Chilean Director Sebastián Lelio Will Premiere His New Work at Berlin

The 63rd Berlin International Festival has announced the first six contenders from its competition lineup, including the world premiere of Gloria (pictured), the most recent film by Chilean director Sebastián Lelio.

Known from previous films such as La Sagrada Familia, Navidad, and El año del tigre, Lelio directs this film about an Gloria, a 58 year-old lonely woman who dreams about a last love and fills her evening attending parties for single adults. Her happiness changes one day when she meets Rodolfo, a recently separated 65 year-old with an unhealthy dependence on his children and ex-wife. This troubled romance will have her confront her last years with different expectations and find new strength with the realization that she's finally getting old.

Lelio's film is a recipient of the San Sebastian Film Festival's Films in Progress, which is aimed at finishing uncompleted South American films. The Berlin International Film Festival runs from February 7-17, 2013.  

Argentine Oscar Contender INFANCIA CLANDESTINA to Open in the U.S. Early 2013

New York-based distribution company Film Movement has announced the U.S. theatrical premiere of Benjamín Ávila's debut feature Infancia clandestina / Clandestine Childhood (pictured), based on true events in his life and produced by acclaimed filmmaker Luis Puenzo, (director of the Academy-Award winning film, The Official Story).

Set in 1979, the film follows Juan, (12), who after years of exile, returns to Argentina with his family under fake identities. Juan's parents and his uncle Beto are members of the Montoneros Organization, who fight against the Military Junta that rules the country. Because of their political activities they are tracked down relentlessly, and the threat of capture and even death is constant.

Yet, Juan's daily life is also full of warmth and humor, and he quickly and easily integrates into his new environment. His friends at school and the girl he has a gigantic crush on, María, know him as Ernesto, a name he must not forget, since his family's survival is at stake.  Juan accepts this reality and follows all of his parents' rules until one day he is told that they need to move again immediately, and leave his friends and Maria behind without any explanation.

An official selection at the Toronto, San Sebastian, Rio de Janeiro, Philadelphia, Abu Dhabi, Denver, and the upcoming Palm Springs Film Festivals, and winner of the top prize for Best Film at the Huelva Film Festival in Spain, Clandestine Childhood offers a fascinating twist to films set during the Argentinean dictatorship. Skillfully incorporating animation into the narrative, Ávila’s debut feature film focuses on the perils of a young boy living under a fake identity trying to carry on with the normal life of a preteen.  

Clandestine Childhood, which premiered at Cannes' Director's Fortnight and is Argentina's official submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, will have its release at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York City, starting Friday, January 11, at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles beginning on Friday February 8, and followed by select cities across the U.S.

Latino-Themed Films Receive IDA Doc Awards

The International Documentary Association announced the winners of the 2012 IDA Documentary Awards at ceremony last Friday in Los Angeles.The documentary Searching for Sugar Man by Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul that tells the incredible story of Mexican-American musician Sixto Rodriguez, won the top prize as Best Feature, the film also received the Best Music Award.

Mark Kendall's feature La Camioneta (pictured) was the winner of the David L. Wolper Student Documentart Award, which recognizes exceptional achievement in non-fiction film and video production at the university level and brings greater public and industry awareness to the work of students in the documentary field. The film tracks the course of a ten-year-old school bus from its auction in Pennsylvania to its new life in Guatemala to be used as a public transportation van.

Peter Getzels' and Eduardo López's Harvest of Empire was the winner of the ABCNews Videsource Award, given for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary. Based on the book of the same name by columnist Juan González, Harvest of Empire traces the direct connection between the history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis. 

First Look Selects Groundbreaking Latin American Films

The Museum of Moving Image has announced the participating films in the second edition of their First Look Festival First Look, which prides itself on showcasing the work of 26 innovative feature length and short films from around the world including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil from acclaimed directors such as Nicolás Pereda, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Pedro González-Rubio. 

Mexican filmmaker Nicolás Pereda will present Los mejores temas / The Greatest Hits (pictured) the story of a Emilio, who shows up at the family home after fifteen years of absence and the ramifications of both his departure and return. First Look will present the local premiere of Inori, the most recent production by Mexican film Pedro González-Rubio which he filmed in Japan and in which a small mountain community perform their everyday activities and reflect on their history and the cycles of life. 

Acclaimed Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho will be honored honored with a retrospective of short films including Cold Tropics (Recife Frio) (pictured right), Luz Industrial Mágica, Electrodomestica, Friday Night Saturday Morning, Green Vinyl, and The Little Cotton Girl.

And from Argentina, a couple of short films: Pude ver un puma / I Could See a Puma from director Eduardo Williams, an accident leads a group of young boys from the high roofs of their neighborhood, passing through its destruction, to the deepest part of the earth; and Noelia by María Alché about a is a woman experiencing a city through her little camera, and trying to infiltrate in different places and pretend to have family ties with several women.

First Look will be held from January 3rd through the 13th, 2013, and lmost all of the selections will have their New York premieres and will be accompanied by personal appearances. 

INFANCIA CLANDESTINA Tops Sur Awards

Benjamín Ávila's debut feature film Infancia clandestina / Clandestine Childhood (pictured) topped the 7th edition of the Sur Awards that are given by the Argentinean Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, winning in 10 out of the 16 categories for which was nominated including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Ernesto Alterio), Best Actress (Natalia Otero), Best Original Script and Best Editing. The awards were handed at a ceremony that took place in Buenos Aires last night (Tuesday).

Based on real events in his life and set in Argentina in 1979, Ávila's film follows Juan, a 12-year-old boy who lives with his family under fake identities. Juan's parents and his uncle are members of the Montoneros Organization, who fight against the dictatorship that rules the country. Infancia clandestina, which is Argentina's official selection both to the Academy Awards and the Goya Awards, will be released by Film Movement in the United States in January 2013.

Armando Bo's debut feature film El último Elvis / The Last Elvis followed in number of prizes, winning six awards including for Best Cinematography and Best Music. Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias received the prize for Best First Film, while the prize for Best Adapted Screenplay was awarded to Paula Hernández y Leonel D’agostino for Un amor. Fernando 'Pino' Solanas' received the prize for Best Documentary.

docBsAs Announces Winners

By Richard Shpuntoff

Doc Buenos Aires (docBsAs) closed out its twelfth edition this past Monday evening (December 3) with an awards ceremony for pitched projects and docs in progress. The forum which began in 2001 as a workshop for pitching and project development and included a handful of Argentine projects, along with one Chilean doc, has expanded to an impressive range of films from Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, and Peru.

The forum now includes two mentoring programs, a pitch workshop, a docs-in-progress section and, within the framework of the Ventana Sur, the largest documentary film market in Latin America. Non-Latin Americans came from all over Europe and North America to learn about the latest projects including representatives from the Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance, HotDocs, the National Film Board of Canada, Arte France, Vision du Reel and PBS International.

Award winners included: Las flores del Pepe (Uruguay), Hotel Nueva Isla (Cuba/Spain), Jonas e o circo sem lona (Brazil), La quebrada (Ecuador) and Cuando los muertos están más secos (Bolivia). For a complete list of winners and participants, check out the docBsAS home page.

Photos: Above left, award-winners Claudio Araya Silva (director of Cuando los muertos están más secos), Irene Gutierrez (director ofHotel Nueva Isla), Ramiro Ozer Ami (co-director of Las flores del Pepe) and Sebastian Mayayo (co-director of Las flores del Pepe).

Above right, Liliana Mazure, president of INCAA (Intituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales), and Monique Simard of the National Film Board of Canada, with the winners. Photos by Richard Shpuntoff.