The Argentinean film Infancia clandestina / Clandestine Childhood (pictured) by Benjamín Ávila won the top prize for Best Ibero-American Fiction Film at the 28th edition of the Guadalajara Film Festival which ran March 1-9 in Mexico. Ávila's debut feature is loosely based on his own childhood and tells the story of a Juan, a preteen living with under a fake identity in Argentina as his family fights the military junta that rules the country. One of the film's protagonists, Hector Alterio, also received the prize for Best Actor.
The Uruguayan-Mexican co-production Tanta agua / So Much Water by Ana Guevara y Leticia Jorge received the prize as Best First Film, while the Brazilian film Xingu by Cao Hamburger was awarded with a Special Jury Prize. The award for Best Director was given to the Argentine filmmaker Dario Nardi for Las mariposas de Sadourní/ Sadourni's Butterflies.
The prize for Best Documentary was awarded to Ignacio Agüero's El otro día / The Other Day from Chile, a meditation on the filmmaker's past through familiar objects left in his home, that serves as a deeper reflection on the complexities of Chilean society.
The Mexican film Quebranto / Disrupted by Roberto Fiesco received a Special Jury Prize as well as was awarded the Maguey Prize for Best Gay Film, and the documentary jury gave a Special Mention to the Brazilian film Elena by Petra Costa.
Workers (pictured above right), the debut feature film by Salvadorean-Mexican director José Luis Valle González was the winner of the Mezcal Award for Best Mexican Feature Film. The film tells the story of Rafael, who lives the previous hours to his long waited retirement day as a ganitor of a big factory, and of Lidia, who finds out that after 30 years of work as a maid in a mansion, the old lady has left the inheritance to the dog. Their past is connected by a love story, their future by an unexpected turn of events.
The Mexican film Tercera llamada / Last Call (pictured right) by Francisco Franco was the most popular receiving the Audience Award, as well as the Best Actress Award for its cast including Silvia Pinal and Irene Azuela.
