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Sandra Reynoso's PETARDOS Y MAGNOLIAS Premiers at the 24th FICM

Omar Sosa

As part of the 24th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), Petardos y magnolias (2026) was screened in the presence of director Sandra Reynoso, producer Sebastián Jurado, and most of the cast, including Ximena Lamadrid and Juan Daniel García Treviño. This film is part of this year’s “Estrenos Mexicanos” section.

“We’re very excited to present this film—which we made with so much love—to a large, film-loving, and cherished audience for the first time,” said Jurado. Petardos y magnolias is the result of more than six years of work carried out in collaboration with Sandra Reynoso.

“I haven’t seen the film yet, so I’m going to enjoy it for the first time right here with you all. Enjoy the film!” said García Treviño as the screening began.

Petardos y magnolias tells the story of Vera, played by Lamadrid, an 18-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a soccer star against her father’s wishes. Everything changes when she meets Alan, played by García Treviño, a member of her high school’s hooligan gang. As she falls in love with him, Vera discovers a dangerous world where she’ll have to face the consequences of her decisions and understand that love also comes at a price.

After the screening, the audience gave a warm round of applause to the artists in attendance, who were joined by actors Alphonso Escobedo, Leonardo Alonso, Óscar Molina, Isaac Bravo, and Mónica del Carmen for a Q&A session.

“The idea was to make a teenage romance. I brought it into my own world and drew on what I knew. I leaned heavily on personal experiences,” the director said about the inspiration for the film.

When asked about the time period in which the story is set—which is difficult to pinpoint—the director commented that this was precisely her intention. “I wanted to make a period piece because it was based mainly on my experiences at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, but it was very expensive and difficult, so I thought it would be a good idea to make it anachronistic (...), so that you wouldn’t really know when it takes place,” she replied.

Regarding the process of developing Alan’s character, Juan Daniel García Treviño commented: “It was very complicated for me because I didn’t understand what the ‘porros’ were. I didn’t go to school—not middle school, not high school—so I had to build everything based on Sandra, on the rehearsals with Ximena, and all the other cast members who did understand what this ‘porro’ world was like. This whole character development came from my fellow cast members.”

Ximena Lamadrid weighed in on the conversation about Sandra's work as a director: “Sandra would send us tons of videos, interviews—everything—and ask us to watch certain series or documentaries. That helped us a lot.”

The film is the debut feature by the Mexican director, who previously participated in the 12th FICM with her short film Carina (2014).