Jodorowsky Returns to Filmmaking After 23 Years

With today's announcement of the world premiere of the film La danza de la realidad / The Dance of Reality at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight section, legendary 84-year-old Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky (pictured) returns to filmmaking after a 23-year hiatus.

A playwright, actor, author, musician, comics writer, and spiritual guru, in addition to filmmaker, Jodorowsky gained international fame with his sophomore film, the acid western El Topo (1970) which he made in Mexico.

The film became the first midnight cult film in the United States (it still plays once in a while in midnight shows at the IFC Center in New York City). His follow up production, the Mexican-American co-production La montaña sagrada / The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism, was also equally successful.

After an attempt to bring Frank Herbert's novel Dune to the big screen, Jodorowsky made three more films: the French drama Tusk (1980), the surrealist Mexican-Italian horror Santa Sangre (1989, pictured right), and the British production The Rainbow Thief starring Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif (1990).

For many years, there was a lot of speculation of Jodorowsky's return to cinema -there were rumors of a sequel to El Topo (Los Hijos del Topo), allegedly to be starred by American rock musician Marilyn Manson, but none of those projects materialized.

2013 marks the much-anticipated comeback of the Chilean cult filmmaker to the big screen with La danza de la realidad / The Dance of Reality. Based on his autobiography of the same name, Jodorowsky returns to his childhood town of Tocopilla in Chile. In addition to the world premiere of his newest film, Directors' Fortnight will also screen the documentary film Jodorowsky’s Dune by Franck Pavich which chronicles the failed attempt by the Chilean director to shoot Herbert's novel. 

Three Chilean Films Selected for Directors' Fortnight at Cannes

Three Chilean films have been selected for the 2013 lineup of Directors' Fortnight, the independent section of the Cannes Film Festival, including the world premiere of Alejandro Jodorowsky's much-anticipated La danza de la realidad / The Dance of Reality and the international premiere of Sebastián Silva's Magic Magic. The third Chilean production confirmed in the lineup is Marcela Said's mordant family dramedy El verano de los peces voladores / The Summer of the Flying Fish (pictured right below).

Jodorowsky will also be featured in the official selection with Franck Pavich's documentary film Jodorowsky’s Dune, which chronicles the failed attempt by the Chilean director to shoot Frank Herbert's Dune.

Additionally, Directors' Fortnight will be screening the American remake of the Mexican horror hit We Are What We Are directed by Jorge Michel Grau. The American remake is produced by Bolivian director Rodrigo Bellott and directed by Jim Mickle. 

Latin American will be represented in the Short Films selection of the section with the films Solecito by Colombian director Oscar Ruiz Navia, Pouco mais de um mês by Brazlian director André Novais Oliveira, and Que je tombe tout le temps by Argentinean director Eduardo Williams.  

After a 23 year hiatus, Jodorowsky returns to filmmaking with La danza de la realidad in which the 84-year-old director revisits the memories of his childhood growing up in Chile: firemen parading in the streets of Tocopilla, the old Masonic Library where he learned to read and met Tarot; the beach where he used to play, and an old circus.

Starring American actor Michael Cera, Sebastián Silva's Magic Magic tells the story of a young woman vacationing in remote Chile, who begins to mentally unravel; meanwhile, her friends ignore her claim until it's too late.

Argentina's LOS DUEÑOS Headed to Cannes Critics' Week

The Critics' Week section of the Cannes Film Festival unveiled this morning the official lineup for its 52nd edition which includes the Argentinean comedy Los dueños / The Owners by Agustín Toscano and Ezequiel Radusky. The film, the only Latin American film at the Critics' Week Feature Competition, is a vaudeville-esque social comedy where workers on a farm party hard while their bosses are absent. Los dueñosis produced by Hernán Musaluppi's Rizoma Films and marks Toscano and Radusky's debut feature film.

Starring Rosario Bléfari (Silvia Prieto) and German de Silva, the film tells the story of Sergio, Ruben and Alicia, who are caretakers of a countryside estate in Tucumán, a northern province in Argentina. When the estate owners are absent, the sneaky workers secretly occupy the house and emulate the owners' lifestyle. They sleep in comfortable beds, watch movies on a big screen TV and eat food that they could never afford.

When the owners of the estate, Pía and her sister Lourdes, show up unexpectedly for the weekend with their husbands, Manuel and Gabriel, the workers are left out to their own humble abode and daily duties. But it's difficult to stay away from the comfort to which they have grown accustomed. The owners have secrets of their own, and soon everyone is wondering who will end up running the house.

The Short Film Competition of the Cannes' parallel section also includes only one Latin American contender, the Brazilian film Patio by Aly Muritiba. The 52nd edition of Cannes' Critics' Week will take place May 16-24 in the French Riviera. 

Three Latin American Films Are Africa Movie Academy Award Winners

Three films from Latin America, co-productions with Mexico, Brazil, and Haiti, won prizes at the 9th annual edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA Awards) that took place last night in Nigeria.

The first ever Ghanian-Mexican co-production Kwaku Ananse (pictured) by Akosua Adoma Owusu was awarded the prize for Best Short Film. The film was produced by Julio Chavezmontez from Mexico's Piano production company, and Lisa Cortes (executive producer of the award-winning film Precious). Award-winner Mexican director Pedro González-Rubio (Alamar) served as DP, and it was co-edited by Mexican filmmaker Rodrigo Quintero. The film, that have been nominated for a Golden Bear at the last edition of the Berlinale, is a creative retelling of a West African fable about wisdom which draws upon the rich mythology of Ghana.

The Haitian-American co-production Stones in the Sun (pictured right) by Patricia Benoit was the winner of the prize for Best Diaspora Feature. In the midst of increasing political violence, the film tells the story of a young couple, two sisters, and a father and son who are driven from Haiti to New York, where they must confront the truths of their interlocked pasts.

The film Fan do Brasil, a Guadeloupe/Brasil co-production by Steve James won the prize for Best Diaspora Documentary. The film follows Rui Moreira, a famous Brazilian dancer, who is also the artistic Director of the FAN, Festival of Black Arts in Brazil. In a country where black people are still the victims of social injustice, this festival pays tribute to the contribution of Afro-Brazilians to the country’s cultural and economic development.

Additionally, Mozambican film Virgin Margarida directed by Brazilian filmmaker Licínio Azevedo was nominated for seven Africa Movie Academy Awards including Best Picture. The film won the prize for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Azevedo was invited by filmmaker Ruy Guerra to join the National Institute of Cinema (INC) in Mozambique, where he lives since 1975.

Tribeca Announces 2013 Latin American Media Arts Fund Winners

The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced yesterday the award winners for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, Heineken VOCES and TFI/WorldView Partnership grants at a celebration for Latin American filmmakers. The funds, totaling $130,000, support innovative Latin American film and video artists to help them explore stories reflecting diverse cultures and gain exposure in the American film industry.

Additionally, Bloomberg, the new presenting sponsor of the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, will award grants and mentorship to the inaugural group of three Bloomberg Fellows to aid in the development of their projects. The partnership will launch in the summer of 2013 with a series of multi-day workshops in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Mexico; and Santiago, Chile. Each workshop will be aimed at educating, assisting and aiding five emerging filmmakers in each region with the development of their feature documentary or hybrid works, as well as focusing on pitch training and international funding.

The winners of the 2013 Bloomberg grants are:

- Children / Los niños (Chile), Directed by Maite Alberdi Soto; Produced by Clara Taricco. A group of friends with Down’s Syndrome face a new stage in life.  They feel unprepared to grow old. Parents die, they are left alone, and they suffer diseases of the elderly, like Alzheimer’s.

- The City Where I'm Getting Old (Brazil, pictured right), Directed by Marilia Rocha; Produced by Luana Melgaço. At a moment when the Portuguese government publicly recommends that the country’s citizens seek work abroad, a young Portuguese woman, Teresa Pestana heads for the city of Belo Horizonte, one of the major Brazilian state capitals.

- Someone Else's Secret (Mexico), Written and Directed by Hector Barrios; Written and Produced by Denisse Quintero. Through a Private Detective’s life and work, Someone Else’s Secret follows a real case of distrust and portraits the honest communication crisis prevailing in modern societies. On a double espionage, the documentary reveals the Detective’s secrets.

The four winners of this year's TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund:

- The Girl Behind the Camera (Argentina, pictured top left), Directed and Produced by Paula Schargorodsky. A 35 year old woman has chronicled the last10 years of her life on film. Five boyfriends and two wedding proposals later she remains single. The Girl Behind the Camera is a humorous, intimate investigation on a generation of unsettled women that poses a question about the choices we make (or don’t make) in life.

- Los días no vuelven / Missed Days (Mexico, pictured left), Produced and Directed by Raul Cuesta; Written by Fernando del Razo. Disappointed over a premature retirement from professional tennis and never fulfilling his deceased father's dreams, Enrique hopes the birth of his first child will bring him redemption.

- La siesta / The Naptime (Mexico), Written, Produced and Directed by Carolina Platt. A visual elegy through the eyes of the director that follows how families learn to live with the loss of a child.

- Solitude Square / Plaza de la Soledad (Mexico, pictured right), Directed by Maya Goded; Produced by Martha Sosa Elizondo; Co-Produced by Iris Lammertsma. Two aged prostitutes see themselves forced to contemplate their lives and confront their issues so they can live out the remainder of their days with dignity and hope.

The winners of the Heineken VOCES grants are:
Heineken VOCES Award for Documentary: Man of the Monkey, Directed by David Romberg – Intrigued by the tale of a scary man living in isolation with his chimpanzee wife, David Romberg travels to his childhood home on Ilha Grande, Brazil to find him, only to discover that the tale pales in comparison to what he uncovers.

Heineken VOCES Award for Narrative: Nobody is Watching, Written, Directed, Co-Produced by Julia Solomonoff, Written by Martina Broner, Co-Produced by Maria Arida. Guille, an out of work actor who knew success in Argentina, navigates life as an immigrant on the fringes of New York and wrestles to find a place he can call home.

The winners of the TFI/WorldView Partnership grants are:

- Growing in Oil (Venezuela, pictured left), Written and Directed by Anabel Rodríguez Ríos. A story following the children of Congo Mirador as they survive the disappearance of their village, which is located in Lake Maracaibo, the largest oil field of Latin America.  As a consequence of the oil industry, soil levels are changing and the village will turn into a swamp.
 
- Night Inside Me (Bolivia), Directed by Sergio Estrada; Produced by Valeria Ponce. Primo is the leader of one of the most effective and experienced mining crews, yet not one of the luckiest. The crew’s routine changes the day Primo’s son decides to join them. When night falls in the mine…  Everyone is left inside.
 
- Swimming on Dry Land (Jamaica), Produced and Directed by Michelle Serieux. Jamaica is a land of many contradictions. The country that created Bob Marley and gave the world Rastafari, Reggae Music and “One Love,” has also produced a culture that is very intolerant of diversity.

The winners were selected by a jury of industry professionals including producer, Leonardo Zimbron; award-winning filmmaker, Julia Bacha; and co-founding director of Cinema Tropical, Carlos A. Gutiérrez.

Jenni Rivera's FILLY BROWN Opens Strong in U.S. Box Office

The film Filly Brown (pictured) by Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos and starring the Gina Rodriguez and the late Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera, opened in American theaters last Friday to a solid box office performance grossing $1.3 million in 188 screens across the country for a $7,250 average per theater.

The film, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, was a joint released between distribution companies Indomina and Pantelion (a Lionsgate-Televisa partnership), and was the number one grosser in over 20 theaters.

Filly Brown tells the story of a promising hip-hop rhymer from Los Angeles who finds herself in a gray area when a record producer offers her a compromising shot at stardom. Jenni Rivera, in her only film performance, stars as María Tonorio, the mother of the protagonist who is in jail.

Rivera was raised in Long Beach and has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. A successful Regional-Mexican artist and entrepreneur, she died in a plane crash in Mexico last December.