Mexican director Pedro González-Rubio (pictured) won the Golden Leopard Award for his new feature film Inori in the Cinesti del Presenti (Filmmakers of the Present) competition at the 65th edition of the Locarno Film Festival which came to a close today in Switzerland.
González-Rubio film, which was made in Japan and produced by a special program of the Nara International Film Festival, tells the story of Kannogawa, a small mountain community in Japan, where the laws of nature have changed what used to be a lively town. While the younger generations have left for bigger cities, the few remaining inhabitants perform their everyday activities on their history and the cycles of life.
Born in 1976, Pedro González-Rubio studied film at the London Film School. His previous film credits include Toro Negro (2005, co-directed with Carlos Armella), and Alamar (2009), which won the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival. The Golden Leopard Award / George Foundation Prize for Best Film in the Cineasti del Presenti section comes with a cash prize of 40,000 swiss francs (about $40,000 USD) to be equally shared between the director and the producer.
Additionally, the Colombian short film Los retratos / Portraits by Iván D. Gaona won a special mention in the Pardi di Domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) competition at the Swiss Festival that ran August 1-11.
