Animated Film METEGOL Breaks Opening Day Records in Argentina

The Argentinean 3D computer-animated feature film Metegol / Foosball (pictured) by Academy Award-winning director Juan José Campanella became the local film with the highest-grossing opening day in the country, selling about 108,000 tickets in its debut on Thursday, July 18. 

With a reported budget of around $21 million USD, the Argentinean-Spanish comedy adventure animated co-production film is the most expensive film in the history of Argentinean cinema, which took four years to produce. Metegol is based on the short story Memorias de un wing derecho by Argentine writer Roberto Fontanarrosa and it features the voices of Pablo Rago, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Fabian Gianola, Horacio Fontova and David Masajnik. Animator Sergio Pablos, who was the executive producer and writer of Despicable Me, oversaw the technical side of the film.

The film tells the story of Amadeo, a shy but talented boy, and of a foosball team that is trying to get back together after having been dismantled. With the help of the foosball players, Amadeo will have to face his most terrible rival on the football pitch: Grosso. Guided by their leader, the charismatic Right Winger, the foosball players and Amadeo will set off on a great adventure together, like a true team, to get back the dignity that Grosso stole from them. The original song of the film was composed and performed by Puerto Rican duo Calle 13.

Director Campanella's previous film El secreto de sus ojos / The Secret in their Eyes went on to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009, he had been nominated in the same category for his 2001 film El hijo de la novia / The Son of the Bride. The NYU Film School alumn is also a veteran director of American TV series like House M.D., Law & Order and 30 Rock.

Metegol is the newest in a series of films that have been breaking local records in Latin America. Last year Stefan vs. Kramer by Sebastián Freund, Stefan Kramer and Leonardo Prieto became the highest-grossing Chilean film; and this year the Peruvian film Asu Mare by Ricardo Maldonado and the Mexican film Nosotros los Nobles by Gary Alazraki have become the highest-grossing films in their local markets.

Watch the trailer:

Peru and Brazil Selected in Locarno Film Fest's Official Competition

The Locarno Film Festival has announced its lineup for its 66th edition, the first year under new artistic director, Carlo Chatrain. The 20-film International Competition lineup features almost all world premieres and includes the Brazilian film Educação sentimental / Sentimental Educations by Júlio Bressane, which tells the story of a woman's love and desire for a boy, and the Peruvian film (in co-production with France and Mexico) El mudo / The Mute (pictured) by Diego and Daniel Vega which details the life of Constantino Zegarra, a Peruvian judge, lead him to think that someone is trying to get rid of him.

As part of the Filmmakers of the Present section, the Mexican film Los insólitos peces gato / The Amazing Catfish (pictured right) by Claudia Sainte-Luce will be representing Latin America. The film is a semi-autobiographical story is about a lonely young woman working at a supermarket, who moves in with a colorful family and bonds with each of its members, finding a sense of belonging.

Chosen to participate in the Piazza Grande is Chilean Sebastián Leilo's most recent feature, the tragicomedy Gloria. Unfolding against the backdrop of Chile's current political developments. Gloria is the story of a 58 year old divorcée who is determined to defy old age and loneliness and fills her evenings attending parties for single adults. One day, she meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer and embarks on a relationship which will force her to confront her own dark secrets.

Last year Mexican director Pedro González-Rubio won the Golden Leopard Award for his  feature film Inori in the Filmmakers of the Present competition. The 66th edition of the Swiss Locarno Film Festival will take place on August 7th and will conclude on August 17th.

PRESUMED GUILTY Filmmakers Sued in Mexico

Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete, directors of the controversial 2011 Mexican documentary film Presunto culpable / Presumed Guilty (pictured) face 19 lawsuits which has hindered the distribution of the film on DVD in the country. The film is an exposé of the Mexican judicial system and it follows the trial of Antonio Zúñiga who was wrongly accused of murdering a young man.

Among the plaintiffs are Victor Daniel Reyes, who appears as a witness in the film, and José Manuel Ortega Saavedra, a former police commander who arrested the film's protagonist. They claim in their lawsuits for defamation that they were recorded without their consent. As reported by different media, the legal case could take years during which time the film could not be distributed on DVD.

This past Wednesday, there was a hearing at a court in Mexico City for the presentation of evidence. Through their Twitter account (@PresuntoC), the filmmakers pointed out that one of the plaintiffs has not seen the film despite claiming that it distorts reality. During the course of the legal case, the filmmakers have also denounced incidents of harassment by local judiciary players.

Presumed Guilty was awarded with an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and it also was awarded with the Best Documentary prize at the Morelia Film Festival.

Projects from Chile and Cuba Awarded with Sundance Doc Grant

Three Latin American films were among the 29 awarded projects that will receive funds from the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program and Fund (DFP) totaling $550,000. The three awarded Latin American projects, all of them at the development stage, are Maite Alberdi's Children (pictured left) and Carola Fuentes' Chicago Boys both from Chile, and the Cuban-Spanish co-production Hotel Nueva Isla by Irene Gutierrez and Javier Labrador.

Alberdi's film focuses on the Chilean support for people with Down Syndrome, which ends at 25, but life expectancy is now in the 50s. A group of friends are facing a stage they were never prepared for, because no one ever expected them to grow up or get old.

Fuentes' Chicago Boys tells how a group of Milton Friedman’s disciples – backed by a military dictatorship in the ‘70s – managed to turn Chile into the first and most extreme model of neoliberalism in the world. Hotel Nueva Isla tells the story of Jorge, who lives with his four neighbors in the formerly luxurious Hotel Nueva Isla in Old Havana. Now in ruins, it is a shelter for people living on the fringes of society. Evacuation becomes imminent, but Jorge resists abandoning the building.

Other Latino-themed winners include the American projects Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four by Deborah S. Esquenazi, Marmato by Mark Grieco, and The Hand that Feeds by Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick. Southwest of Salem tells the story of four Chicana lesbians languish in Texas prisons, found guilty of sexually assaulting two girls ages 7 and 9. Now, advocates and attorneys believe that a spurned suitor's revenge, homophobia and 'junk science' were key factors in their conviction. The film also explores the tedious process of exonerating innocents in Texas.

Marmato (pictured right) is a documentary feature about an artisan gold-mining village in rural Colombia on the precipice of opportunity and destruction as a Canadian mining company plans a massive regional investment. For five centuries these miners have lived in the lush Andes Mountains; the gold being their only source of sustenance. This intimate portrait follows the lives of the villagers as they struggle to preserve their centuries old way of life and confront the arrival of large-scale mining operations.

The Hand that Feeds follows 12 undocumented immigrant workers that take on a well-known New York City restaurant chain owned by powerful investors. This David-and-Goliath story explores what it takes for ordinary people to stand up for their dignity, and win. 

Guzmán's NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT Is Nominated for Two Emmy Awards

The Chilean documentary Nostalgia for the Light (pictured) by master documentarian Patricio Guzmán was nominated for two categories in the 34th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards for Best Documentary and Outstanding Historical Programming—Long-Form, as it announced the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) today.

Guzmán's Nostalgia for the Light is a remarkable meditation on memory, history and eternity. Chile’s remote Atacama Desert, 10,000 feet above sea level, provides stunningly clear views of the heavens. But it also holds secrets from the past in its arid soil: human remains, from pre-Columbian mummies to the bones of political prisoners "disappeared" during the Pinochet dictatorship. In this otherworldly place, earthly and celestial quests meld: Archaeologists dig for ancient civilizations, women search for their loved ones and astronomers scan the skies for new galaxies.

The Chilean documentary was broadcasted in the United States last October as part of the 25th anniversary edition of PBS' POV series. Guzmán nomination comes just few days after the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences extended him an invitation to become a member.

Other Latino nominees for the 34th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards also included one nomination for the US-Guatemalan co-production Granito: How to Nail a Dictator by Pamela Yates for Outstanding Investigative Journalism—Long-Form; and the US-Mexico co-production film Circo (pictured right) by Aaron Schock for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming.

The News & Documentary Emmy® Awards will be presented on Tuesday, October 1 at a ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located in the Time Warner Center in New York City.

Matías Piñeiro and Sebastián Silva: VIOLA vs. CRYSTAL FAIRY

In an unusual yet happy coincidence, two films by two of the most exciting young South American filmmakers will be opening in New York theaters this coming Friday, July 12.

Cinema Guild will be releasing Viola by Argentinean director Matías Piñeiro (pictured right) at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Elinon Bunin Munroe Film Center, and IFC Films will be releasing Crystal Fairy by Chilean director Sebastián Silva (pictured left) at the IFC Center (it will also open at the Nuart Theater in LA).

TropicalFRONT decided that this fortunate coincidence merited a comparison of these two talented filmmakers, both of whom call New York City home, and whose new films are both named after their leading female characters.

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Matías Piñeiro	Sebastián Silva
Place of Birth:   Buenos Aires, Argentina	Place of Birth:   Santiago, Chile
Age:   31	Age:   34
Astrological sign:   Taurus	Astrological sign:   Aries
Place of Residence:   East Village, Manhattan	Place of Residence:   Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Studied film at:   Universidad del Cine	Studied film at:   Escuela de Cine de Chile and animation in Montreal.
Year of directorial debut:   2007	Year of directorial debut:   2007
Filmography:   El hombre robado / The Stolen Man (2007); Todos mienten   / They All Lie (2009); Rosalinda (2010); Viola (2012)	Filmography:   La vida me mata / Life Kills Me (2007); La nana / The Maid   (2009); Gatos viejos /  Old Cats (co-directed with Pedro   Peirano, 2010); Crystal Fairy (2013); Magic Magic (2013)
Number of shooting days for his newest film:   10	Number of shooting days for his newest film:   12
What the New York Times' Manohla Dargis says:   Viola is "wonderfully inventive... A triumph of narrative   imagination and bottom-line ingenuity."	What the New York Times' Manohla Dargis says:   Crystal Fairy was "one of the best films at this year's   Sundance Film Festival."
Where else can you see his work:   The Film Society of Lincoln Center is doing a retrospective   of Piñeiro this weekend.	Where else can you see his work:   Magic Magic will be released on DVD August 6th; MoMA will   present a one-week theatrical run of Old Cats August 20-26.
What he is currently working on:   The Princess of France, the third installment in his   Shakespearan project to be shoot in Argentina this August.	What he is currently working on:   Nasty Baby, about a gay couple trying to impregnate their   friend, a straight woman. The film, starring Silva himself,   will be shoot in Fort Greene this summer.