Sad Girlz (Chicas tristes), the acclaimed debut feature by Mexican writer-director Fernanda Tovar, will make its highly anticipated North American premiere in the International Narrative Competition at the 2026 Tribeca Festival, taking place June 3–14 in New York City.
Winner of both the Crystal Bear and the Grand Prix of the International Jury for Best Film in the Generation 14plus section at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere, and recently awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Cartagena Film Festival, Sad Girlz is a piercing coming-of-age drama set in Mexico City. Produced by the award-winning creative collective Colectivo Colmena, the film follows two competitive swimmers whose inseparable bond begins to fracture as they navigate the dissonant emotional aftermath of a traumatic experience.
Paula and La Maestra are 16, inseparable, and the strongest swimmers on their team, training over the summer with hopes of representing Mexico at the Junior Pan American Swimming Championship in Brazil. After a night at a party, Paula ends up alone with Daniel, a friend and longtime crush. In the aftermath, something shifts. Paula becomes withdrawn and deeply sad, while La Maestra pushes for answers. As Paula slowly begins to share what happened, the girls struggle to name the experience and confront its emotional weight.
As each responds differently, their friendship begins to fracture under the pressure of fear, guilt, and anger. What emerges is an intimate portrait of adolescence shaped by silence, loyalty, and the complicated process of understanding trauma. Through its sensitive performances and unembellished style, Sad Girlz explores how young women navigate friendship, identity, and agency in the wake of an experience neither fully knows how to articulate.
Directed with precision and emotional restraint, Tovar's assured debut builds on themes present in her acclaimed short films, which have screened at Cannes Critics' Week, Tribeca, and Morelia. Driven by powerful performances from its young cast, Sad Girlz captures the intensity of teenage intimacy and the fragile space between solidarity and rupture, offering a nuanced portrait of how friendship can become both refuge and battleground.
