Three Latin American films—from Brazil, Guatemala, and Mexico—have been nominated for Best International Film in the 4th Annual edition of the Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards: Bacurau by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, I'm No Longer Here / Ya no estoy aquí by Fernando Frías, and La Llorona by Jayro Bustamante.
The Brazilian sci-fi western film Bacurau, set in a few years from now in a small village in the Brazilian sertão, which mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their village has literally vanished from most maps and a UFO-shaped drone starts flying overhead. There are forces that want to expel them from their homes, and soon, in a genre-bending twist, a band of armed mercenaries arrive in town picking off the inhabitants one by one. A fierce confrontation takes place when the townspeople turn the tables on the villainous outsiders, banding together by any means necessary to protect and maintain their remote community.
Winner of ten Ariel Awards, I’m No Longer Here tells the story of 17-year-old Ulises, leader of a group hooked on cumbia music in Monterrey, who has to cross the border to save his life following a terrible misunderstanding with a local gang.
In La Llorona, retired general Enrique is trapped in his home by massive protests after being accused of the genocide of Mayan people. Abandoned by his staff, the indignant old man and his family must face the devastating truth of his actions and the growing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes. Acclaimed filmmaker Bustamante presents an urgent and frightening reimagining of the iconic Latin American fable.
Additionally, Puerto-Rican American actor and screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson was nominated for a Hollywood Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom directed by George C. Wolfe, based on the play of the same name by August Wilson.
The winners of the Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards will be announced on a virtual ceremony on Friday, March 5, 2021.
