Face to Face / Cara a cara, the debut documentary feature by acclaimed Uruguayan filmmaker Federico Veiroj, will have its North American premiere as part of the 25th anniversary edition of Doc Fortnight 2026: The Museum of Modern Art’s Festival of International Nonfiction Film and Media, taking place February 16 through March 11 in New York City.
The Uruguayan nonfiction film is the only Latin American title selected for this year’s festival, which features 14 feature films and 19 short and medium-length works, and is curated by Sophie Cavoulacos, Associate Curator, Department of Film at MoMA, alongside guest curator Jesse Cumming.
Face to Face offers an intimate portrait of the director’s father, framed through their mutual engagement with psychoanalysis. Drawing on home-movie archives, staged moments, present-day conversations, excerpts from Veiroj’s own fiction work, and whimsical musical touches, the film moves fluidly between registers.
With the breeziness of a sketch and the emotional depth of a personal reckoning, Veiroj creates something far richer than its modest scale might imply, punctuated by inventive flourishes that gently collapse the boundary between documentary and invention. “Crafty and deceptively rich,” and “offbeat, humorous, and tender, Cara a Cara is one of the year’s unexpected nonfiction delights,” wrote MoMA in its film description.
Born in Montevideo in 1976, Veiroj has been directing and producing short films since 1996. His debut fiction feature, Acné (2008), premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. Both Acné and his second feature, A Useful Life / La vida útil (2010), went on to win more than 20 awards worldwide. In 2015, The Apostate / El apóstata received the FIPRESCI Award and a Special Jury Mention at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Veiroj’s fourth feature, Belmonte (2018), premiered in Toronto, followed by The Moneychanger / Así habló el cambista (2019). He has been subject of showcases and film retrospectives at the Viennale, the Harvard Film Archive, and the Svenska Filminstitutet, among other international venues.
