First Latin American Films Selected for Toronto

The Toronto Film Festival announced the first slate of films selected for the 37th edition of the Canadian festival that will take place September 6-16. Among the over 60 film announced today are two Latin American productions: the Argentine film Todos tenemos un plan / Everyone Has a Plan (pictured) by Ana Piterbarg and the Chiean film No by Pablo Larraín.

Starring Viggo Mortensen and Soledad Villamil, the debut feature by Argentine director Ana Piterbarg is a thriller about a man who assumes the identity of his deceased twin and becomes caught up in his sibling’s shady dealings in the Tigre Delta region of Argentina.

Pablo Larraín's No starring Mexican actor Gael García Bernal about a hot-shot advertising executive hired by the opposition party to campaign against Chilean dictator Augustin Pinochet, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival to great success last May, will be making its North American debut in Toronto.

Jorge Ruiz, Pioneer of Bolivian Documentary Filmmaking, Dies at 88

Filmmaker Jorge Ruiz (pictured), one of Bolivia’s foremost documentary filmmakers, died in Cochabamba today at the age of 88. Born in Sucre in 1924, he studied Agronomy in Argentina where he started to experiment with an 8mm camera. He got his first break in cinema in 1947 when he was hired by American Kenneth Wassan to work at his film company. In 1949 he worked with Augusto Roca to make Donde nació un imperio, Bolivia’s first color film.

In 1953 he directed Vuelve Sebastiana, his most well known film, about a young indigenous Andinian girl. John Grierson declared in 1958 that Ruiz was "one of the six most important documentary filmmakers." Between 1957 and 1960 he was the director of the Bolivian Film Institute (Instituto Cinematográfico Boliviano). He lived abroad between 1962 and 1983 living in Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador and New York City. His filmography lists a rich body of work. He also worked as a cameraman for many projects, including second camera operator for Werner Herzog's Cobra Verde (1987).

Mela Márquez, director of the Bolivian Cinematheque, recently referred to Ruiz as "the father of the Bolivian documentary film." In 1992 at the Nantes Film Festival in France, Vuelve Sebastiana was recognized as the first indigenous film made in Latin America, and Ruiz was declared the "father of indigenous Andean cinema." He was awarded the National Culture Prize in Bolivia in 2001, and the IberoAmerican Festival of Huelva, Spain paid tribute to his work with a special retrospective in 2003.

Doc About Cuban Art School Named Among Best of the Decade by 'Architectural Digest '

The renowned magazine Architectural Digest published a list of the ten essential films from the past decade dealing with architecture, design, and urban planning as selected by the publication's editors, which includes the documentary Unfinished Spaces (2011) by filmmakers Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray.

The documentary tells the story of Cuba's National Art Schools which were commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in Havana in 1961. According to the magazine, "the documentary examines the schools’ creation and decay, offering a revealing portrait of architecture in post-revolution Cuba. Most poignantly, the filmmakers chronicle the efforts of the schools’ architects—Roberto Gottardi, Ricardo Porro, and Vittorio Garatti, all now in their 80s—to restore and complete the campus after years of neglect and criticism.

The film was ranked number seven among the list which also includes Nathaniel Kahn's My Architect: A Son Journey (2003) and Sidney Pollack's Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005).

To read the complete list click here.

Mexican Film by Natalia Beristáin to Premiere at Venice

Natalia Beristain's debut feature film No quiero dormir sola / She Doesn't Want to Sleep Alone (pictured) will have its World Premiere at the 27th edition of the Venice Film Festival's Critics' Week, it was announced today. The Mexican film will participate in the competition of this independent section of the festival along with other six films from countries such as China, Sweden, Italy, and Romania.

Starring Mariana Gajá and Adriana Roel, Beristain's film tells the story of Amanda, who has a problem, if she is alone, she can’t sleep. Her days pass in a calm, orderly fashion; she fills her nights with lovers that help her pass the hours. Her world is upset overnight when she has to take care of her old and alcoholic grandmother Dolores, a retired actress who now lives on memories of her past glory.

The winners of the Venice Critics' Week films will be selected by the audience with a cash prize of 5,000 euros. All the film entries will compete alongside titles in the Official Selection for the festival's Golden Lion of the Future. The 69th edition of the Venice Film Festival runs August 29 through September 8.

Outfest Awards Latino Talent

Outfest, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, announced the winners for its 30th edition which came to a close today, with some prizes awarded to Latino talent. Chilean writer/director Marialy Rivas received the Special Programming Award for Emerging Talent for her film Young & Wild / Joven y alocada. According to the jury, the prize was awarded "for crafting a stylistically fearless film to match the excitement, danger and chaos that can erupt with youthful sexual exploration."

The Audience Award for Outstanding First U.S. Dramatic Feature Film with a cash prize of $5,000 went to Mosquita y Mari, directed by Aurora Guerrero. Its protagonist Fenessa Pineda, was also awarded the prize for Outstanding Actress in a US Dramatic Feature Film. According to the jury "this actress brought nuance and subtlety to a fresh coming of age story", and she won the prize "for beautifully capturing the fleeting moments of transition from innocence to curiosity to self-discovery."

The prize for Outstanding Screenwriting in a US Dramatic Feature Film, was awarded to Brazilian screenwriter Mauricio Zacharias and American filmmaker Ira Sachs for Keep the Lights On, directed by Sachs, which was also awarded the  prize for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature Film.
 

Rodrigo Moreno and Pablo Stoll Awarded in Sao Paulo

The Argentine film Un mundo misterioso / A Mysterious World (pictured) by Rodrigo Moreno and the Uruguayan film 3 by Pablo Stoll where the big winners of the 7th edition of the São Paulo Latin American Film Festival sharing the main prize for Best Film.

Moreno's film starring by Esteban Bigliardi and Cecilia Rainero is the story of a likeable oddball moving through a paralysed society threatened by economic ruin. Stoll's film is a comedy about three people condemned to the same, absurd fate: being a family. For Rodolfo life at home feels empty and cold, as if he doesn’t belong there. Meanwhile, his first wife Graciela and their teenage daughter, Ana, are going through defining moments in their lives. Subtly, Rodolfo will try to slip back into the place he once had next to them and walked away from ten years ago.

Both films are made in co-production by the Argentine production company Rizoma and the Uruguayan Control Z Films. This year's festival jury was composed by film by film programmer and producer Violeta Bava, film programmer Erick González, director Federico Veiroj, film programmer and distributor Sandro Fiorin and actor César Troncoso. The festival took place July 12-19 in the Brazilian city.