LOS ANGELES — Independent bilingual comedy Comedia Del Adri has won Best TV Pilot and Best International Film at the Comedy Film Festival, as well as the Audience Award at FilmGate Miami, ahead of its Hollywood premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

The Spanish-English series, written by and starring Adrian Manzano and directed by Chase Bradburn, will screen September 12 as part of the inaugural Indiewood Film Festival.

The 30-minute pilot is designed as the first episode of a nine-episode series following Adri, a middle-aged Mexican-Colombian comedian rebuilding his life and career in Mexico City. His relationship with Bella, a younger German woman, brings questions of family, identity and cultural differences into the story.

Manzano stars as Adri alongside Dilara Foscht as Bella, Alejandra Herrera as Maria, Byungsun Kim as Ramon and Mabel de la Luz. Manzano and Samira Mekibes Meza serve as producers.

The TCL Chinese Theatre screening takes place three days before the start of Latino Heritage Month on September 15 and is part of the inaugural Indiewood Film Festival’s independent film and television program.

Manzano said the project’s bilingual format and focus on Latino characters were central to its development.

“We’re making this show while ICE raids are tearing through our neighborhoods and Latinx families are living in fear of being separated,” Manzano said. “Getting to tell our own stories, in our own languages, and to laugh at ourselves instead of being laughed at, matters more right now than it ever has.”

Manzano, a Queens, New York native, is a writer, actor and filmmaker whose previous credits include the feature Sex, Love & Salsa, which received awards at international festivals including the Montreal Latino Film Festival and Stattkino Festival in Zurich. The film is currently in development as a television series.

His other credits include writing and directing The Gradua and writing Ilegítimo, which was sold to Panama’s Jacobo Silvera Productions. In 2026, he appears in Hard Redemption with Lou Ferrigno and Dustslickers.

The Hollywood screening gives Comedia Del Adri a showcase at one of the city’s best-known theatrical venues following its recent festival recognition.

‘COMEDIA DEL ADRI’
Indiewood Film Festival
September 12, 2026
TCL Chinese Theatre — Hollywood

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LOS ANGELES — Filmmaker Joaquim Adrià Pujol is bringing his acclaimed documentary Màquina to Hollywood, with the 90-minute film set for its Los Angeles premiere Sunday, September 13 at 9:45 p.m. during the Indiewood Film Festival.

The Spanish- and English-language documentary takes an unflinching look at addiction, alcoholism and generational trauma through an unusually personal lens: Pujol documents his own father and brother as they travel across the American West in an aging Winnebago en route to Colorado for ibogaine-assisted addiction treatment.

What could have been framed as a conventional addiction-recovery documentary instead becomes an intimate family drama — one that asks difficult questions about responsibility, codependency and the emotional toll of trying to save someone you love.

Pujol directs, produces and shoots the film, placing himself directly inside the story alongside his father, Xavi Pujol Berlanga, and brother, Marcel Enric Pujol. The result is a portrait of a family confronting its history in real time, with the filmmaker capturing the arguments, awkward silences, humor and tenderness that accompany their journey.

Even the vehicle becomes part of the narrative.

As the aging Winnebago repeatedly breaks down along the route, it emerges as a visual metaphor for a family struggling to keep itself moving forward.

Màquina also avoids presenting psychedelic-assisted treatment as a simplistic answer to addiction. Instead, the film examines what happens before, during and after the decision to seek help — and the complicated emotional terrain occupied by the people surrounding an addict.

That approach has already drawn critical attention. Film Threat gave the documentary a 9/10, calling it “a parade of stunning visual metaphors for the struggle with addiction.” The film has also received positive reviews from DMovies and High on Films.

At its heart, however, Màquina is a father-and-son story.

Pujol’s decision to make himself part of the film allows the documentary to move beyond the traditional observer role, confronting the inherited wounds, family dynamics and blurred boundaries that can accompany addiction. The film explores the difficult distinction between supporting someone and becoming consumed by their struggle.

The Los Angeles premiere comes as the documentary continues to build attention for its raw, observational approach and its refusal to package recovery into an easy Hollywood narrative.

The film features Xavi Pujol Berlanga, Marcel Enric Pujol, Joaquim Adrià Pujol, Charles B. Shaw, John Dias, John Anthony Dias, Hana Farky, Dennis Bouverie, Gerardo Ortiz, Bryan Davis and Shawn Johnson.

Vesta Tu?kut? produces alongside Pujol, with Silvija Vilkait?-Ramanausk? editing and acclaimed composer Jozef van Wissem providing the score. Pujol also serves as cinematographer.

Màquina is a 2025 U.S. documentary, presented in English and Spanish, with a runtime of 90 minutes.

Maquina — LOS ANGELES PREMIERE

Indiewood Film Festival
Sunday, September 13, 2026
9:45 p.m.
Hollywood, California

For Pujol, the journey at the center of Màquina is ultimately about more than addiction treatment. It is about the machinery of family itself — how it breaks down, how people carry one another, and whether something damaged can still be repaired.

The post Joaquim Adrià Pujol’s Addiction Doc ‘Màquina’ Set for LA Premiere at Indiewood Film Festival first appeared on .

By Bel Hernandez Castillo

LOS ANGELES — The 2026 Indiewood Film Festival is bringing two distinctly bicultural stories to Hollywood this September, with Del Zamora’s Chicano drama The Last Brown Beret and Varahi Pooja Mallipamula’s provocative dramedy IMPURE set to screen at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatres.

The films arrive at the festival following notable festival recognition and represent two generations and cultures grappling with identity, tradition, activism and the pressures of societal expectations.

‘The Last Brown Beret’

Written and directed by Del Zamora, The Last Brown Beret will make its Los Angeles premiere September 14 following its Grand Prize – Best Feature win at the 2026 Golden State Film Festival.

Inspired by Alfredo Ramos’ stage play The Last Angry Brown Hat, the film revisits the legacy of the Chicano civil rights movement through a group of former Brown Beret activists who reunite decades after their days of organizing and activism.

Following the funeral of a former member, the men gather in the garage where they once planned protests and debated how to change the world. Their reunion forces them to reckon with the movement they helped build, the sacrifices they made and the battles that remain unresolved.

Starring Daniel E. Mora, Randy Vasquez, Vance Valencia, Linda Lopez, David Castro, Karen E. Wright and Zamora, the film blends political history with an intimate exploration of friendship, aging, identity and the complicated legacy of activism.

The Last Brown Beret is presented by Nestorita Limited in association with Con Safos Production.

‘IMPURE’

Three days later, on September 17, IMPURE will make its Los Angeles premiere, bringing a very different—but equally personal—bicultural story to the festival.

Written and produced by Varahi Pooja Mallipamula and directed by Nishanti Evani, the dramedy centers on Sandhya, a 25-year-old woman from a traditional Telugu family whose wedding is called off after her ex-boyfriend publicly reveals that she is not a virgin.

The incident sparks a viral social-media controversy when Sandhya’s American cousin, Veera, speaks out against the double standard surrounding female sexuality. With Indian-American artist Raja Kumari amplifying the video, Sandhya becomes the target of public scrutiny and cultural judgment.

Set in Visakhapatnam, IMPURE uses comedy, romance and friendship to tackle female sexuality, patriarchy, marriage, reputation, family expectations and the complicated process of defining oneself between cultures.

The film stars Yashna Muthuluri, Mallipamula, Sai Krishna and Abhijith Sreenath, with Raja Kumari serving as music director and appearing in a cameo.

At the heart of IMPURE is a provocative redefinition of its title: “IMPURE” becomes “I’M PURE.”

Two Films, Two Generations, One Cultural Conversation

While The Last Brown Beret looks backward at a generation that fought to change society, IMPURE examines the cultural expectations confronting a younger generation determined to define itself.

Together, the films underscore the breadth of independent cinema—and the power of filmmakers to bring stories of identity, heritage and social change to the Hollywood screen.

Both films will screen as part of the 2026 Indiewood Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

The Last Brown Beret
Los Angeles Premiere — September 14, 2026

IMPURE
Los Angeles Premiere — September 17, 2026

Indiewood Film Festival
TCL Chinese Theatres — Hollywood, California

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