Natalia López Gallardo, a highly regarded Mexican film editor turned director whose debut feature “Robe of Gems” won the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2022, is currently developing her second film, “ Only Love Exists .” This contemporary drama, exploring the interconnectedness of online and offline lives, will be pitched at the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum during this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.

“Only Love Exists” is the story of Teresa, a medical assistant who cares for patients in her work and engages with the fears and desires of others on the internet. Over time, the virtual world starts to encroach into her real life as Teresa indulges more and more in her own desires somewhere on the border of the two dimensions.

After a near-death experience, Teresa becomes more attuned to the physical world around her, where beauty and oppression coexist, as described in the film's synopsis. Through acts of compassion and care for a friend, Teresa embarks on a journey of healing and redemption.

López also penned the screenplay and will co-produce alongside her “Robe of Gems” producer Fernanda de la Peza (“The Untamed,” “The Hole in the Fence”. Additional co-producers include Marie-Pierre Macia and Sacha Ben Haroche.

“The strongest impression I had upon reading the initial script for ‘Only Love Exists’ was the feeling of being completely immersed in the present, in the world we live in today,” producer Fernanda de la Peza told Variety . “A truly original story that places a character with a profession as old as humanity itself, now deeply entrenched in a world of technological capitalism without a clear framework for valuing things (both ethically and legally). ‘Only Love Exists’ aims to harness the power of cinema to delve into, express, and celebrate the complexities of the human spirit.”

Cárcava Cine, de la Peza’s production company based in Mexico, and Lobo en Medio de Lobos are producing the film, with MPM Premium from France and NousNous in the U.S. co-producing. Filming is scheduled for fall 2025.

Established in Mexico City in 2018, Cárcava is committed to highlighting auteur and independent cinema. Beyond López’s “Robe of Gems,” the company has garnered significant festival and awards recognition for films such as “Lost in the Night,” from Amat Escalante, a Venice best director recipient and three-time Mexican Academy nominee and Joaquin del Paso’s Venice Horizons selection “The Hole in the Fence.”