Two Mexican Films Competing at the LA Film Fest

 

The Los Angeles Film Festival has just announced today its full lineup for this year's competition, which includes two Mexican films in its competition: Jose Luis Valle's Workers (pictured) and Rodrigo Reyes's Purgatorio.

Out of the twelve film that are featured in the Narrative Competition, the Mexican / German production of Workers by Salvadorean-Mexican director Valle will have it U.S. Premiere. Screened at Berlinale's Panorama, Valle's feature debut paints an affecting picture of the division of labor in today’s ostensibly egalitarian society with the story of a long-separated couple during their days leading to their retirement. Films in the Narrative Competition compete for the Filmmaker Awards and are also eligible for the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature or Best International Feature.

This year's Documentary Competition presents the Mexican-US co-production film Purgatorio (pictured right) directed by Rodrigo Reyes, which illustrates a deeply compassionate portrait of the U.S.-Mexico border, bringing together a universe of small stories into a compelling cinematic experience that reveals its chaotic and wounded heart.

Films in this competition are also eligible for Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature or Best International Feature. Two Mexican films have won the prize for Best Documentary at the LA Film Festival in the past few years: Los que se quedan / Those Who Remain by Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Haggerman in 2009; and Cuates de Australia / Drought by Everardo González last year.

The Festival will also include an International Showcase which will highlight innovative independent narrative and documentary features from around the world. Eligible for this year's Audience Awards for Best International Feature, Best Narrative Feature, or Best Documentary Feature is Valentina Macpherson and Patricia Correa's Chilean film, The Women and the Passenger / Las mujeres del pasajero (pictured left). A U.S. premiere, this documentary that reflects on love through the experiences of four women, maids of an emblematic Santiago motel, which will let us peek into an radiography of Marin 014 passengers.

The Summer Showcase section includes Sebastían Silva's Crystal Fairy, about a few twenty-something friends traveling in Chile, who are planning on taking a road trip to experience a legendary shamanistic hallucinogen called the San Pedro Cactus. This section also includes Ecuadorian director Sebastián Cordero's upcoming science-fiction film Europa Reporta, a unique blend of documentary, alternative history and science fiction thriller," the film follows the story a team of astronauts sent to be the first manned mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. Films in this section are eligible for Audience Awards for Best International Feature, Best Narrative Feature, or Best Documentary Feature.

The Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by Film Independent, will run from June 13 - 23, presenting close to 200 films during its 10-day run.