The debut features El vigilante / The Night Guard by Diego Ros and Bellas de noche / Beauties of the Night by María José Cuevas were the top winners at the 14th edition of the Morelia Film Festival, receiving the awards for Best Fiction Film and Best Documentary respectively.
Ros' The Night Guard follows Salvador works the night shift as a security guard in a construction site located on the outskirts of Mexico City. During one particular evening, while the rest of the country basks in annual festivities, Salvador tries desperately to sneak out of the site, insistent on attending an important engagement elsewhere. A series of bizarre and improbable situations, however, turn his night into a strange and unfortunate experience. The film was also presented with the Best Actor Award to Leonardo Alonso.
In addition to the Best Documentary Award, Cuevas' Beauties of the Night was also awarded with the Award for Best Film Directed by a Woman and the Press Award. The film is an intimate portrait of the leading showgirls of Mexico in the 1970s and 1980s. The inexorable passage of time, lost youth, the mirage of fame, the pursuit of happiness... The five women who defined an era, a lifestyle, and a genre, attempt to answer all of these questions with dignity from a much more demanding stage than that of any theater: the arena of reality.
Natalia Almada received a Special Mention for Directing for her debut fiction film Todo lo demás / Everything Else. The film's protagonist, Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza received the Best Actress Award. Federico Cecchetti's El sueño del Mara’akame / Mara’akame's Dream was the winner for Best First or Second Feature, while Amat Escalante's The Untamed / La región salvaje won the Press Award and Daniel Castro Zimbrón's Las tinieblas / The Darkness the Audience Award.
In the documentary section, Tatiana Huezo's Tempestad received a Special Mention and was the winner of the Audience Award, while Eugenio Polgovsky's Resurrección received the Ambulante Special Award.
In the short film competition the winners were Alonso Ruizpalacios' Verde for Best Fiction Short Film, Rodrigo Ímaz's Juan Perros for Best Documentary Short, and León Fernández's Taller de corazones for Best Animation.
The 14th edition of the Morelia Film Festival took place October 21-30 in Mexico.
