Laughter emerges in the realization that all along the original was derived. — Judith Butler
Ian de la Rosa is in love with love, an auspicious condition the writer-director used to full advantage in the creation of his feature debut Ivan and Hadoum. Presented on opening night of this year’s AFI Fest, the filmmaker has position his work as a “love shelter” for audiences, where “love, desire, and bodies are the principle force of the story.”
Set in Almería in southwestern Spain, Iván (Silver Chicón) is a blue-collar worker in a greenhouse who finds himself attracted to a new employee, migrant worker and labor activist Hadoum (Herminia Loh). As a relationship is formed and then flourishes, the film explores how the performance of gender is navigated within the shifting modes of personal and familial expectation. Both Chicón and de la Rosa are trans men. By showcasing transmasculine agency and joy through the everyday, Ivan and Hadoum is especially relevant and welcome.
See link and info below for screening time and location. (Coincidentally, another film covering transmasculine themes—Markus Schleinzer’s Rose—will also screen on opening night in an earlier time slot.)
IVÁN AND HADOUM
Written and directed by Ian de la Rosa
AFI Fest 2026 presented by Canva
Wednesday, October 21, at 9 pm
Chinese Theater
6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
Ian de la Rosa quotations are from his 2026 Teddy Award interview with Jan-Felix Wuttig.
Ian de la Rosa, Iván and Hadoum (2026), from top: Herminia Loh (left) and Silver Chicón; poster Iván and Hadoum; Chicón and Loh.
Images courtesy and © Indie Rights.
