When a young Colombian woman raised in exile falls for the man who finally makes her feel at home, their romance is threatened by the discovery that their families were enemies in Colombia’s bloody past.
At a lively Latino party, Cata and Sebas, two Colombians living in NYC meet and connect like magic. Their romance blossoms with the kind of intensity that feels destined: music, laughter, intimacy, and the unspoken pull of shared roots. A casual conversation between Sebas and Monica, Cata’s mother, stirs a memory Monica has tried to forget. Piece by piece, Cata and Sebas uncover a devastating truth: their families were on opposite sides of Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict, a war that left deep scars across the nation. Worse still, Catas’s father was the man who ordered Sebas’s father’s murder, a hidden legacy of violence neither of them knew they carried.
As the truth comes to light, Cata and Sebas are forced to confront their mothers, their families, and the violent history that shaped them. What began as a fleeting connection becomes a battle against the bloodlines that demand they remain enemies. They must face a devastating question: can love and forgiveness defy a past where blood has already chosen sides? GAIRA is an intimate story about love, generational wounds, and the quiet wars families carry within. It explores whether the children of trauma can break free from a cycle their parents were too broken to escape.
Lorena Villanueva is a Colombian director and producer based in Los Angeles with over a decade of experience as an assistant director in film and television. A Master’s graduate in Film Direction from Spain, she has directed several acclaimed short films, including FUOCO FATUO, INÉS, and the award-winning BED SMASH. Her directing credits also include the rom-com short BABY, YOU’RE NO GOOD, and the upcoming horror short film GOOD CANDIDATE, currently in post-production.
She is the co-writer, director, and producer of the short film THE TIDE INSIDE, which premiered at Cascadia International Film Festival and has been selected in several prestigious film festivals like LA Shorts, PHLAFF and the Norwegian Short Film Festival. She is currently developing her feature debut, GAIRA with CineQuanon Storylines Lab a romance about the search for forgiveness amidst the aftermath of Colombia's internal conflict.
Lorena produced the feature COROZO, which won the Audience Award at the Colombian Film Festival of New York in 2024 and was released in theaters in March 2026. She is also producing the psychological feature TEOREMA which was part of NALIP Accelerator 2025. Lorena is a member of the Colombian Academy of Motion Pictures.
Lorena's on set experience expands to over 10 years as a recognized assistant director working on independent features as well as TV Shows and films produced by studios like Netflix, Apple TV, Sony and Amazon.
Cinematographer - Camilo Monsalve
Production Designer - Sara Millán
Producer - Esteban Orozco
