Sundance Selects Argentinean and Chilean Films

The Sundance Film Festival has announced the 56 films in the festival's dramatic and documentary competition as well as 11 titles in the Next lineup for the 30th edition of the festival.

Two South American films will be featured in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Argentine film, Lock Charmer / El cerrajero, written and directed by Natalia Smirnoff and To Kill a Man / Matar a un hombre, (pictured), a Chilean and French production written and directed by Alejandro Fernández Almendras. Smirnoff's film deals with a locksmith who begins to have strange visions about his clients. Fernández Almendras' film is a story about the chain of violence and retribution set off after a man is mugged.

This year's U.S. Documentary Competition includes Cesar's Last Fast, directed by Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee, which presents a portrait of Cesar Chavez's devotion and personal sacrifice in the fight for economic justice for America's poorest workers. The documentary competition also includes Marmato, directed by Mark Grieco, which takes place in a historic Colombian mining town which becomes the center of a modern gold rush.

The 2014 edition of the Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 16 - 26 in Park City, Utah.

Slamdance to Premiere Mexican Film REZETA

The Slamdance Film Festival announced today its official lineup for its 20th anniversary edition, and it will feature the US premiere of the Mexican film Rezeta (pictured), the directorial debut by Fernando Frías in its Narrative Feature Film Competition. The Narrative competition will present breakthrough films by first-time feature film directors working with budgets of less than $1 million and without US distribution. This year's selection features 10 films, including several world and North American premieres.

Starring Rezeta Veliu, Roger Mendoza, Paulina Dávila and Sebastián Córdova, Rezeta tells the story of a jet-setting model who leads a freewheeling and spontaneous life in Mexico City that starts to change when she falls in love with an unexpected young artist.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Fernando was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to complete a Masters in Fine Arts by Columbia University in New York City. He has worked as a director, cinematographer, and editor for short films, art videos and TV series. His documentary Calentamiento local was awarded the prize for Best Digital Film at FICCO (Festival de Cine Contemporáneo) in 2009, as well as the prize for Best TV Documentary in DOCSDF that same year.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 17th - 23rd, 2014 in Park City, Utah.

Watch the trailer for the film:

Meet the 2013 Latin American Oscar Contenders

This year, 10 Latin American countries have selected their candidates to compete in the 86th edition of the Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the shortlist of 9 pre-nominees early January and the nominees on January 16, 2014. The last Latin American film to have won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was Juan José Campanella's El secreto de sus ojos / The Secret in their Eyes in 2009. Meet this Latin American contenders!

ARGENTINA

WAKOLDA | THE GERMAN DOCTOR
Directed by Lucía Puenzo
(Argentina/France/Spain 2013, 93 min.)
Cast: Natalia Oreiro, Àlex Brendemühl, Diego Peretti
U.S. distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
U.S. theatrical release date: Spring 2014

 
BRAZIL

O SOM AO REDOR | NEIGHBORING SOUNDS
Directed by Kebler Mendonça Filho
(Brazil, 2012, 131 min.)
Cast: Ana Rita Gurgel, Caio Almeida, Maeve Jinkings, Dida Maia.
U.S. distributor: Cinema Guild
U.S. theatrical release date: August 24, 2012

CHILE

GLORIA
Directed by Sebastián Lelio
(Chile/Spain, 2013, 110 min.)
Cast: Paulina García, Sergio Hernández, Diego Fontecilla, Fabiola Zamora.
U.S. distributor: Roadside Attractions
U.S. theatrical release date: January 17, 2014

COLOMBIA

LA PLAYA DC
Directed by Juan Andrés Arango
(Colombia/Brazil/France, 2012, 90 min.)
Cast:  Luis Carlos Guevara, Jamés Solís, Andrés Murillo.
U.S. distributor: ArtMattan Films
U.S. theatrical release date: July 18, 2013

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

¿QUIÉN MANDA? | WHO'S THE BOSS?
Directed by Ronni Castillo
(Dominican Republic, 2013, 87 min.)
Cast: Frank Perozo, Nashla Bogaert, Cuquín Victoria, Amauris Pérez.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

ECUADOR

MEJOR NO HABLAR DE CIERTAS COSAS | PORCELAIN HORSE
Directed by Javier Andrade
(Ecuador, 2012, 100 min.)
Cast: Víctor Arauz, Andrés Crespo, Alejandro Fajardo, Leovanna Orlandini.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

MEXICO

HELI
Directed by Amat Escalante
(Mexico, 2013, 105 min.)
Cast: Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara, Linda González.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

PERU

EL LIMPIADOR | THE CLEANER
Directed by Adrián Saba
(Peru, 2012, 95 min.)
Cast: Víctor Prada, Adrian Du Bois.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

URUGUAY

ANINA
Directed by Alfredo Sordeguit
(Uruguay/Colombia, 2013, 80 min.)
Cast: Federica Lacaño, María Mendive, César Troncoso, Cristina Morán.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

VENEZUELA

BRECHA EN EL SILENCIO | BREACH IN THE SILENCE
Directed by Luis and Andrés Rodríguez
(Venezuela, 2012, 90 min.)
Cast: Caremily Artígas, Juliana Cuervos, Vanessa Di Quattro.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

Two Chilean Fims Nominated for the Spirit Awards

The Independent Spirit Awards have announced today the contenders for its 2014 edition, which includes two Chilean films: Crystal Fairy by (pictured) Sebastián Silva and Gloria by Sebastián Lelio.

Silva's film is competing for the John Cassavetes Award, which honors features made for under $500,000. The film's protagonist, Gaby Hoffman, is also nominated for Best Female Lead. Gloria is up for Best International Film, competing against A Touch of Sin (China), Blue is the Warmest Color (France), The Great Beauty (Italy), and The Hunt (Denmark).

Additionally Una Noche by director Lucy Mulloyhas been nominated in the Best First Feature category and Aaron Douglas Johnston's My Sister's Quinceañera, made with Mexican-American residents of Iowa is up for the 20th Annual Someone to Watch Award. Latino actors have also been included in this year's mix as Guatemalan-born Oscar Isaac is nominated for Best Male Lead in the Cohen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis. Melonie Diaz, of Puerto Rican descent, is nominated for Fruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler. 

The Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast on March 1, 2014.  

POST TENEBRAS LUX and NEIGHBORING SOUNDS Nab Cinema Eye Honors Nominations

The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking announced today the five nominees for its fourth annual Cinema Eye Heterodox Award, which honors a narrative film that imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production, and two Latin American films are among the nominees: the Mexican film Post Tenebras Lux (pictured) by Carlos Reygadas and Brazilian film Neighboring Sounds by Kleber Mendonça Filho.

"Boundaries between documentary and fiction, myth and autobiography are elided in Post Tenebras Lux, a seductively mysterious feature from Carlos Reygadas. A rich family moving to a mountainside home in a poor Mexican village face a series of psychic disruptions in this visually ravishing, deeply experimental work," says the organization about the Mexican film.

"The social strata of a Brazilian seaside high-rise are depicted with a hallucinatory tension in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Neighboring Sounds. When a wealthy apartment complex — the director’s own — is hit by a series of crimes, a private security firm creates its own unease in a film that cooly captures a society amidst economic and cultural transformation" describes Cinema Eye Honors Mendonça Filho's directorial debut.

Both Latin American films are competing against Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess, Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow, and James Franco and Travis Matthews’ Interior. Leather Bar. Previous winners of the award were Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill (2011) and Jem Cohen’s Museum Hours (2013). The 2014 Heterodox Award will be presented at the 7th Annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking on January 8, 2014, at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.

LA JAULA DE LA ORO Tops Mar del Plata

Diego Quemada-Diez's directorial debut La Jaula de Oro (pictured) is unstoppable. Fresh from its top prizes at the Morelia and Thessaloniki film festivals, the Mexican film was awarded the top prize of the 28th edition of the Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina. Quemada-Diez's film was also popular with the audience as the film also received the festival's audience award.

The winner of the Best Director award is Venezuelan filmmaker Mariana Rondón her film Pelo malo / Bad Hair, which also received the prize for Best Script. The winner of the Latin American competition was also a Mexican production: Claudia Saint Luce's directorial debut Los insólitos peces gato / The Amazing Catfish.

The winners in the Argentinean competition were Adriano Salgado's La utilidad de un revistero for Best Film, and Ada Frontini for Best Director for her film Escuela de sordos.

The 28th edition of the Mar del Plata Film Festival took place November 16-24 in Argentina.