La Maleta
A routine drug exchange between a US-Mexico connection and a Mexican cartel. But something feels off.
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Bertan BerberDirector
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Bertan BerberWriter
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Bertan BerberProducer
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Bertan BerberFight Coordinator
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Bertan BerberDirector of Photography
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Bertan BerberEditor
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Carlos Licea GomezCast & Stunts
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Enrique AvilésCast & Stunts
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Diana Patricia Jiménez PompaCast & Stunts
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Noora MäkeläCast & Stunts
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Agustín HiriartCast & Stunts
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Carolina SansónCast & Stunts
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Irving Rivera DominiguezCast & Stunts
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Pablo OrozcoCast & Stunts
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Enrique AvilésAmbient Radio Music
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Zeke HallOriginal Score
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Project Type:Short
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Runtime:4 minutes 58 seconds
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Completion Date:May 16, 2026
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Production Budget:0 USD
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Country of Origin:Norway
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Country of Filming:Mexico
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Language:English, Spanish
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:2.39:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Bertan Berber is a Norwegian action filmmaker, fight choreographer, and stunt performer based in Oslo. Trained in stunt performance, he has spent the past few years directing and producing action-driven short films alongside work as a fight choreographer for independent productions. La Maleta is one of several short films through which he continues to develop his craft as a genre filmmaker.
La Maleta began the way most things I love tend to begin - as an excuse to create something with the people around me. I was in Mexico for a mix of vacation, training, and connecting with a local stunt team, and somewhere between sessions it occurred to me that we had everything we needed to make something worth watching. A camera, skilled performers, and a location that did half the work for us.
We shot the whole thing in a few hours. There was no grand plan, just a story I had been shaping in my head for a few days, a shot list, and a group of professionals who showed up ready to work. The efficiency and commitment of the Mexican stunt team genuinely surprised me, and that energy is in the film.
When I got back to Oslo and started cutting it together, I realized we had made something that deserved to be seen on bigger screens. La Maleta is a small film, but it is an honest one, made quickly, made for the love of it, and shaped by the kind of collaboration that only happens when nobody is overthinking it.