Fresh off Cannes, Diego Luna joined producers Valerie Delpierre and Luis Salinas at The American Pavilion for an IndieWire conversation about their film “Ashes,” including its themes of migration, grief, bilingual production, and the challenge of making person
Diego Luna didn’t come to Cannes talking about studio talking points—at The American Pavilion’s IndieWire: In Conversation — “Ashes. ” he leaned into the messy emotional center of his new film as producers Valerie Delpierre and Luis Salinas listened alongside him.. Moderated by IndieWire’s Anne Thompson. the panel dug into migration. grief. bilingual production. and the pressure points that come with making personal material in today’s streaming landscape.
Luna framed “Ashes” as more than a border-crossing story. “This is hopefully a story about those who travel, but also those who receive,” he said, explaining that he wanted to move immigration narratives beyond the gravitational pull of the United States.
“We are so consumed about the relation with the States, and we explain migration always like that,” the “Andor” star added. “Spain has become quite a safe port for Latin American migration.”
Grief, for Luna, wasn’t a backdrop—it was a driver.. He said the political backdrop was secondary to the pathos of the story. and focused instead on how children respond to loss and how those stories evolve as they grow.. “Ashes” examines how children react to loss and how those narratives shift with age and understanding.. Luna connected that focus to his own life. saying losing his mother when he was two years old informed his portrayal of a child who has to process being abandoned.
That connection sharpened the film’s central character.. Luna described Lucila (Anna Díaz) as the child at the heart of the story. saying of her: “The movie places her in the moment where she realizes the other side of the story. ” before adding that Lucila “builds her own mythology around the mother abandoning them.”
Once the conversation turned to reception. it was clear the festival attention is landing on the film’s emotional control as much as its subject matter.. Luna’s direction has earned the film strong reviews out of the festival. with some critics praising the film’s cultural specificity and handling of sensitive subject matter.. Carlos Aguilar wrote in his IndieWire review: “The tonal subtlety of ‘Ashes. ’ which doesn’t undermine its quietly heartbreaking poignancy. showcases an artistic maturity
on Luna’s part. ” before continuing: “There’s a sensitivity to his choices that speaks both of an inherent understanding of the characters as a Mexican national (the dialogue and flashes of humor ring natural) and of a humble interest in depicting circumstances that don’t directly affect him but shape the lives of many of his less fortunate compatriots.. ‘Ashes’ doesn’t feel like a typical immigration tale. not because of where it takes place. but because
of the nuance of emotion that fuels it.”
The thread tying the discussion together was the same one Luna kept returning to: the shift away from immigration stories centered on the United States. the choice to make Spain a “safe port” for Latin American migration. and the emphasis on what happens to a child as loss reshapes understanding over time—each point reinforcing the film’s focus on travel and arrival through grief rather than geography.
Viewers can watch the complete conversation with Luna, Delpierre, and Salinas in the video above. For our complete programming schedule at The American Pavilion, click here.
Diego Luna Ashes Cannes The American Pavilion IndieWire Valerie Delpierre Luis Salinas Anne Thompson migration films grief bilingual production streaming era