Punku by J.D. Fernández Molero
Two Latin American films—the Peruvian Punku by J.D. Fernández Molero and Mexico’s Copper / Cobre by Nicolás Pereda—were named Best Non-U.S. Releases in the annual Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Awards, announced January 26.
Punku—“gateway” in Quechua—the latest film by Peruvian Rotterdam Tiger Award–winning writer-director Fernández Molero (Videophilia), had its world premiere in the Forum section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival last year. Deep in the Peruvian Amazon lowlands, Meshia, a Matsigenka Indigenous teenager, discovers Iván, a boy who vanished two years ago and was presumed dead. Determined to save him, she travels upriver to a town, where he urgently needs eye surgery to halt an infection threatening his sight. As Iván wrestles with the trauma of his mysterious past, Meshia becomes entranced by urban life and enters a local beauty pageant, chasing fragile dreams of transformation. A quiet bond forms between them, but when a stranger with sinister intentions appears, their connection is put at risk.
Starring Pereda’s regular collaborators Lázaro G. Rodríguez, Teresa Sánchez, Rosa Estela Juárez, and Francisco Barreiro, Copper / Cobre had its world premiere at the FIDMarseille Film Festival last summer, where it received a Special Mention from the International Competition Jury. Set in rural Mexico, a mine worker’s mundane existence is disrupted when he discovers a dead body along his route, leading him down an unforeseen path that changes everything.
Comprised of nearly 300 voting members from around the world, representing outlets including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Slant, Paste Magazine, AARP, Sight & Sound, Screen Anarchy, Collider, The Film Stage, and many more, the Online Film Critics Society annually presents traditional awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress, among others. Founded in 1997, OFCS members explore the nature of film from historical, sociological, political, emotional, technical, and other perspectives, appreciating cinema both as an art form and as entertainment.
