A Cop Movie by Alonso Ruizpalacios
The Mexican film A Cop Movie / Una película de policías, the third film by director Alonso Ruizpalacios has been announced this morning as the only Latin American title in the main competition at the 71st edition of the Berlin Film Festival. Ruizpalacios has premiered his three feature films in the German festival: his 2014 debut feature Güeros premiered in the Panorama competition, winning the Best First Feature Award; and his 2018 heist film Museo had its world premiere in the main competition of the Berlinale.
Produced by Daniela Alatorre and Elena Fortes of No Ficción, the Netflix original film follows Teresa and Montoya who join the police force, following family tradition, only to find their convictions and hopes crushed by a dysfunctional system. Their emotional bond becomes a refuge for the hostility they are exposed to. Through a bold experiment of narrative and documentary storytelling, A Cop Movie propels the viewer into an unusual cinematic space, giving voice to one of Mexico’s most controversial institutions.
This year’s Latin American participation at the Berlinale is limited compared to other years. The Forum section of the festival will host the world premiere of the Argentine films Ski / Esquí by Manque La Banca, and What Will Summer Bring / Qué será del verano by Ignacio Ceroi. The Forum Expanded will screen the short films 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Brazilian director Ana Vaz, the Colombian film Bicentenario by Pablo Alvarez Mesa, the Brazilian installation piece Se hace camino al andar by Paula Gaitán, and the Haitian installation The Wake by The Living and the Dead Ensemble.
The Generation Kplus competition of the festival will present the world premiere of the Argentine film A School in Cerro Hueso / Una escuela en Cerro Hueso by Betania Cappato, in which following numerous rejections, Ema's parents finally find a safe place for their daughter who has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. In the loving community of the new primary school in the small town on the river, Ema can silently observe and explore the world at her own pace. The film gently follows Ema's small steps that evolve into magical moments.
A School in Cerro Hueso by Betania Cappato
The Panorama competition will present the world premiere of the Brazilian film The Last Forest / A Última Floresta, mixing documentary observation and staged sequences and dense soundscapes, director Luiz Bolognesi documents the Indigenous community of the Yanomami and depicts their threatened natural environment in the Amazon rainforest. Panorama will also present the world premiere of Dirty Feathers; and the U.S/Mexico production directed by Carlos Alfonso Corral, which captures with intimate, unbiased black-and-white images, the everyday lives, as well as the hopes and the faith of homeless people living on the streets of border towns El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.
The Encounters competition of the film announced the world premiere of Azor, an Argentine co-production with Switzerland and France, directed by Andreas Fontana. The film follows a Swiss private banker who goes to Argentina in the midst of a dictatorship to replace his partner, who disappeared overnight. Between hushed lounges, swimming pools and gardens under surveillance, a remote duel between two bankers who, despite different methods, are the accomplices of a discreet and merciless form of colonization.
Two Latin American short films will participate in the Golden Bear competition: the Mexican film Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit Into His Suit / Al motociclista no le cabe la felicidad en el traje by Gabriel Herrera, and the Panamanian film A Love Song in Spanish by Ana Elena Tejera.
The 71st edition of the Berlinale Film Festival will take place in two stages: between March 1 and 5, 2021, the festival is being launched as an online industry event for film professionals and accredited representatives of the press; and From June 9 to 20, 2021, the Summer Special will give the general public the opportunity to see the majority of the 2021 selected films in Berlin cinemas in the presence of the filmmakers.
