Copper by Nicolás Pereda
Six films from Latin America and beyond were among the top winners at the 2025 edition of FIDMarseille, with works from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and a Mexican-American co-production receiving prizes across various categories. The winning titles include Cold Metal / Frío metal by Clemente Castor, Copper / Cobre by Nicolás Pereda, Intersections / Los Cruces by Julián Galay, Death and Life Madalena / Morte e Vida Madalena by Guto Parente, Dead Tongue / Lengua muerta by José Jiménez, and Next Life by Tenzin Phuntsog.
Winner of the Georges de Beauregard International Award, Cold Metal by Mexican filmmaker Clemente Castor revisits the themes of Mexican youth explored in his earlier Príncipe de paz. The film follows two brothers, Mario and Óscar, living on the outskirts of Mexico City. After losing his memory, Mario drifts into a strange journey guided by Lazarus, who teaches him how to enter other people’s bodies through vast holes in the Earth. In subterranean darkness, Mario’s memories return like dreams, his skin cracking along with the fractured landscape.
Copper, Nicolás Pereda’s latest film, received a Special Mention from the International Competition Jury. Set on the edge of an isolated mining town and featuring Pereda’s recurring character Lázaro, the story centers on a dead body’s discovery. Haunted by a suspected respiratory illness, Lázaro refuses to return to the mine as rumors, suspicion, and desire close in.
Retracing his steps back to the Faculty of Architecture and Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentine filmmaker Julián Galay crafts a meditation on representations of nature over time in Intersections, which won the Mention spéciale du Jury de la Compétition Premier Film.
Guto Parente’s Death and Life Madalena received the Cine+ Distribution Support Award in partnership with GNCR. Described as a queer, radiant, and heartfelt comedy, the film follows Madalena, a film producer juggling her father’s recent death, her 8-month pregnancy, and the chaotic production of a B-sci-fi movie.
Chilean filmmaker José Jiménez’s debut feature Dead Tongue earned a Special Mention from the Flash Competition Jury. Set on a remote beach in southern Chile, it portrays a man living in isolation with a pack of dogs as his only companions, as he struggles to voice an unspeakable secret.
Listed as a Mexican-American co-production, Tenzin Phuntsog’s Next Life won the High School and Second Chance School Awards. Edited in Mexico City, the film explores encounters between Tibetan and U.S. cultures, framing a meditation on the body, illness, death, and their representations.
The 36th edition of FIDMarseille took place July 8–13, 2025 in France.
