Julieta Cabrera Joins Mama Hungara to Elevate Storytelling in Latin America
With a keen sensitivity and a cinematic aesthetic that transcends formats, Julieta Cabrera joins the talent roster at Mama Hungara, reaffirming the production company’s commitment to new voices that reshape audiovisual storytelling in Latin America.
Julieta combines experience in advertising, fiction, and documentary with an intimate, human perspective that shines through both her commercial and auteur work. Her directorial debut with Tratame Bien for MACMA / Novartis earned her a Bronze Lion at Cannes Lions.
She has directed campaigns for global brands such as Nike, Corona, and Turkish Airlines, with a poetic visual approach: expressive colours, deliberate blurs and textured shots that highlight real experiences and authentic gestures. Recognised by El Ojo de Iberoamérica in 2021 for Behind the Steps, Julieta also contributed as a showrunner on Ringo: gloria y muerte (Disney / Star+), merging the emotional with the conceptual and the intimate with the collective.
With her addition to Mama Hungara, Julieta talks with Cris Gee about this new stage, a commitment to projects that connect the personal with the commercial, the emotional with the visually distinctive. A director who chooses to look closely and tell stories from the essential.
Shooting the campaign Time-Off for Corona in Brazil
Cris Gee> You come from documentary, explored fiction and directed global campaigns. How do these three territories shape your approach to creating imagery and working with brands?
Julieta> My vision as a director didn’t develop linearly; it consolidated through practice and observation, working closely with an established director. Years of absorbing their aesthetic sense and approach to leading a team were invaluable.
Starting to direct independently required time, courage and a conscious decision about the projects I wanted to take on and how I wished to approach them. The opportunities that arose had more weight than deliberately seeking a defined style. I naturally explored territories emerging from a genuine desire to film. That journey gave me flexibility, allowing me to tackle projects of any scale with the same enthusiasm, identifying the opportunity in each idea and finding the unique tone it demands.
Cris Gee> What types of stories or creative territories are you most excited to explore now? What continues to challenge you as a director?
Julieta> Having worked across advertising, fiction and documentary, I’m now interested in cultivating a hybrid language that feels ever more genuine and close. My focus is on honing and nurturing my gaze, it’s the most personal tool we have as directors. Beyond the project itself, the key is discovering the most authentic way to observe it and narrate it visually, exploring different formats and reaching its true depth.
Cris Gee> What do you value most about the creative process in advertising, and how do you experience it in your work?
Julieta> Teamwork is at the heart of every project. Over the years, I’ve confirmed that advertising can be a space for purposeful creation, regardless of the assignment, because there’s always something to uncover.
What I enjoy most is that moment when a script arrives and the creative game begins. I explore how to enhance it, how to present it best, communicate the vision and gather the ideal team. That shared journey defines the energy of the piece, the strength of the idea and the balance of a well-executed creative process.
Cris Gee> Mama Hungara is driving a new production model, championing the singularity of talent and hybrid storytelling. What excites you about joining that ecosystem?
Julieta> I was thrilled to start working with Mama Hungara. I had followed their growth from the beginning and joining felt natural, destined even. I’m at a stage where I want to consolidate my individuality and here I’ve found a space that both supports and propels me.
The company is expanding rapidly. I’m motivated to be part of that journey and everything yet to come. Regarding hybridity, I feel fully aligned. Filming also means exploring the new, and today, the most exciting emerges where certainties blur, truths shift and diversity opens unexpected paths. It’s in these intersections, far from rigid definitions, that the perspectives I seek come alive, and work becomes more vibrant and transformative.
Cris Gee> How do you engage with new technology in commercial production?
Julieta> I believe it’s crucial not to lose critical reasoning or dull our judgment when approaching technology. Integration is inevitable and rejecting it adds nothing. Clinging to a single approach risks missing creative and production opportunities.
AI opens possibilities that were unimaginable just five years ago, even to some extent autonomously. The key is to study, experiment and understand its real potential. This week, an AI seminar at the production house highlighted that it still requires coherence, human sensitivity and an initial vision to guide results. It needs us; the human thread is essential. I hold on to that.
Cris Gee> What do you think the future of advertising will look like in the next decade?
Julieta> We’re at a pivotal moment, which, far from being a setback, opens up a territory of creative possibilities. I notice volatility more than ever and I want to embrace it; continuing to cultivate ideas, film, explore and adapt to new forms. Good ideas always find their place, and the desire to keep producing remains intact. The key will be flexibility, curiosity and embracing what’s to come with enthusiasm.
Cris Gee> Before we finish, what advice would you give to an emerging director?
Julieta: I recently spoke with Anna, a young director, about the importance of maintaining parallel interests: studying, reading, writing, engaging in dialogue and following passions. Practising an attentive, active, curious gaze enriches professional practice, deepening each project. That’s my advice.
