The first time I joined a pañuelazo in Buenos Aires, I didn’t realize it would be the beginning of a film. It was February 2020, a summer afternoon filled with chants, drums, and green handkerchiefs held high. The energy wasn’t just a protest – it was a reckoning. That day in Congress Square, at the heart of a movement demanding recognition, rights, and dignity for women across generations, Belén began to take shape. Not as a pitch, but as a question: how do we tell a story that captures the power of a collective moment?
Belén is not a documentary of that day, but it carries its pulse. It’s a story shaped by the urgency of that moment – the determination of women demanding change and the creatives translating that defiance into art. As a studio leader, I’ve always believed in the power of Latin American narratives to move global audiences, but this felt different. This time it was personal, it was deeply human, and it was ours.
Latin America is a region of layered identities, contradictions, and brilliance. Our stories are not monoliths, they are mosaics. Yet for too long, global media has flattened our complexity or filtered it through someone else’s lens. Authentic storytelling isn’t just about representation, it’s about reclamation. It’s about artists speaking in their own voices, on their own terms, with all the nuance, grit, and grace that our histories demand.
That’s why Belén matters. Directed and written by Argentine talent and rooted in lived experience, it doesn’t seek validation, it commands attention. It’s a story of resistance, tenderness, and truth.
Studios have a responsibility not just to entertain, but to shape cultural memory. That means investing in local voices, trusting regional narratives, and creating space for stories that challenge, heal, and connect. With Belén, we’re not just releasing a film, we’re amplifying a moment that changed us and inviting the world to bear witness. Because when Latin America tells its own stories, audiences everywhere don’t just listen, they feel the difference.
Belén premiered November 14 on Prime Video.
Javiera Balmaceda
Head of International Originals, Latin America, Canada & Australia
Amazon MGM Studios
