Mexico has selected David Pablos’s On the Road / En el camino as its official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. The selection was made by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), which chose the film from 17 eligible Mexican productions.
Pablos’ latest feature arrives in the Oscar race following an acclaimed international festival run. On the Road had its world premiere in the Orizzonti competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where it won the section’s top prize for Best Film as well as the Queer Lion Award.
Set along the highways of northern Mexico, the film follows Veneno, a rebellious young drifter who frequents roadside diners and sleeps with truck drivers. Urgently needing a ride, he meets Muñeco, a hard-edged, solitary trucker, and convinces him to take him along. As they travel deeper into the hyper-masculine world of long-haul trucking, an unexpected intimacy develops between them, while shadows from Veneno’s past resurface and put both their lives at risk.
Blending road movie, romance, and thriller, On the Road explores desire, vulnerability, and masculinity against the stark landscapes and dangerous highways of northern Mexico. The film was shot in Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez, with Pablos drawing on extensive research into Mexico’s trucking culture and the roadside communities known as cachimbas.
The film stars Víctor Miguel Prieto as Veneno and Osvaldo Sánchez as Muñeco. It was written and directed by Pablos, with cinematography by Ximena Amann, editing by Jonathan Pellicer and Paulina del Paso, and music by Andrea Balency-Béarn. Producers include Inna Payán, Luis Salinas, Diego Luna, and Enrique Nava.
On the Road marks the latest feature from Pablos, one of the leading voices in contemporary Mexican cinema. His debut feature, The Life After / La vida después, premiered at Venice in 2013, while his sophomore film, The Chosen Ones / Las elegidas, competed in Un Certain Regard at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win five Ariel Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. His subsequent feature, Dance of the 41 / El baile de los 41, earned four Ariel Awards.
Mexico has a distinguished history in the Best International Feature Film category, earning nine nominations since Roberto Gavaldón’s Macario became the country’s first nominee in 1961. Other nominated Mexican films include Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros and Biutiful, Carlos Carrera’s The Crime of Father Amaro, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma made history in 2019 as the first Mexican film to win the award.
The 99th Academy Awards will take place in 2027. On the Road will now seek to advance to the 15-film shortlist for Best International Feature Film before nominations are announced.
