The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively premiered the trailer for Donkey Princess (Princesa Burro), the third feature film from Chilean directors Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, ahead of its world premiere at the 79th Locarno Film Festival on Friday, 7 August. (The Hollywood Reporter, 3 August 2026)

The film centres on Diana, princess of an ancient kingdom ruled by her father, King Arthur, who has forbidden love. When Diana falls for a man named Lalo, the king banishes him. Armed with a magical bracelet, Diana sets out across parallel worlds to find Lalo — and discovers that her father has been manipulating her decisions all along. Each universe she enters transforms the film's genre, shifting the visual and tonal language as the story moves. (The Hollywood Reporter, 3 August 2026)

What makes Donkey Princess a departure for León and Cociña is its form. Their earlier work, including the 2018 feature The Wolf House, was rooted in stop-motion animation. Donkey Princess is performed entirely by actors in live action — a shift that places the directors' distinctive visual sensibility into a different register entirely. (The Hollywood Reporter, 3 August 2026)

The story is loosely inspired by the fairy tale Donkeyskin, as recorded in writing by Charles Perrault and later adapted for the screen by Jacques Demy. Alejandra Moffat co-wrote the screenplay with León and Cociña. Antonia Giesen leads the cast, with Andrew Bargsted and Francisco Melo also featured. Cinematography is by Benjamín Echazarreta; the editing credit is shared by Soledad Salfate, Maria Salazar, León and Cociña. (The Hollywood Reporter, 3 August 2026)

The film runs 85 minutes and is a 2026 co-production of Chile, France, Uruguay, the Netherlands and Germany. León & Cociña Films produced, with Autentika Films of Germany on board as co-producer. (see-nl.com) International sales are handled by Bendita Film Sales — the company that represents titles to distributors buying across territories at festival markets. (The Hollywood Reporter, 3 August 2026)

At Locarno, Donkey Princess screens in the festival's International Competition section, the Concorso Internazionale, presented in DCP 4K and in colour. A 20-minute Q&A with the filmmakers is scheduled for 7 August at 18:30 at Forum @Spazio Cinema, with free admission. (Locarno Film Festival)

León and Cociña have been building an international profile. In May 2024, Variety reported that Ari Aster and his producing partner Lars Knudsen of Square Peg boarded the directors' film Hansel & Gretel as executive producers. That project remains separate from Donkey Princess, but it signals the level of industry attention the Chilean pair have attracted. (Variety, 20 May 2024)

For festival audiences and buyers heading to Locarno, the trailer offers the first look at a film that trades animation for live performance while keeping the directors' taste for dark, shape-shifting storytelling intact.