Chances are you may not have heard of Yibrán Asuad before yesterday's announcement that he is the winner of the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement at the 71st edition of the Berlin Film Festival. He was awarded for his editing work in A Cop Movie / Una película de policías, the third feature film by Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios.
Yet despite his international low profile, Asuad has become a mainstay of Latin American cinema, having worked as an editor with key numerous filmmakers from Mexico and South America, directing his own work, producing several films, teaching, and also working as a film programmer.
Asuad began his professional career in his native Mexico as a still photographer but soon switched to cinema. In 1999 he directed the quirky feature Coapa Heights, a slacker movie shot on video starring pre-Y Tu Mamá También Diego Luna, Martín Altomaro and Edwarda Gurrola, which became a cult hit.
Among Asuad’s impressive editing credits are Fernando Frías’ Slamdance winning feature Rezeta, and this year's Oscar-shortlisted I’m No Longer Here / Ya no estoy aquí; Gerardo Naranjo’s acclaimed debut feature Drama/Mex, and his Venice and New York Film Festival selection I'm Gonna Explode / Voy a explotar; Manolo Caro’s blockbuster rom-com Tales of an Immoral Couple / La vida inmoral de la pareja ideal; Alejandra Márquez Abella’s auspicious debut feature Semana Santa; and the three features by Ruizpalacio, all of which have been awarded at the Berlinale: Güeros for Best First Feature Film, Museo, winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, plus this year’s winner A Cop Movie.
Other editing credits include Joshua Gil’s Sanctorum; Emiliano Rocha Minter’s We Are the Flesh / Tenemos la carne; Andres Clariond’s Hilda; Elisa Miller’s The Pleasure Is Mine / El placer es mío; and the documentary feature films Somos Lengua by Kyzza Terraza; Rush Hour and La revolución de los alcatraces by Luciana Kaplan, and The Cloud Forest / Bosque de niebla by Mónica Alvarez Franco.
He also edited three key Latin American debut features: Cochochi by the Mexican-Dominican directorial duo of Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán; the awarded Uruguayan film So Much Water / Tanta agua by Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge; and the acclaimed Ecuadorean Alba by Ana Cristina Barragán.
Asuad has co-founded the production companies Revolcadero and Sociedad Cinematográfica and has produced the films El regreso del muerto by Gustavo Gamou, Machete Language / El lenguale de los machetes by Terrazas, Naranjo’s Drama/Mex and Voy a Explotar, and Dime cuándo tú by Gerardo Gatica.
Asuad also served as chief programmer of the influential Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival on its two final editions, and he has also taught editing at the prestigious Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC) film school. Last year he premiered the coming-of-age rom com All the Freckles in the World / Todas las pecas del mundo, which he directed, produced, and edited, and that is currently streaming on Netflix.
