Latin American filmmakers and actors from Argentina, Bolivia, and Guatemala, were awarded at the 2019 edition of Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, winning in different categories.
Bolivian director Rodrigo Bellott was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenwriting in the U.S. Narrative Feature Film competition for his film Tu Me Manques, which was based in Bellott’s own hit stage play. The film starring Argentine actor Óscar Martínez and Spanish actress Rossy de Palma had its world premiere at the LA festival just yesterday an is an emotional exploration of three men’s struggles to reconcile identity and heritage.
The jury statement affirmed that “the writer and winning screenplay takes a personal trauma and transforms it into a remarkable affecting cinematic achievement, that is both incredibly intimate and universally impactful. In a film filled with dialogue in multiple languages the writer is able to infuse every interactions between characters with authenticity and urgency. Through this innovative adaptation of his own original theatrical work, he strikes the balance between the cinematic and the performative resulting in a game changing sociopolitical work retains its emotional relevance.”
The Grand Jury Award for Best Screenwriting in an International Narrative Feature Film was presented to Argentine director Santiago Loza for his film Brief Story from the Green Planet / Breve historia del planeta verde. The Berlinale Teddy Award winner film, follows a young trans woman who is tasked with caring for her recently deceased grandmother’s closest companion—an alien, whom she and her comrades must safely return to its origins.
The Award for Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature was presented to Juan Pablo Olyslager for his role as Pablo in Jayro Bustamante’s searing drama Tremors / Temblores, about a man who is forced to endure evangelical ‘reparative therapy.’
The Jury also gave a Special Mention for Best Performance to Argentine actors Juan Barberini and Mia Maestro, and Spain’s Ramon Pujol, for their work in End of the Century / Fin de Siglo, the debut feature by Lucio Castro about two handsome strangers have a steamy hookup while cruising the streets of Barcelona, then discover a much stronger connection between them.
The 2019 edition of Outfest took place July 18 - 28 in Los Angeles, California.
