Chile’s Matías Bize, a Spanish Academy Goya winner for “The Life of Fish,” is returning with dramedy “The Last Stand” (“Aquí Me Bajo Yo”), starring “El Conde” and “The Club” actor Jaime Vadell, one of Chile’s most enduring screen performers.
The project, the first fiction feature from Santiago-based Cubho Audiovisual, will make its market debut at the 9th edition of the Málaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF), part of the Málaga Film Festival, running March 9-13.
Founded in Santiago in 2020 by Isidora Fajardo, Pablo Cuturrufo, Raimundo Bastidas and Nicholas Hooper H., Cubho is producing. The film is in late development, aiming to shoot in August 2026 for a planned 2027 release.
Based on a 2025 Chilean stage play by playwright and actor Elena Muñoz, “The Last Stand” unfolds over a stormy night when a grandfather announces his decision to end his life “on his own terms,” forcing an uneasy reunion with his estranged son and granddaughter. As the three confront long-buried grief over the death of a “perfect” son, resentment and guilt collide with the possibility of reconciliation.
The screenplay is adapted by Muñoz and Raimundo and Milena Bastidas, who previously worked on Amazon series “Sin Frenos.”
“We have worked on an adaptation that does justice to the play. The team is very close-knit, something that often happens in our group of people, where we have been fortunate enough to work together on several writing projects, from series to television dramas. We are constantly challenging our diverse perspectives, both in terms of age and our roles as mother and children, something that in this case happens very organically because it is a film that revolves around a trio of us, an intergenerational family (grandfather, father, granddaughter),” Raimundo and Milena Bastidas explained.
For Bize, whose chamber dramas often compress action into tightly bounded spaces — as in “In Bed” and “The Punishment” — the project marks a new thematic focus.
“In my previous films I’ve talked about falling in love, separation, second chances, childhood, raising children, but I’ve never talked about the end of life. That’s what motivates me most to do this project,” Bize said.
Nonagenarian Vadell, who received Chile’s National Arts Award in 2025, will star alongside Rodrigo Bastidas and Milena Bastidas.
Production is led by Nicholas Hooper H., executive producer of “The Eternal Memory,” directed by Maite Alberdi. The film won the Goya for Best Ibero-American Film and was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature.
“Cubho Audiovisual’s strategy this year is to secure private financing for the film’s production and move towards a minority co-production with Argentina, Spain, and/or Germany for post-production and distribution,” Hooper said.
Bize said the project will follow a pared-back production model similar to earlier films in his career. “Ultimately, it’s about concentrating the story in both time and space. I like working on films where the energy is focused on having a superb script, excellent performances and removing all the extraneous elements to concentrate on the heart of the story.”
