Despite a not very large Latin American selection at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival, filmmakers from the region were able to get some of the top prizes at the French event.
The highest accolade was for the Brazilian film Bacurau by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, which was the only Latin American production in the official competition. The jury presided by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, The Revenant) presented the Jury Prize (shared with the French film Les Miserables) to the Brazilian film.
Another Brazilian production, Karim Aïnouz’s The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão / A Vida Invisivel de Eurídice Gusmão, was the winner of the top prize for best film in the Un Certain Regard competition, marking a first for a film from the South American country.
The Guatemalan film Our Mothers / Nuestras madres by César Díaz was the winner of two awards: the Caméra d’Or for best first film, and the SACD (Authors Society) Award at the 58th edition of the Critics’ Week, Cannes parallel sidebar, where the film was presented in its world premiere.
Other Latin American winners include Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán, whose latest film The Cordillera of Dreams / La cordillera de los sueños was the winner of the Golden Eye Award for best documentary film of the festival; and Argentine filmmaker Agustina San Martín, whose film Monster God / Monstruo Dios was presented with a Special Mention in the short film competition.
The 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival took place May 14-25 in France.
