WINNER - 2026 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL (Panorama) – FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film
Inspired by extraordinary true events, the seductive new noir from multi award-winning writer/director Marcelo Martinessi (The Heiresses) traces the mysterious death of a charismatic radio host in late-1950s Paraguay — an event that became a catalyst for ruthless political and social regression.
Asunción, 1959. Under dictator Alfredo Stroessner’s tightening military regime, elusive and magnetic young DJ Narciso Arévalos (a captivating Diro Romero) is found dead after his electrifying final broadcast. His popularity has risen in tandem with the arrival of imported American rock ‘n’ roll music, which Narciso – having returned from Buenos Aires energised by the likes of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly - has convinced the station’s repressed owner Lulú (Manuel Cuenca) to play in place of traditional Paraguayan folk standards. Filmed live before an adoring audience, Narciso’s provocative program becomes an overnight sensation. Desired by both men and women, he captures the imagination of a generation hungry for freedom and change. Yet his defiant allure earns powerful, dangerous attention, not least from U.S. diplomat Mr. Wesson (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), whose involvement in Paraguay extends beyond cultural imports to infrastructure projects, and inspires envy from those trapped in shadows of fear…
Visually stunning and immersive, Martinessi’s atmospheric thriller explores how desire, fear, and shared beliefs work together to sustain dictatorships. Sounding a very timely warning from the past about the resurgence of authoritarian methods in contemporary global politics, NARCISO also serves to remind that there is no greater threat to conformity than what art - and especially the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll – can set free.