Interview: Federico Luis – For the Opponents | 2026 Cannes Film Festival

We discovered Argentine filmmaker Federico Luis as one of the exciting, singular new voices when his feature debut, Simon of the Mountain, premiered at Cannes at the Critics’ Week in 2024. Currently mounting his sophomore feature The Dog Trainer (with support by The Residence of Cannes, TorinoFilmLab, the Spanish Film Academy Residency and Oxbelly) Luis shored up with his second competition selected short last week — and he won the big prize in the Palme d’Or. For the Opponents, takes us into the world of child boxing in Tepito, Mexico City, through the eyes of Damián, a young fighter whose expressive presence captivated the director from the moment they met. Shot on 16mm, the film explores the uneasy coexistence of innocence and violence, beauty and brutality, while remaining firmly rooted in the subjective perspective of its young protagonist. In his work, the filmmaker has shown a deep curiosity about marginalized communities and an intimate attention to human behavior. In this conversation, Federico Luis discusses the pressures felt by his protagonist Damián, the tenderness and violence shown on camera and the how the film.