La Revista Mujer

URZULA BARBA HOPFNER, film director from Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, was lauded with Global Audience Award at the SXSW 2025 Film Festival with the U.S. premiere of her film CORINA. 

Urzula Barba Hopfner wrote the screenplay with Samuel Sosa, accompanied by the steady pulse of music by Andrés Sánchez Maer and Gus Reyes. The costume design, by Ana Barroso, is refreshingly modern and the story  is filmed in one of Guadalajara’s oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods. The bounty of this visual bouquet and talent provides the audience with a complete gift of art. 

CORINA is a film starring Naian González Norvind and Cristo Fernández that narrates the life of a young editor who suffers from agoraphobia, a fear of large spaces, and how she overcomes it through a mistake in her job at a publishing house due to her passion for books and writing. 

A LITTLE ABOUT URZULA BARBA HOPFNER

Urzula Barba Hopfner was born in Guadalajara, México  into a conventional family and far from the entertainment industry. Her passion for cinema came later, when she spent a sabbatical year around the world. Urzula Barba Hopfner considered studying in Berlin for a career in architecture but her great passion for the big screen led her to study a degree in Filmmaking at the renowned Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica de México. 

Later Urzula Barba Hopfner worked as an Editor and Assistant Editor of films under the direction of the well-known actor Diego Luna who encouraged to do her own films.  After her first projects as director and screenwriter with “Quiero” and “Camila,” she made her first feature film, “Corina”.

Urzula Barba Hopfner’s charm captivated the audience during the Q&A session at SXSw Film festival after the presentation of her film. Her sincere and warm words make it clear that she takes nothing for granted. Her humility and gratitude about her incredible first project were touching and inspiring.

FROM EDITOR TO FILM DIRECTOR – A MATURE DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

Although CORINA is her first feature film, Urzula Barba Hopfner’s work for over twenty years as a film editor is palpable as you watch the story evolve from the screen. If you didn’t know it was her first feature film, you would think CORINA was just another one of her several successful films.  

“I have been an editor for over twenty years, I’m used to cutting shit or useless things and changing them for something better,” expressed Urzula Barba Hopfner, smiling during the Q&A session.  

Urzula Barba Hopfner also explained in the Q&A session on the film at SXSW that the play of colorimetry in the film is one of the notable aspects.

For example the Kandinsky-like yellow color symbolizes creativity but can go as far as madness. Green is used as a comfort zone, while red indicates being angry, that indignation is needed to change reality. Blue conveys freedom, a destiny.  

URZULA BARBA HOPFNER AT SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 

When I arrived at the Violet Crown theater, a SXSW Film Festival venue where CORINA was shown, film director Urzula Barba Hopfner was already waiting for me with tickets to deliver them personally. Our woman of the hour is very attractive with a casual and elegant yet modern style. Behind her kindness you can sense an extremely intelligent woman, attentive to every detail with a rich character. 

«Every seat filled in front of the screen projecting CORINA is a gift to the film’s crew who did such a wonderful job. Thank you.»

At the end of the film CORINA we caught up with Urzula Barba Hopfner who gives us her time in a brief but enlightening conversation.

INTERVIEW WITH URZULA BARBA HOPFNER

Hi Uruzula, so nice to have you with us in Austin and with La Revista Mujer. In the film CORINA you were director, producer and screenwriter. Can you tell us a little about what was the part that gave you the most satisfaction in the process of making this film? 

Thank you.  The most satisfaction for me was the collaboration and creative agreements with a lot of people. I think I was able to keep my vision while listening to other people’s proposals. That enriched the project a lot. 

I feel that collaboration only enriches. But I was fortunate that the people around me believed in the project and integrated their vision to the vision I had, and that was very rich.

How did the idea for the character and the story of Corina come about?

The idea for the character Corina came from something personal. I suffered from some agoraphobic attacks many years ago and I found it extremely interesting to observe how one can be paralyzed by fear. Your system responds to something that is not really there, a threat that is not really there. I found that extremely interesting and that’s where the idea came from.

What were the challenges in making the film CORINA?

We had all the challenges you can imagine. From writing the script, and obviously pre-production and financing was extremely complicated.

Another challenge we had was that the shoot, because of the budget, was reduced from a six-week schedule to four weeks. We had time on our hands, didn’t we? 

But I always like to end this answer by celebrating too, because they were challenges, they were not problems, nothing fell apart. We had solutions and that was it. 

Music was brilliant and an important collaborative part of this film – how did that come about? 

I was very clear about how I wanted each scene to sound and I passed them to my editor so he could start working with reference music. 

Afterwards, I talked to Andrés Sánchez Maer and Gus Reyes, very well known and well established musicians in Mexico and they told me: “Look Urzula, congratulations, but we don’t know your project, we have no idea who you are, and we don’t do opera prima”.  

I told them, yes ok, but just give me a chance to send you the first seven minute cut. You’re filmmakers and you’re going to know if things are working after seven minutes. 

They called me the next day and said, “obviously we saw your whole film, we really liked it, and obviously we want to work with you”. 

That’s how I was able to work with the best musicians in Mexico and that’s how we achieved what you heard, which is a source of pride for me. 

Why Naian González Norvind as the lead actress? 

Many people have asked me if I wrote the film for her. Naian is the best for me. There is already a reference of how fruitful a creative relationship can be. Thanks to Naian for the relationship we made in creative terms. Obviously also in a friendly way, but in creative terms she is already an important reference for me.

How do you see women as film directors in Latin America?

I was interviewed recently and the girl who was interviewing me said to me: “they are giving us more permission to do things” and I said to her: sweetheart, you have to forget about saying that. 

Women are sovereign and we create our own reality. Women have an intrinsic creativity that we have to tap into or else we go crazy.

We need to tap into our creativity, whether it’s painting your nails, whether it’s styling your hair, or not! Just existing, the way you talk, the way you carry yourself. Everything revolves around our creativity. We are extremely creative people.

«So I definitely feel that women are sovereign and we are the makers of our own reality. If we connect with our creativity, no one needs to give us permission for anything. We create our opportunities.» 

Do you plan to pursue a Corina sequel in the future? 

I’ve been asked to do a Corina series.  I think I have a couple of options to propose to some studio. I don’t know whether to explore the other characters, for example, what would be the fear of the other characters, or whether to develop more about what happens with Corina.

The fact that we can use art to address agoraphobia in a person seems incredible to me. Could you tell us a little bit if in your next project you plan to tackle something similar?  

My next project is about a girl, a musician. But she is ruining her career because of cocaine addiction, and I want to approach it with some distance.

For example, you saw that Corina has comedy, right? But it’s a tough subject and I’m very interested in exploring the subject of addictions and how to understand them from an empathetic point of view. 

I think I grew up with movies that approached addictions from a very morbid, very distant point of view. But I feel like approaching it from a much more empathetic and realistic point of view, which I think is excellent.

Finally, if you were to direct a historical film, depicting a woman in history, which woman would you want to celebrate?

What a beautiful question! Wow I would honor my grandmothers who had it very hard. My maternal grandmother in the war in Germany and my paternal grandmother in Mexico had misogyny that we can’t even imagine. I would honor them both.

My paternal grandmother in particular was an extremely talented woman. She was a concert pianist, she painted beautiful impressionism, but she lived in the shadow of men and never dared to explore her own creativity. 

My paternal grandmother married a musician after my grandfather. They were close friends of a famous painter in Guadalajara and she lived in the shadow of another painter and another musician. 

She never dared to look at herself and explore herself as an artist, and I think there is an important story to tell, especially since her granddaughter is doing it.

Two days after this interview we received the fantastic news that the film CORINA directed by Urzula Barba Hopfner had received the Global Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival 2025. Bravo.

By: Lilia Rodriguez -Davis | Photos courtesy of Urzula Barba Hopfner and SXSW Press Office.

Follow Urzula Barba Hopfner @urzulinna and Corina @corinafilm