La Pena Máxima 2 — the 2024 Colombian comedy built around soccer passion, family loyalty, and a truly awful scheduling conflict — screens at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 31 at 7:00 p.m., free of charge and in Spanish with English subtitles. Afterward, producer María Isabel Páramo and actor Biassini Segura will join the audience for a live Q&A.
About the Film
The film is a sequel to the 2001 Colombian classic originally inspired by journalist Jorge Luis Varela’s short story “Un día de fútbol,” though it arrives with an entirely new cast and story. Written and produced by Dago García and directed by Mauricio Cruz Fortunato, it follows brothers Abelardo and Raúl, whose plans to watch Colombia’s national team play a World Cup qualifying match collapse when FIFA reschedules the game to fall on the same day as Abelardo’s daughter Laura’s wedding. The situation stacks complications fast: Laura is marrying one of the national team’s star players, and Abelardo has already bet the honeymoon money on his future son-in-law scoring a hat-trick. The Mahaiwe’s event page describes the result as a story about “la pasión por el fútbol, el amor familiar y una divertida sucesión de contratiempos” — soccer passion, family love, and a funny succession of mishaps — that “connects with audiences across cultures.”
The 90-minute film features Santiago Alarcón, Biassini Segura, Viña Machado, Martín Karpan, Laura Taylor, Sergio Herrera, and Bernardo García, with special participation by Álvaro Bayona. Released in Colombian cinemas on December 25, 2024, it was produced with support from Caracol Televisión. Both Alarcón and Machado were invited to attend the Mahaiwe event but could not due to scheduling conflicts; Páramo and Segura will be there for the conversation after.
The evening is coordinated by SCAN (Red Asesora Comunitaria de Habla Hispana del Mahaiwe), the Mahaiwe’s Spanish-speaking community advisory network, with support from multiple foundations and private donors.
Venue & Logistics
The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is a 681-seat theater in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, at the southern edge of the Berkshires — within the broader Hudson Valley and Berkshires region. The box office is at 14 Castle Street (413-528-0100), open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 4:00 p.m. The screening begins at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets
Admission is free with reservations. Reserve a seat at mahaiwe.org, by phone at 413-528-0100, or at the box office at 14 Castle Street in Great Barrington. Buy tickets