This week several Latin American countries selected their candidate films to represent each country in the Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th edition of the Oscars. It was announced that Gerardo Naranjo's Miss Bala (pictured) will represent Mexico, José Padilha's Tropa de elite 2: O Enemigo Agora é Outro / Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within will be competing for Brazil, Andres Wood's Violeta se fue a los Cielos for Chile. Additionally Daniel and Diego Vega's Octubre / October is Peru's selection; Colombia is sending Carlos César Arbelaez's The Colors of the Mountain / Los colores de la montaña; and Alejandro Bellame's The Rumbles of the Stones / Los rumores de las piedras the will compete for Venezuela. The 84th edition of the annual Academy Awards ceremony will take place on February 26th, 2012 at the Kodak Theater in L.A.
TOP CAT Becomes the Highest Grossing Mexican Debut Ever
The Mexican-Argentinean animated feature film Don Gato y su Padilla / Top Cat became the highest grossing Mexican debut at the box office, in its record breaking opening weekend. The film directed by Alberto Mar was released last Friday, September 16th with 492 prints nationwide, and went to earn over $40 million pesos (around $3 million USD) in the box office landing in the first place of the top ten.
Don Gato claimed the record breaking title over the 2002 release of The Crime of Father Amaro / El crimen del Padre Amaro by Carlos Carrera. The film, is based on the American cartoon created by the Hanna-Barbera team in 1961, and since it premiered in Latin America dubbed in Spanish, became an instant hit more than in the U.S.
Guadalajara Film Fest Launches Satellite Showcase in LA
The Guadalajara Film Festival has announced the creation of a new and annual satellite program to take place in Los Angeles. The first edition, under the name of CIMEXLA, Mexican Cinema: Guadalajara International Film Festival in Los Angeles will take place September 8th through the 11th at the Egyptian Theater. The series will present seven feature films including the US Premiere of Paula Markovitch's El Premio (pictures), Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas' Jean Gentil, Patricia Martínez de Velasco's Aquí entre nos and Sergio Arau's Naco es chido. Additionally the lineup is completed with a program of short films and a panel on filmmakers working in Mexico and LA with the participation of actor Demián Bichir, director Roberto Sneider and producer Pablo Cruz. This showcase joins the Hola Mexico Film Festival as vehicles for the screening of recent Mexican film productions in LA.
Costa Rican Film EL REGRESO Wins NY Latino Film Fest
The New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) announced the winners for its 12th edition which came to a close yesterday. The Costa Rican film El regreso / The Return (pictured) by Hernán Jiménez was awarded the prize as Best International Feature Film whilst Jasmine McGlade Chazelle's María My Love won the prize as Best Domestic Feature Film. The award for Best Director went to Aaron Burns for his feature film Blacktino. On the documentary category Macarena Aguiló Marchi's El edificio de los chilenos / The Chilean Building was awarded the prize as Best Film. All of the winners received a cash prize of $1,000 USD and video equipment. The fiction jury was integrated by Leslie Cohen, VP at HBO; filmmaker Rashaad Ernesto Green; and Carlos A. Gutiérrez, director of Cinema Tropical, whilst the documentary jury was integrated by filmmaker Nicolás Entel; film programmer Livia Bloom; Lucila Moctezuma from Women Make Movies and journalist Elizabeth Nuñez.
Veteran Filmmaker Raúl Ruiz Dies
Chilean-born filmmaker Raúl Ruiz died today in Paris, France where he had lived since 1973 when he left in exile fleeing the Pinochet regime. He died at the age of 70 of pulmonary infection. A prolific filmmaker, he made more over a hundred films in a career that spanned over four decades since his acclaim debut feature film Tres tristes tigres in 1968, winner of the top prize at the Locarno Film Festival.
Some his most acclaimed films are Time Regained (1999), Genealogies of a Crime (1997), Three Lives an Only One Death (1996). His last film Mysteries of Lisbon is currently in theatrical release in the US. Ruiz was married to filmmaker and editor Valeria Sarmiento.
MISS BALA and EL ESTUDIANTE to the New York Film Fest
The New York Film Festival announced its main slate for its 49th edition this morning which features two Latin American productions: the Mexican film Miss Bala by Gerardo Naranjo and the Argentine film The Student / El estudiante (pictured) by Santiago Mitre. Organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the festival will run September 30 through October 16 featuring 27 films in its main slate. It's the second time that Gerardo Naranjo participates at the New York Film Festival as his previous film Voy a explotar / I'm Going to Explode was featured in the 2008 edition.
