Mistura: "In live screenings, appropriately, we give people a warning before they watch it that this film may—and will—make you hungry."
In this vHopeful Conversations episode, I speak with producer Ivan Orlic about Mistura, his first Spanish-language feature and first film set entirely in his home country of Peru. Together they explore how the 1960s‑set story of Norma, a high‑society woman cast out after her husband leaves her, becomes both an intimate melodrama of personal reinvention and a larger reflection on gender, class, race, and Peru’s extraordinary culinary and cultural diversity. Ivan shares how he and writer‑director Ricardo de Montreuil built a richly detailed period world—using archival headlines, partnerships with El Comercio and PROMPERÚ, virtual production technology, and a food stylist—to ground Norma’s journey in a rapidly changing Lima, and discusses the film’s all‑star cast led by Bárbara Mori and Afro‑Peruvian musician‑actor Pudi Bayumbrosio. They also talk about Mistura’s remarkable box‑office run in Peru, its sold‑out festival screenings and U.S. theatrical release, the deeper thread of democracy and “being seen” that connects his work from Pelé: Birth of a Legend and La Cocina to Invisible Nation, and why he hopes this cinematic love letter will inspire audiences everywhere to open their hearts—and maybe seek out the nearest Peruvian restaurant—after the credits roll.
Transcript lightly edited. Podcast available on Dream of a Better World [https://vanessahope.substack.com/podcast], & Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vhopeful-conversations-podcast/id1872137258], or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/465mqdUcSwAp5Q0UchSXtA]
Vanessa Hope: I’m very excited to be joined today by my friend and producer Ivan Orlic. He is a Peruvian–Croatian film producer based in Los Angeles and founder of Seine Pictures. His recent productions include La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios and starring Rooney Mara, which premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival; Invisible Nation, which Ivan produced alongside Ted Hope and which became one of Taiwan’s most popular, highest‑grossing documentaries of all time and comes out on PBS this May 1 (today!); and Eating Our Way to Extinction, narrated by Academy Award–winner Kate Winslet, which won the Environmental Media Award for Best Documentary. Ivan’s earlier credits include Pelé: Birth of a Legend, produced with Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment. Today, we’re here to talk about his film that is out in theaters right now, which we want everyone to go see. We love it: Mistura. It’s Ivan’s first feature set entirely in Peru, and the first he shepherded as sole producer, which became the highest‑grossing local drama of 2025 in Peru. Ivan, thank you for joining.
Ivan Orlic: I’m so excited to be here, and thank you for having me. It’s so nice to talk to a friend as well as a collaborator. You know how much I admire you and your work and how much I have enjoyed our collaboration on Invisible Nation, which, for everyone out there, continues to be touring universities all over North America, and that’s super exciting. It’s launching, as you said, in May on PBS, which we’re also really excited about. It’s such an important story, and I’m so proud to be a small part of it.
Vanessa: Ivan, thank you. That’s so moving. I feel the same, and you’re so kind and so amazing to work with. It’s such a pleasure to be able to talk about this fiction film from Peru! And it’s a country Ted and I need to visit with you.
Ivan: Yes, that’s pending on our list. On our to‑do list.
Vanessa: Yes. So, it’s your first film set in Peru and your first Spanish‑language fiction feature. Can you describe the film in your own words, and then also maybe share what it meant to you personally to finally make a film about home?
Ivan: Yeah, so I am from Lima, Peru, and that is where the film is set. But it is set in the 1960s, when I wasn’t yet around. It’s still really, really special after about fifteen years of producing films shot in different countries and set in different countries, to finally go and tell a story that comes from where I come from and that represents so many people—all of us Peruvians. Peru is a very diverse country and has a very storied history, and a very diverse cuisine that reflects the diversity of our people. It was very special for me. I was looking for a few years for the right story that would bring me back home and also help me tell a story from Peru to the world.
About ten years ago, I met the writer‑director Ricardo de Montreuil. We actually met at Imagine Entertainment, where I was working with them on a great film called Pelé: Birth of a Legend that I really love as well, and Ricardo was working on his film Lowriders, which has Demián Bichir and Eva Longoria and is set in the lowrider culture of East L.A.—it’s a really cool film as well. Ricardo is one of the more prominent filmmakers from Peru.
Mistura is a story that, firstly, is very enjoyable and crowd‑pleasing. The story is about a woman who is from the high, high society of 1960s Lima, Peru, and she gets ostracized from society in the aftermath of her husband leaving her, at a time when women were judged for their husbands leaving them as though it was their fault. It’s like, your husband cheated on you and left you, so you must have done something wrong. It’s so ridiculous, but it was so commonplace. Setting it in the sixties allows the story to unfold at a time when the opportunities given to, and almost allowed to, women were so limited that the story of our protagonist, Norma Piat, is an original story but almost an amalgamation of a whole community of women at the time who, because of these societal restrictions, had to depend on a man in their lives—first a father, then a husband. And in many instances, that man left the picture for reason A, B, or C, and they had to figure out their own way.
This is the story of one such woman who does so by embracing her own skill and passion for food and building a team that, intentionally in the film, is very representative of Peruvian diversity. That also allows the opportunity for this story to be the story of a community coming together. I’m not saying this kind of discrimination is gone, but setting it in a period when it was more noticeable and more marked in society, I think, allows the character arc to be a bit stronger. She has more to overcome. She is judged more harshly by the society around her and ultimately finds her own way—that true friendship is not defined by who we are in society, but who we are as people, and that what we have in common ultimately is so much more important than what differentiates us.
Vanessa: Yes. Okay, that was brilliantly put. You made me think of two things that are interesting ways to attract audiences to this particular story, because it is timely, and I think there’s something in the zeitgeist right now. There’s a memoir by Belle Burden called Strangers that is completely exploding culturally, a New York Times bestseller.
It’s about her husband leaving her all of a sudden and her grappling with putting their life back together. As with your protagonist in Mistura, she’s a high‑society, upper‑class woman who would normally never speak about this, and speaks about how her mother and her grandmother endured tons of infidelity from their husbands or partners and never spoken about it. And so for Belle Burden, it’s incredibly important in her processing—and in helping her children process the changes—that she speak about it.
So I feel like Belle Burden’s memoir Strangers and Ivan Orlic’s movie Mistura go together: if you love this book, you will love this movie. Also, you mentioned Eva Longoria, and I rarely indulge in watching travel food shows, but on the way to Taiwan last June, when we came out in theaters there with Invisible Nation, I was working on the flight and I watched Eva Longoria’s food tour of Mexico, and it’s so good. First of all, Eva is so cool—she’s so politically right‑on and brave and speaks up. But she really gets into the culture and history of the country and her heritage and the food. And so if you love Eva Longoria’s food tour of Mexico, you will love Mistura. Those audiences also fit very well together.
Ivan: You mentioned “Ivan Orlic’s Mistura,” but it’s really everyone’s. Firstly, the writer‑director’s, but everyone who made the film. It was really done with what in Peru we would call “the jersey”—everyone wearing the jersey of the national team—with a lot of heart and passion. It really belongs to everyone who made it, but it’s also our love letter to our own country, as well as, hopefully, something that will resonate around the world. I truly believe not only that Peru has a lot of special things to offer and that Peruvian food, in my humble opinion—or maybe not so humble in this case—is the best in the world, but also that the detail‑oriented work that was done in the making of this film makes it very specific. And in doing so, whenever we are telling a story as specifically as we can, it opens the potential for it to resonate as universally as possible.
Vanessa: Yeah, exactly. That’s so true. And it’s very true with this film, which is why I could also see my mother’s story in it a little bit. Opening a restaurant has certain characteristics that are very unique. So fans of The Bear television series may also be drawn to it. That’s also very zeitgeisty—the restaurant drama set in Chicago. Such a great show.
Your cast—I understand there’s some history between some of the actors, as well as some big‑screen debuts, and your cast is almost entirely Peruvian?
Ivan: Yes, and I almost can’t believe that I would go on this long without mentioning Bárbara Mori, who plays the lead character, Norma Piat, in the film. She’s just incredible in it. She has now won many awards for Best Actress and been nominated in several instances. Just last week she won Best Actress at the most important award show celebrating entertainment in Peru, where our co‑protagonist, Pudi Bayumbrosio, was also nominated for Best Actor, and of course our film was nominated for Best Film.
But Bárbara is incredible. She was born in Uruguay and moved early on to Mexico, where she resides now, so her natural accent is very much Mexican. But not only did she do an incredible job portraying this character and living the role, she did so through the lens of an accent that was very precisely worked on with an accent coach. It’s not just a Peruvian accent—it’s a high‑society Lima accent from the 1960s.
Vanessa: Wow.
Ivan: The co‑protagonist is César Bayumbrosio, who loves to go by his nickname, Pudi. He’s one of the most wonderful people I’ve encountered, and he is also the best percussionist I’ve ever seen in my life. He is the percussionist for Peru Jazz, the most important jazz band in our country, and his entire family, for generations, have been the most emblematic of Afro‑Peruvian music. So his inclusion in the film is not only about him personally and his charisma and great performance, but also brings a lot of meaning and richness to the film itself because of who he is and where he comes from. This is his lead‑role debut, and whenever we mention that in front of an audience that has already seen the film, there are first gasps, followed by applause, and it’s very well deserved. Just a great performance.
Starting with him, the entirety of the rest of our cast is Peruvian, and also features Christian Meier, who serves as an executive producer and plays the husband who leaves her. Audiences tend not to love his character, but it is really well done—so well done that it only takes a second for the audience to understand he’s the antagonist when you see him, even though in real life he is one of the nicest, most charming people you’ve ever met and has been known in Peru as “the most handsome man in Peru.”
Vanessa: Wow. Excellent, excellent.
Ivan: Yes, there is history, and they have worked together four times now. They usually play husband and wife, and their first collaboration happens to have been on a film called My Brother’s Wife—or La mujer de mi hermano—which was the feature debut of our director, Ricardo de Montreuil, about twenty years before this. So this was a great reunion of three artists who were already very high‑profile and very talented at the time and have since only become more so, and I think you can see the results on screen.
Vanessa: Yes, yes, yes. Your film tracks Norma’s transformation—you’ve just been talking about Norma—as she builds alliances with people from different communities whom she was raised to disregard. It’s very daring of her to open a restaurant, especially in the way that she opens the restaurant. I wonder how you thought about balancing the intimate melodrama of the story with this broader social commentary.
Ivan: Yeah, so again, it’s an original story, so it was already in Ricardo’s screenplay. This was important to all of us: even though it’s an intimate drama—it’s a very intimate story, and you can see it and feel it both in the plot and in how it’s executed—we didn’t want to lose the fact that most of the story is taking place inside her bubble. Even though she has real problems and a lot to overcome, it’s still a story taking place inside a high‑society bubble. To some extent, some of her problems are what we would often say are “first‑world problems,” you know. We didn’t want to lose the fact that this bubble exists within a bigger context of a country that was still developing, at a time when Peru was experiencing increasingly widening inequality—something that is happening again today.
I think it was important to us not to lose that, so one of the ways in which we keep that alive and the story grounded and rooted in that reality is by showing a couple of real clips from archival footage of the time on the characters’ TVs. These go towards showing that there was dissatisfaction from the wider population and some political turmoil, as well as through newspaper headlines. We worked with the paper of record in Peru—like The New York Times would be in the U.S.—the Peruvian equivalent, which is called El Comercio, and they were a partner in the film, providing us not just with real headlines of the time, from which we selected some that highlight both that Peru was a destination—again, something that has come back—as well as that there was turmoil and not all was well outside of this high‑society bubble.
But these newspaper headlines are not just real—they’re printed on a printer from the ’60s that the newspaper still had, and they generously made that available for us. During pre‑production we also created a big PDF we called the “1965 Bible” that informed every head of department in the film, to try to pay as much attention as possible to the details. Once we had it, we went back to the screenplay with Ricardo and did some adjustments to dialogue to make sure that we were using expressions and words that were used at the time and we weren’t being anachronistic, you know.
I think there is some mirror between the ’60s and the 2020s in Peru, where again the country had a bit of a spotlight. One of the newspaper headlines, for example, tells of how Mr. Rockefeller is not coming to Peru for the first time but is returning to Peru, and it became a destination in the way that it has again—now more because of the archaeology and also culinary tourism, which is becoming a real driver for tourism. We worked with a Peruvian government agency called PROMPERÚ that is always promoting everything to do with Peru around the world. They were instrumental in the logistics and even helped us with visas for people to come in during the production.
We work with them because this film, as much as it’s a personal story—and I think people will find it engaging and moving and inspiring on a personal level—is also, on a country level, a movie that really invites you not just to visit Peru but to try our food. In live screenings, appropriately, we give people a warning before they watch it that this film may—and will—make you hungry.
Vanessa: Yeah, very much. Ivan, you have me curious: in terms of the different classes in Peru, is it waves of immigration from Europe? Because I feel Norma’s character—her father is an ambassador, it’s France—
Ivan: Norma, the character played by Bárbara, is the daughter of the former ambassador from France to Peru, so the character moved to Peru as a young girl. She and her son in the film speak Spanish and French, but because they grew up in Peru, their French is accented almost as badly as my English is accented. But yes, classism is definitely a problem in Peru and has been for a long time. Much like other forms of discrimination in most countries around the world, it’s something that has improved over the last several decades, but where we still have room to grow.
I think—like in the U.S., the phrase “we are always working to create a more perfect union”—that sentiment is present all over the world, no? Our societies are overall in a better place than in most of our past, even if in our recent times there is, to my taste, too much polarization. That was one of the inspirations for this story. In fact, it is one of the director’s theses for the film: that all of us being different, but being together, makes us much stronger and better, in the same way that any one dish would not be as good if you removed any one ingredient, even though each ingredient is very different from the others.
Vanessa: Yeah. I imagine, knowing what a good son you are, that this movie very much pleased your parents, and that maybe capturing 1960s Peru—every aspect, food, class, race—in the storytelling was pleasing to them, that you could bring it to life, that you could show how the differences have contributed to the Peru we have today.
Ivan: Well, as far as I know, yes. They love this film. And I think all of their friends—well, I think they love hearing how much their friends love the film. We had an amazing experience in the theatrical release in Peru. We were able to release the film in 109 out of 111 total cinema venues in the country, so it was a wide release, like a blockbuster, which doesn’t normally happen for a drama. Because the word of mouth was so strong, we were able to stay in theaters for nine weeks, even though the normal amount of time for that market is three to four weeks, even if you’re doing well.
I’m really proud of that. It was incredibly rewarding that audiences in Peru would have ovations after commercial screenings—something I’ve seen mostly at festivals, but not very frequently at commercial engagements. I would go and stand outside some of the cinemas toward the end of the film, because at first I wasn’t ready to just believe the distributor telling me this was happening all over the city, all over the country. So I went to several cinemas to check it out, and there it was: people clapping at the end of a movie. It’s been really rewarding.
We actually opened in the U.S. on April 24th, so last week, and I was able to go to a handful of engagements here to do Q&As after commercial screenings. In speaking to the audiences, we’re also hearing the applause before we walk in, which was super nice, and I really hope that it continues to resonate like this.
Vanessa: Yeah, me too. It’s crazy, Ivan. You had two films in theaters last year in two different countries—Taiwan and Peru — you had these two movies become big phenomenons in two countries at the same time. It’s very unique.
Ivan: (I edited out the effusive praise Ivan heaped on me and our team and the team he worked with on Mistura before saying…) The correct answer is “thank you.” I’ll take the compliment.
Vanessa: Take the compliment. Yes, you have to take it. Mistura only took about six months from first draft to assembling partners and starting pre‑production, and that is also remarkably fast. I wonder, from your producing standpoint, what made that speed possible?
Ivan: Yes. I had the idea that I needed—I think that’s the right word—to make a Peruvian film as part of my career, and hopefully it will be more than one. I had this idea for years, and I was actually working on my own version for like three years before Ricardo sent me the script for Mistura. When I first read it, I felt like, “This is accomplishing everything I was trying to accomplish with the script I was developing—except in this one, it’s working.” So I didn’t hesitate and jumped in right away.
Because Ricardo had previously worked with Christian Meier and Bárbara Mori, their coming into the project really early was facilitated by that pre‑existing relationship between them. Once those elements were together—and the film actually had some financing come in early as well, which ended up falling apart; that was one of the big challenges of this production, putting it back together during pre‑production—we were able to do that.
The other reason it came together so fast is that I worked with a local producer named Enid Campos, who prefers to be known by her really cute nickname: Pinky. She is one of the most talented producers I’ve worked with and, in Peru, renowned for her work, especially in art‑house film. She has a long history of working with all the more established heads of department in Peru, so she helped me. We interviewed all the top choices and ended up building the team very fast.
I will also say there was an outside date for the shoot because Bárbara Mori is also one of the protagonists in an Apple TV+ show called Women in Blue—or in Spanish Las Azules—which tells the story of the first women police officers in Mexico City. It’s another period piece, but a limited series, and they were shooting right after us. So we had an outside date by which we had to wrap her, and as the protagonist that means we had to wrap the film by then, not just her. So in one way it had to come together so fast, but in another it was almost natural for it to do so because everyone who came into contact with it jumped in without hesitation, and because Pinky really was instrumental in finding the right fit for each department head very quickly.
Vanessa: Do you want to speak a little more about if there were any challenges because you were working so quickly, in terms of creating that 1960s period look and feel for Peru?
Ivan: Yes. So after working with that team of historians and having the 1965 Bible, during pre‑production there was a lot of attention paid by, especially, Mario Frias, our art director; Leslie Hinojosa, our wardrobe designer; and Laura Quijandría, our hair and makeup designer; and of course our DP and director of photography, Nicolás Wong, who’s amazing. We’re lucky that his work has received some well‑deserved recognition.
We are also the first film made in Peru to work with virtual production technology. I think most of your audience will know what it is, but in case some don’t: it’s the modern version of green‑screen technology that was first popularized by The Mandalorian, whereby instead of using a static green screen during the shoot, we used giant LED screens to encompass the set in which we were shooting. The LED screens were projecting images we created before shooting, instead of adding them in post‑production. The advantage, of course, is that the actors don’t have to imagine their environment—they get to see it and live in it during the shoot— and the director can watch every take as it will appear in the film instead of having it full of green to be filled out later.
The company that helped us model, design, and create a 3D photorealistic model of all the streets in Lima that the cars in the story drive through is called La Escena Virtual. This was the first time they were working on a feature and the first feature in Peru to ever use this technology. I think it worked really well—we haven’t had anyone question it; it looks great.
Also in terms of the food itself, we are the first Peruvian film to work with a professional food stylist. Paola Musso is someone who was trained in Europe and has worked in film before, but she also does a lot of commercials and is at the top of her field. This was her first feature in Peru, and of course she’s Peruvian. She not only made the food look really nice—I think it looks beautiful and delicious—but also adjusted the dishes to how they were more commonly presented in restaurants and even at home, how people would have recognized them most in that period.
Vanessa: So no more talk from film producers anywhere about “period is too challenging, period is too difficult.” It feels like with new technology, there’s really opportunity to make interesting period films.
Ivan: I mean, it certainly adds a layer, right? It requires more attention to detail, a bit more work, more budget. But it’s within reach, especially when you have the opportunity to work with talented and committed artists like we were lucky to have.
Vanessa: Mistura had its international film‑festival premiere at Mill Valley, and you’re excited it’s in theaters now here in the U.S., and it sounds like you just had an extraordinary response in Peru. And everyone needs a warning that they’re going to come away hungry.
Ivan: Yes. We’ve been lucky—there hasn’t been an exception in any festival screening so far that it’s not sold out. That’s always rewarding, to see that people are interested in the work we’re doing. I’ve had the good fortune of being present myself at over a dozen of these festivals that were kind enough to invite us, meeting audiences at sometimes one, sometimes multiple screenings per festival, doing Q&As, and listening to their reactions. More or less half of the questions we get are long‑winded compliments that are incredibly appreciated and usually have to do with how people perceive that we executed the period really nicely, that the cinematography looks beautiful, the acting, and how much they felt inspired by the film.
Vanessa: That’s so beautiful. What does success look like for you with Mistura, beyond the celebration, box office, awards, all of that? Maybe you’ve spoken to it just now, or is it about how this representation of Peru might influence Peruvian stories globally?
Ivan: On one level, I’m in this field, in this world of film, because I really believe that stories have the power to transform people. We empathize with a protagonist who is necessarily different from ourselves, unless it happens to be a biopic on us. In doing so, I think we expand our empathetic imagination—our ability to relate to and empathize with different people—and that in itself makes every story have inherent value, in addition to the artistic work itself. So I hope that Mistura will travel.
Yes, we are soon to announce distribution in more countries, which is very exciting, including theatrical releases in more countries, which is not a given, especially for a film from a country that is a relatively smaller market. But we are very proud to be able to accomplish this, and that wherever this film travels, it opens hearts and minds. For me, that’s really important—and I think it naturally will flow because of what the story is.
On another level, I hope we are breaking the stereotype of what a Peruvian would look like. I think to challenge that stereotype, as well as to invite, through the film, more people to visit Peru and try our food wherever they live, is important. I think it’s a fortunate time for those interested in trying Peruvian food around the world, because there has been such a boom since the early 2000s. When I first moved to the United States in 2001, I couldn’t find a Peruvian restaurant in most cities. Now I can’t find a city that doesn’t have multiple.
And that’s a very welcome change for me because not only do I think Peruvian food is amazing, but I also miss it. It’s one of the ways I get to continue to feel connected to my home country—eating our food wherever I go, whether it’s here in Miami or in New York or in L.A., and also in smaller cities.
Vanessa: Side question—because I’m realizing as I’m speaking with you that I’ve had this thread going through the podcast series. So many Brazilian stories and Brazilian filmmakers—from the amazing documentarian Petra Costa (Apocalypse in the Tropics [https://vanessahope.substack.com/p/apocalypse-in-the-tropics-not-only-633?r=gql]), to Kleber Mendonça Filho (The Secret Agent) [https://vanessahope.substack.com/p/the-secret-agent-a-country-that-installs?r=gql], Gabriel Mascaro (The Blue Trail [https://vanessahope.substack.com/p/the-blue-trail-it-was-fun-to-make?r=gql]), Fisher Stevens, Chelsea Greene, who made the documentary We Are Guardians [https://vanessahope.substack.com/p/we-are-guardians-we-have-to-make?r=gql]…
Ivan: That was your most recent episode—
Vanessa: That was the most recent, yes. I wonder, what is the relationship between Peru and Brazil, politically and culturally?
Ivan: I think it’s a great relationship. Of course, in Brazil Portuguese is spoken, and in Peru Spanish. We share the Amazon rainforest, and it both connects us and sits between us—it makes the cities on both coastlines relatively far away geographically. But I think that connection is really important between us. Also, both happen to be the countries in Latin America that have the most immigration from Asia, historically, and so we share that connection as well. My favorite food, for example, is Nikkei food—Japanese‑Peruvian fusion. The chef in Mistura comes from these backgrounds, I think on purpose.
I also, as you know, worked in Brazil and was able to have the honor of telling the story of one of their most beloved sons of the country, the King of Soccer, O Rei Pelé, whom I also had the privilege of being friends with until his passing in December 2022.
Vanessa: All these Brazilian filmmakers and all of Brazil can also support Mistura. That’s where I’m going.
Ivan: I think yes. I think identity is really important, and at the same time it should be something that connects us, not something that divides us. This is not a film just for Peruvians. This is not even a film just for Spanish speakers or just for Latin Americans.
Vanessa: We’re now adding Asians into the mix as well—people from Taiwan.
Ivan: We’re all connected. Exactly. And anyone who loves and supports independent film. I really appreciate supporting all independent film, wherever it comes from. I really appreciate theater chains and all they do for cinema, but independent theaters in particular, I think, are such champions—they matter.
Here in Miami, for example, the Coral Gables Art Cinema has been a real champion of our film, Mistura. In New York, it’s Cinema Village that’s championing us, and we’re about to work with Laemmle in California, who are one of the most iconic, legendary supporters of independent film through the years.
Vanessa: Okay, great—so my stepmom in Miami: go to the Coral Gables theater. My mom in New York: go to Cinema Village. And all our friends and family here in Los Angeles, California, please go to the Laemmle theaters. When you were speaking of champions of independent film, you were making me think about Ted, of course. The way Ted always describes your involvement with the Taiwan documentary is that, like us, you’re a champion of democracy—that you care about democracy, that that’s the thread connecting us.
In a way, you can read this film, Mistura, as a story in which that kind of personal liberation is connected to a larger politics—where an ideal version of democracy supports everyone in their individuality and their differences to feel part of a larger whole, to feel free, to have rights, autonomy, respect, integrity, all of that. Across your filmography—from Pelé to Eating Our Way to Extinction, La Cocina, now Mistura—what do you see as the connective threads in the stories you back?
Ivan: Yeah. I really am passionate about democracy, and I am proud to be a part of Invisible Nation. I’m a big believer that all peoples have a right to self‑determine their own destiny, and democracy is the tool through which we can do that. When we’re unhappy with a situation, we get to choose to change it. I’ve become very familiar with the U.S. political system and modern history, because in a system like the U.S., neither party is effectively and significantly improving the lives of the majority of the people who are not doing well already. This is true in all sorts of countries, including Peru, and it creates a sense of dissatisfaction that I think inspires people to vote for more and more extreme options.
Vanessa: Your opening thought about self‑determination—that’s really the key. That’s really in Mistura; that’s what takes the personal to the political.
Ivan: Yeah. It’s universally resonant. Also, the story of Mistura takes place only a handful of years before Peru lost its democracy—we became a military dictatorship for a few years. My family left during those years and returned when democracy returned. That’s why in countries like Peru, where this has taken place or similar things have taken place, I think we’re much more aware of how fragile democracy can be. It’s that U.S. phrase—and forgive me for not being a better U.S. historian—but “It’s your republic, if you can keep it.” That is so true. It really depends on all of us to fight for it, to keep it, and to continue to strive for it to become a more and more perfect version of itself, whether it’s a union like here or a different system.
I think the through‑line, especially of the last few years for me, is also a lot about being seen and how beautiful that is. I’m more of an art‑house and independent film lover than a big‑blockbuster lover, but I had a chance to briefly speak to James Cameron once about the Avatar movies, and one of the things I really love about them is the “I see you” phrasing. That is, to me, the through‑line of my work over the last few years.
In Invisible Nation, overtly in the title, it’s: can we finally see a whole people that aren’t being fully seen? La Cocina is based on the play from the 1950s in the U.K. by Arnold Wesker, but heavily adapted for this film to take place in Manhattan—in a world where we’re telling the story of one day in the lives of people who work at a restaurant.
Vanessa: It’s an excellent restaurant film. It’s an excellent film, La Cocina. This is with Rooney Mara—brilliant, brilliant.
Ivan: And in North America it’s currently available on the platform MUBI [https://mubi.com/en/us]—check it out. Please, do check it out. La Cocina is one day in the life of these people who work at a restaurant, and they represent one of the segments of people in society that during the pandemic we learned to call “essential workers.” They’re the people who make society run. They are also people that we don’t really see that often—we kind of look past them and see them as part of the service being provided to us instead of as a person who has a job and a life. So I think Invisible Nation is “let’s see these people who aren’t being seen”; La Cocina is “let’s see this community that isn’t really being seen”; and Mistura is the personal, individual‑level version of this, where there’s a woman who on one level is being seen by everyone, but being seen for her position in society—for who her husband is—not for who she is.
It’s really the story of how someone—in this case her driver, who is Afro‑Peruvian, again played by Pudi Bayumbrosio, who I love—finally, finally, someone is seeing her for who she is. Beneath all that, she loses her status, she loses her money, and suddenly all that can be seen is who she really is. Because that is seen, and they start to see each other, they can build this team and transcend the restrictions and limited beliefs, the discrimination of the moment of the ’60s—which in Peru is more comparable to the ’50s in the U.S. socially.
Vanessa: Okay, I have a new and very challenging last question for you, Ivan, because I feel we need to tell people where they can have dinner and see your movie. I feel they should have dinner, if they can, at a Peruvian restaurant, ideally one that has the Japanese‑Peruvian fusion. Luckily there are lots of options. And what’s the name of your favorite dish that’s Japanese‑Peruvian fusion?
Ivan: Yes. So my favorite dish is probably ceviche, and the Japanese‑Peruvian fusion version is called tiradito. The film actually tells the real, sort‑of‑fictionalized story of how tiradito comes to be. That reminds me: the chef in our film, who is a chef in real life, grew up with his father having a restaurant in Peru, which was the first restaurant that chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa was head chef at. Nobu came from Japan to Peru, picked up a lot of Peruvian ideas and traditions, and then opened his own restaurant, which has become an empire—Nobu across the world—which has a lot of influence from the Peruvian menu. So that is always going to be an option.
But there’s a group that have been doing the good work—they’re called the Peruvian Restaurant Guide: peruvianrestaurantguide.com [https://www.peruvianrestaurantguide.com/]. You can go there and find the Peruvian restaurants nearest to you, wherever that is.
People will be able to see and hear our conversation starting May 1st, right? Starting May 1st we will be at the CMX Dolphin, at the AMC Aventura, and at the Regal Sawgrass in the Miami area. In New York, we will remain at Cinema Village as well.
Vanessa: You’re being held over.
Ivan: Yes, we’re being held over, which is always an exciting thing to learn. I’m particularly excited that starting May 7th we are returning to where this relationship with the audience started. As you mentioned, our world premiere was at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and starting May 7th we are playing at the San Rafael Film Center.
Vanessa: Ooh, I love that theater.
Ivan: I’m really excited. I love that theater, and it’s so special to go back to where our first public screening was held. It’s special to be here in Miami; I think the community here is so rich with immigration, and the Peruvian food in Miami is amazing. In New York, similarly, there’s so much immigration. There are many Peruvian restaurants in New York as well.
On May 8th we’re opening in Los Angeles, as well as San Diego and Sarasota. Los Angeles will be extra special for me because it’s the city that has become my home over the last fifteen years. We will definitely be at the Laemmle Monica and the Laemmle Glendale, and I believe the Regal South Gate as well for our first week.
I know that everyone in this audience knows this, but I’ll still say it:
the opening week and opening weekend in each market that a film opens, especially an independent film, is critical—most important.
Vanessa: Get to the theater when it opens, please.
Ivan: The more we do, not only the more opportunity this film will have to reach more people, but the better independent film does in general in theaters, the more those theaters will remain interested, open, and excited to continue to support independent film.
So this is my plea to please come support us, as well as follow us on social media. We are @MisturaFilm [https://www.instagram.com/misturafilm/]—M‑I‑S‑T‑U‑R‑A, Mistura Film—where we continue to announce releases in each city. We hope to be in more cities in North America over the coming weeks. I know that starting May 28th, for those of you in Puerto Rico, we are definitely opening on several screens. In July we will be in theaters in the U.K.
Vanessa: Ooh, fantastic—in July. And Puerto Rico. I love Puerto Rico. This has been a wonderful conversation, and it’s been so great to see you!
Ivan: Thank you so much, Vanessa. Thank you for having me. Always great to see you. Thank you, thank you. I hope everyone enjoys the film.
Vanessa: Me too. I know they will.
IVAN ORLIC producer
Ivan Orlic is a Peruvian-Croatian film producer based in Los Angeles and founder of Seine Pictures. His recent productions include La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios and starring Rooney Mara, which premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and went on to win five Ariel Awards; Invisible Nation, directed by Vanessa Hope and produced alongside Ted Hope, which received multiple awards including at the Cinema for Peace Awards in 2024 and became one of Taiwan’s highest-grossing documentaries of all time; and Eating Our Way to Extinction, narrated by Academy award winner Kate Winslet, which won the Environmental Media Awards for Best Documentary. His earlier credits include Murder of a Cat, produced alongside Sam Raimi, and Pelé: Birth of a Legend, produced alongside Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment.
Most recently, Orlic produced Mistura — his first feature set entirely in Peru and the first he shepherded as sole producer. Following a successful theatrical release in Peru, where it remained in cinemas for nine weeks to become the highest grossing local drama of 2025, the film opened in U.S. theaters last week from April 24th 2026, through Outsider Pictures, a distribution company specializing in bringing Spanish language and foreign films into the North American market.
He is also a guest lecturer at University of California, Los Angeles, a speaker at international industry forums, and a graduate of The Second City conservatory program.
MISTURA SCREENS BY DATE
NOW PLAYING
MIAMI1. CMX Brickell -- likely to hold over2. Coral Gables Art Cinemas3. CMX Dolphin -- likely to hold over4. AMC Aventura -- likely to hold over5. AMC Tamiami6. AMC Hialeah7. AMC Sunset Place 8. Regal Southland Mall9. Regal Kendall Village
FT. LAUDERDALE10. Regal Sawgrass -- likely to hold overNEW YORK11. Cinema Village -- confirmed to hold overDALLAS12. America Cinemas (Ft Worth)PORTLAND13. Battle Ground Cinemas 814. Sandy Cinema 9ORLANDO15. Regal Waterford Lakes16. Regal Pointe
OPENING MAY 1
BUFFALO1. North Park TheatrePALM SPRINGS2. Desert Film Society
MIAMI
3. TBC: Silverspot Brickell
OPENING MAY 7
SAN RAFAEL1. San Rafael Film Center (San Rafael)
OPENING MAY 8
LOS ANGELES1. Laemmle Monica (Santa Monica)2. Laemmle Town Center (Encino)3. Regal Southgate (Norwalk)SAN DIEGO4. Digital GymSARASOTA5. Burns Court
OPENING MAY 22
LOS ANGELES1. Maya Chino Hills (Chino)2. Maya Fresno (Fresno)3. Maya Bakersfield (Bakersfield)
OPENING MAY 28
SAN JUAN1. Fine Arts Popular Center2. Fine Arts Café3. Montehiedra4. San Patricio
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