# The Lighthouse of the Orcas
**The Lighthouse of the Orcas** (Spanish: *El faro de las orcas*) is a 2016 Spanish-Argentine drama film directed by Gerardo Olivares, based on the real story of Roberto "Beto" Bubas, a park ranger in Argentine Patagonia who formed a close bond with wild orcas, and of an autistic boy whose mother brought him to meet them.[1](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt4944658/) • [2](https://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/rmc/v20n2/1885-5210-rmc-20-02-189.pdf) It stars [Maribel Verdú](https://www.edgepedia.org/maribel-verdu) as Lola, Joaquín Furriel as Beto, and Joaquín Rapalini as Tristán, the boy.[3](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-208456/reparto/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / year | *El faro de las orcas*, 2016; released in Spain on 16 December 2016[4](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=173911) |
| Director and writers | Gerardo Olivares; screenplay by Olivares, Lucía Puenzo, and Sallua Sehk[5](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas/) |
| Source | Adapted from the book *Agustín corazón abierto* by Roberto Bubas[2](https://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/rmc/v20n2/1885-5210-rmc-20-02-189.pdf) |
| Cast | Maribel Verdú (Lola), Joaquín Furriel (Beto), Joaquín Rapalini (Tristán), Ana Celentano (Marcela)[3](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-208456/reparto/) |
| Runtime and rating | 110 minutes; rated suitable for all audiences in Spain[4](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=173911) |
| Production | Spain-Argentina coproduction, 80% Spanish and 20% Argentine; shooting ran from 1 November 2014 to 29 April 2016[4](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=173911) |
| Commercial data | Estimated budget of EUR 6,000,000; worldwide gross USD 674,493[1](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt4944658/); in Spain it earned 373,819.54 € from 64,993 spectators[4](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=173911) |
| Goya Awards | 19 category entries at the 31st Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress for Maribel Verdú[5](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and real background
In the film, Lola travels with her autistic son Tristán to [Península Valdés](https://www.edgepedia.org/peninsula-valdes) in Argentine Patagonia to find Beto, a *guardafauna* (wildlife ranger) who has a special relationship with wild orcas. The reason for the trip is that Tristán has shown an unusual empathy and response to stimuli when watching orcas, and his mother hopes the encounter will help him.[6](https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/somos-cine/version-espanola-faro-orcas/5031339/) A medical review of autism in audiovisual fiction describes Tristán as a child with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis characterized by absence of spoken words and difficulties with socialization and communication; in the film, contact with the orcas through Beto brings an improvement, with a decrease in negative behaviors once the boy finds a subject of interest.[2](https://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/rmc/v20n2/1885-5210-rmc-20-02-189.pdf)
**The real story.** The film is based on the life of Roberto "Beto" Bubas, a wildlife ranger in [Chubut Province](https://www.edgepedia.org/chubut-province) who became a ranger at Península Valdés before turning 21 and discovered he could interact with the local orcas in remarkable ways.[7](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20161212/este-viernes-llega-a-cines-faro-orcas/1453121.shtml) In an interview, director Gerardo Olivares explained the real starting point: Bubas, then 45 years old, had spent some fifteen to twenty years studying orca behavior at Península Valdés, where, of the 60,000 orcas in the world, only nine had developed a specific hunting technique, performed there once a year between March and April, a sophisticated but dangerous technique in which the animals can strand and die. After years of approaching them, Bubas entered the sea with his harmonica, a group of three orcas approached, and he was able to caress them. When a journalist published a report on this relationship, a mother whose son has autism saw the photographs of Bubas with the orcas, the boy had a reaction he had never had before, and she decided to take him to [Patagonia](https://www.edgepedia.org/patagonia).[8](https://www.elblogdecineespanol.com/?p=32522)
Olivares stated that the real story concerns an Argentine boy who was deaf-mute with autistic behaviors, whose parents, Ricardo and Graciela, wrote to Bubas after the boy was motivated by seeing a magazine in which Bubas played the harmonica to the orcas.[9](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20261013/faro-orcas-maribel-verdu-donde-ver-rodo/17243646.shtml) The boy of the book is Agustín, a boy from Buenos Aires; a later account records that Agustín said his first words, "¡Yo, yo!", at the age of nine, while watching a television report about Bubas.[10](https://portal.ucol.mx/content/micrositios/173/file/buena-mar/epoca-01/revista-buena-mar-001.pdf) The film takes the name Tristán for the boy, and adds fictional elements, including the love story between Beto and Lola, as actor Joaquín Furriel and Bubas himself clarified.[11](https://www.clarin.com/espectaculos/cine/actor-guardafauna-historia-inspiradora_0_HkJPvYYTl.amp.html)
## Production
The project began long before the shoot. In 2004, producer José María Morales and director Luis Puenzo filmed *La puta y la ballena* in Buenos Aires and Península Valdés, where they met Bubas at Punta Norte; he gave them a copy of his small book *Agustín corazón abierto*, which Morales immediately wanted to bring to the screen.[9](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20261013/faro-orcas-maribel-verdu-donde-ver-rodo/17243646.shtml) Morales found Olivares in Mongolia, where he was shooting *La gran final*, and Olivares accepted the directing job.[9](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20261013/faro-orcas-maribel-verdu-donde-ver-rodo/17243646.shtml)
According to the Spanish film registry (ICAA), shooting ran from 1 November 2014 to 29 April 2016, with 44 days in Chubut, Argentina, and 18 days in [Gran Canaria](https://www.edgepedia.org/gran-canaria), Spain.[4](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=173911) RTVE's account states that the team moved to Argentina in March 2016 to film in Chubut and Península Valdés, a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site since 1999, and then traveled to [Fuerteventura](https://www.edgepedia.org/fuerteventura), where almost all the orca shots were made with animatronics.[9](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20261013/faro-orcas-maribel-verdu-donde-ver-rodo/17243646.shtml) Part of the film was shot at the Punta Norte attack channel, a location otherwise accessible only to documentary photographers capturing orcas hunting sea lions from the shore.[12](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-208456/) Producer Morales described the film as simple in appearance but technically complex, and compared its tone to the cinema of [John Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-ford) and David Lean.[13](https://www.elpatagonico.com/la-pelicula-filmada-chubut-fue-comprada-netflix-n1483543)
## Release and reception
The film was released in Spain on 16 December 2016.[4](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=173911) In Argentina it opened on 13 April 2017.[14](https://cinenacional.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas) Netflix bought worldwide distribution rights, including Spain, where TVE also participated, while Disney handled distribution in Latin America.[13](https://www.elpatagonico.com/la-pelicula-filmada-chubut-fue-comprada-netflix-n1483543) The film was added to Netflix Mexico on 7 April 2017,[15](https://mx.flixboss.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas-80105690) and is currently available on Netflix in Spain.[16](https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas)
Critical response in Spain was mixed. Jordi Costa in *El País* wrote that Olivares convincingly mimicked the documentarian's gaze, but that the human factor of the story showed certain weaknesses.[17](https://elpais.com/cultura/2016/12/15/actualidad/1481758700_344796.html) Other reviewers praised the film's visuals: ABC's Oti Rodríguez Marchante wrote that it grips the viewer from the first minute with its overwhelming beauty, and Metrópoli's Javier Estrada highlighted its careful photography and the scenes in which the three main characters and the animals interact in the sea.[18](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-208456/criticas-prensa/) On IMDb the film holds a 6.7 rating from about 4,400 users.[1](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt4944658/)
## Awards
The film received 19 category entries at the 31st [Goya Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/goya-awards), the Spanish film awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Olivares, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Music for Pascal Gaigne, Best Actress for Maribel Verdú, and Best New Actor for Joaquín Furriel.[5](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas/) IMDb lists 2 nominations in total.[1](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt4944658/)
## References
1. [El faro de las orcas (2016), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt4944658/)
2. [Una reflexión sobre el trastorno del espectro autista en la industria audiovisual, Revista de Medicina y Cine (2024)](https://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/rmc/v20n2/1885-5210-rmc-20-02-189.pdf)
3. [Reparto de la película El faro de las orcas, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-208456/reparto/)
4. [FARO DE LAS ORCAS, EL, ICAA Catálogo de Películas](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=173911)
5. [El faro de las orcas, Premios Goya (31ª edición)](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas/)
6. [El faro de las orcas, RTVE Play](https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/somos-cine/version-espanola-faro-orcas/5031339/)
7. [Este viernes llega a los cines 'El faro de las orcas', RTVE (2016)](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20161212/este-viernes-llega-a-cines-faro-orcas/1453121.shtml)
8. [Entrevista a Gerardo Olivares, El Blog de Cine Español](https://www.elblogdecineespanol.com/?p=32522)
9. [El hombre que hablaba con las orcas: de su historia real a la película de Maribel Verdú, RTVE](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20261013/faro-orcas-maribel-verdu-donde-ver-rodo/17243646.shtml)
10. [Revista Buena Mar, Universidad de Colima](https://portal.ucol.mx/content/micrositios/173/file/buena-mar/epoca-01/revista-buena-mar-001.pdf)
11. [Joaquín Furriel y Beto Bubas: el actor, el guardafauna y una historia inspiradora, Clarín](https://www.clarin.com/espectaculos/cine/actor-guardafauna-historia-inspiradora_0_HkJPvYYTl.amp.html)
12. [El faro de las orcas, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-208456/)
13. [La película filmada en Chubut fue comprada por Netflix, El Patagónico](https://www.elpatagonico.com/la-pelicula-filmada-chubut-fue-comprada-netflix-n1483543)
14. [El faro de las orcas, Cine Nacional](https://cinenacional.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas)
15. [El faro de las orcas en Netflix México, Flixboss](https://mx.flixboss.com/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas-80105690)
16. [El faro de las orcas: ver online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/el-faro-de-las-orcas)
17. [La crueldad y la empatía, El País (2016)](https://elpais.com/cultura/2016/12/15/actualidad/1481758700_344796.html)
18. [Críticas de prensa para la película El faro de las orcas, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-208456/criticas-prensa/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2015 to 2019 › Drama films 2015 and 2016 › Released in 2016*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license