The path of young Liborio (Juan Daniel García Treviño), who leaves Mexico for the United States dreaming of a better life, is one relentless cycle of harsh labor and discrimination. But the film never confines him to the position of a helpless victim. The lead actor’s raw and vital performance breaks down the boundary between intense reality and sensory fantasy, filling the entire film with the fierce energy of magical realism. Through Campeón Gabacho, director Jonás Cuarón reconstructs an immigration narrative that could easily fall into familiar cliché with an entirely different rhythm and sensibility. His direction layers playful and bold visual devices with captivating imagination to transform the weight of reality into a fresh rhythm and proves in an original way the human dignity and perseverance that never breaks even amid the harshest life in a foreign land.
Programme note by PARK Sungho
Stills5
Screenings3
Wed, 10/07
15:4017:28
KOFIC Theater
065Guest Q&AKE, Korean subtitles + English subtitles or English dialogue
Sun, 10/11
09:0010:48
CGV Centum City 6
411KE, Korean subtitles + English subtitles or English dialogue
Tue, 10/13
15:4017:28
LOTTE CINEMA Centum City 8
623KE, Korean subtitles + English subtitles or English dialogue
Jonás Cuarón is a Mexican filmmaker and producer known for co-writing Gravity (2013), directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and directing the feature film Desierto (2015), which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival. Recently he directed the Netflix original film Chupa (2023). His latest film, Campeón Gabacho, won the Audience Award in the Narrative Spotlight section at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
