Vilpa Max will initially launch in the UK, North Africa and the Middle East, with plans to expand into additional territories at a later stage.
Vilpa Films, founded by Mexican producer, filmmaker and author Alejandro Vilpa, is preparing to launch a new digital platform dedicated to short films, titled Vilpa Max, on January 31, 2026. The platform aims to give short filmmakers from around the world access to an international audience through a curated global showcase.
Vilpa Max will initially roll out in the UK, North Africa and the Middle East, with plans to expand into additional territories at a later stage. The service will operate on a dual model, offering a free, ad-supported tier alongside a paid subscription option priced at £4.99 in the UK and $3.99 across the Middle East and North Africa. The launch was first revealed on December 22 by The Hollywood Reporter.
At launch, the platform will feature a selection of acclaimed short films, including the Academy Award-winning The Mozart of Pickpockets (2007) by writer-director Philippe Pollet-Villard, the Oscar-nominated The Red Suitcase (2022) directed by Cyrus Neshvad, and the Palme d’Or-winning All the Crows in the World (2021) from writer-director Yi Tang.
Additional titles joining the catalogue include Poof (2022) by Dean Anderson and Love Is Blind (2023) by Dan Hodgson, both of which were official selections at the Cannes Film Festival. They will be accompanied by Bienvenidos a Los Ángeles (2023) by Lisa Cole, which was shortlisted at the 96th Academy Awards, and Nocturne in Black (2022), a film that received strong recognition across the international festival circuit.
Speaking about his new venture, Alejandro has said: “At Vilpa Films and Vilpa Max, our mission is to champion extraordinary cinema while creating a bridge for emerging filmmakers to enter the international distribution landscape.
“We curate and produce work that stands alongside Oscar-winning and Cannes-acclaimed films, offering audiences a catalogue defined by vision, craft, and cultural impact. At the same time, we empower new voices by giving them opportunities to gain international visibility and positioning as they continue building their careers.”
Alejandro Vilpa is an internationally published author across Mexico, Latin America and Spain, and the founder of Vilpa Films, a boutique production company associated with award-winning and critically acclaimed projects. He is also a member of the Forbes Business Council and previously worked with the script development team at Caledonia Productions, the US arm of Eon Productions, best known for producing the James Bond franchise.
In 2025, Vilpa produced and shot the short film The Undertone of David Jansen (2025) in Prague, with support from the Czech Ministry of Culture and the Mexican Embassy. The project was featured in the Cannes Film Festival 2025 production catalogue, where Vilpa also collaborated with Celsius Entertainment on sales and distribution support for upcoming film releases.
