, who Variety selected as one of Chile’s women talents on the rise back in 2018.
Alba Gaviraghi
Credit: Agosto Cine
Written and directed by Gaviraghi, the project brings together Mexican cinematographer Claudia Becerril Bulos and Argentinian production designer Lucas Koziarski. The film’s local cast includes Antonia Pereira, Francisca Gavilán, Sara Becker and Francisco Ossa.
“Hijas Únicas” is the latest effort from Equeco, the Chilean production company co-founded by Pablo Calisto and Tomás Alzamora, following the domestic success of Alzamora’s latest feature, “Denominación de Origen.” The comedy-doc took home both the Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2024 Valdivia International Film Festival and has sold more than 85,000 admissions in Chile, making it the most successful Chilean film of 2025, solidifying Equeco’s standing as a key player in the country’s independent cinema landscape.
“Our approach is to firmly support projects from emerging talent in the region,” Calisto explains of his company’s involvement with “Hijas Únicas.” “This film has the distinction of being a daring debut from a promising director and also featuring a large, young cast that will continue to be talked about for years to come.”
“Hijas Únicas” was developed with support from CORFO, the Chilean Audiovisual Fund, Ibermedia and received funding from international programs including the Hubert Bals Fund (Rotterdam) and EFICINE (Mexico). The project also passed through top industry labs such as FICUNAM’s Catapulta, CinemaChile Market Lab and EGEDA’s Next Gen Film Lab.
Gaviraghi is a Chilean filmmaker and producer who graduated from the University of Chile in 2016 and co-founded the production company Agosto Cine the following year. Her producing credits include the acclaimed documentary short “Sigo Acá” by Tana Gilbert (HotDocs 2017), “SNAP” by Felipe Elgueta and Ananké Pereira (Clermont-Ferrand 2018) and “The Summer of Electric Lion” by Diego Céspedes (Cannes 2018).
Her most recent collaborations include her role as a producer on MAFI Collective’s documentary “Oasis”, which premiered at the 2024 Berlinale Forum, and as an executive producer on development of Diego Céspedes’ “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” which won the Grand Prix at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.
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