Mexican cinema received some of the top awards in the 65th edition of the Cannes Film Festival which comes to a close today, having received prizes in the Official Selection, A Certain Regard, Critics' Week and Directors' Fortnight sections of the festival. In the awards ceremony today, the Official Selection jury headed by Italian director Nanni Moretti gave the award for Best Director to Carlos Reygadas for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux (pictured right).
The film premiered in the festival to mixed reviews and even booing, but nonetheless impressed the Cannes jury. Reygadas had received the Grand Jury Prize in 2007 for his previous film Luz silenciosa / Silent Light and he becomes the third Mexican filmmaker to receive this award, after Luis Buñuel received if for Los Olvidados in 1951, and Alejandro González Iñárritu in 2006 for Babel.
As was previously reported, Después de Lucía / After Lucía (pictured left), the second feature film by Michel Franco won the A Certain Regard section, the first time a Mexican production won this award. Additionally, Mexican co-production film Aquí y Allá by Spanish helmer Antonio Méndez Esparza which tells the story of a Mexican migrant in the US going back to live in his hometown, was awarded the main prize at the Critics' Week section.
And even though the Directors' Fortnight section of the festival doesn't give out official awards, the Chilean-Mexican co-production No by Pablo Larraín and starring Gael García Bernal received the Art Cinema Award at Cannes’ 44th, the unofficial prize that's considered the most important of the section. Larraín's film was one of the most cherished films in this edition of the French festival, which is considered by many the most important film showcase in the world.
As TropicalFRONT previously informed, this edition of Cannes had the biggest Latin American representation in recent memory. The Palm d'Or, the festival's top award, went to Austrian director Michael Haneke's film Amour, making it the second time he wins the award.
