Andres Ramirez did not have a script, a cast or a crew when he set out to make his first documentary. He had a phone, a hometown and a question: what makes Veracruz a special place?
The answer is Ver, Veracruz, a 16-minute documentary shot entirely on an iPhone. It premiered at the International Cellphone Cinema Showcase during the Marché du Film in Cannes, where it won Best Documentary, Best Cellphone Cinematography and Best Music. Now it makes its U.S. and North American premiere at the 14th Chelsea Film Festival in New York, on Friday, October 16, at 9:15 PM at Regal Battery Park.
A Challenge From a Former Professor
The film began as a dare. In February 2026, Ramirez’s former NYU professor, Karl Bardosh, challenged him to make a film entirely on his phone and told him about a screening opportunity for cellphone filmmakers at the Marché du Film.
Ramirez, a Mexican independent filmmaker and graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, was excited and overwhelmed in equal measure. He felt he lacked what a “proper” film requires, such as a script and actors. The answer came while he was driving along Boulevard Ávila Camacho in Veracruz, looking out at the Gulf of Mexico and the city beyond.
I realized: I do have my “actor”. I have the beautiful city of Veracruz.
Andres Ramirez, director’s statement
The City as the Lead
Veracruz is the central character of the film. Ver, Veracruz is told through the eyes of Ramirez, who is a native, and through conversations with three generations of Jarochos, as the people of Veracruz are known. Its logline describes a search for what defines Mexico’s oldest European-founded city beyond its beaches, food and music, finding a deeper identity of culture and history shaped by its people, memory and lived experience.
Those voices include Rubén Ramírez Rojas, a remote uncle and anecdotal storyteller; María José Cevallos Pintos, a childhood friend reflecting on how Veracruz has changed; and Ricardo Cañas Montalvo, the city’s official historian. Together they cover the city’s founding and its myths, nostalgic recollections of Veracruz in the 1950s, and the views of a younger generation weighing what makes them Jarochos.
The Grandfather Who Disliked Cameras
Ramirez says the moment he is proudest of is filming his eighty-year-old grandfather, credited in the film as Alfonso Ortiz Díaz. A lawyer and, in Ramirez’s words, “the complete opposite of a filmmaker,” he had disliked cameras with a passion for most of his life. He trusted his grandson enough to be documented anyway, along with his memories of Veracruz.
Through those images, I was able to preserve not only a part of his story but also a version of the city as he saw it. In a way, the film immortalized both.
Andres Ramirez, director’s statement
Widescreen From a Phone
The look of the film was a deliberate choice. Ramirez shot on an iPhone 17 Pro fitted with a Moment T-Series anamorphic lens, recording in ProRes 422 through the Blackmagic Camera app at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The result is a widescreen frame more often associated with feature films than with a phone.
For Ramirez, the phone was less a limitation than a way in. He describes it as a liberating tool that allowed for immediacy and intimacy, and a deeper connection to the people and places in front of the lens. He also did much of the work himself: he served as director of photography, editor, colorist and sound editor, with Ali-Zain Mevawala advising on photography and color and Dafne Ortiz contributing additional photography. The score is music courtesy of Maestro Ryszard Siwy, who shares the Best Music award with Ramirez.
Behind the Scenes
Photos from the shoot in Veracruz and from the awards in Cannes.
Learning From the City Symphony
Early on, Ramirez found inspiration in the city symphony films of the 1920s, among them Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, Man with a Movie Camera and À propos de Nice. He chose not to imitate them. Instead he honors their spirit in the film’s opening and closing montages, and builds the rest on a more traditional documentary structure around its guiding question.
He also places the film in a line of work made on phones, citing Tangerine by Sean Baker and Night Fishing by Park Chan-wook as predecessors.
From Cannes to Chelsea
The film has already traveled. Beyond its three awards at the Marché du Film, it is an official selection of the International Documentary Film Festival in Noida, India, and has drawn coverage in the Mexican press, including XEU Noticias and Diario de Xalapa.
The Chelsea Film Festival, which runs October 14 to 18 in New York, marks a homecoming of sorts. Ramirez is a former New York resident, and for him returning with a film about Veracruz is a milestone. It is also a series of firsts: his first documentary, his first Spanish-language film, his first project as cinematographer and his first shot entirely on a smartphone.
“Cinematic storytelling is not defined by the size of a camera,” Ramirez writes, “but by the vision behind it.”
Screening Information
- Film: Ver, Veracruz
- Director: Andres Ramirez
- Runtime: 16 minutes
- Premiere: U.S. and North American premiere, Friday, October 16, 2026, 9:15 PM
- Festival: 14th Chelsea Film Festival
- Venue: Regal Battery Park, New York City
- Festival page: chelseafilm.org/ver-veracruz
- Follow the film: @ververacruzfilm on Instagram
Cast: Andres Ramirez (narrator), Rubén Ramírez Rojas, Alfonso Ortiz Díaz, María José Cevallos Pintos, Ricardo Cañas Montalvo (official historian of the city).
Team: Director of photography, editing, color and sound editing: Andres Ramirez. Director of photography and color advisor: Ali-Zain Mevawala. Additional photography: Dafne Ortiz. Production assistants: Adri Ceballos Vela, Valentina Cevallos Pintos and Gerardo “Gerry” Somohano. Transportation: Gerardo “Gerry” Somohano and Rogelio Sánchez Valencia. Music courtesy of Maestro Ryszard Siwy.
Images: stills and poster courtesy of Ver, Veracruz.
