CANTINFLAS Performs Well in the U.S.

The Mexican film Cantinflas (pictured) directed by Sebastián del Amo had a strong opening weekend in the U.S., earning an estimated $2.6 million for the weekend, $3.2 million for the four-day long weekend, with a per theater average of $8,573 (numbers reported by Deadline) making it the film with the highest per screen of any film in nationwide release.  

The film, distributed by Pantelion -a Lions Gate and Televisa joint venture is a biopic of Mario Moreno "Cantinflas," Mexico's greatest comedian of all time. Even the film had strong opening numbers, it lagged behind Instructions Not Included by Eugenio Derbez, which was released exactly a year ago and earning an impressive $7.8 million with a per-theater average of $22,547. 

Cantinflas will be theatrically released in Mexico on Friday, September 19.

Peruvian Showcase to Honor the Late Roberto Guerra in NY

The New York Peruvian Film Showcase has announced the lineup for its fifth edition which will feature an homage to the life and work of the late New York-based Peruvian documentary film director, producer and cinematographer Roberto Guerra (pictured), who died at the beginning of this year.

Guerra's films are international in scope and of timeless significance.  Major networks in more than thirty-five countries have broadcast over 30 of his films and many of them have been featured in international festivals in New York, Edinburgh, London, Cannes and Los Angeles. The tribute includes the screening of the documentary short film Roberto Guerra, a Life by Lorry Salcedo Mitrani.

The 2014 edition of the New York Peruvian Film Showcase (NYPFS) will be dedicated to Peruvian archeology and will take place from September 16-19, at Instituto Cervantes in midtown Manhattan. This year's lineup includes the award-winning film The Mute / El mudo, from directors Daniel and Diego Vega; Josué Méndez's Gods / Dioses and the short film Loxoro, winner of the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival, directed by Claudia Llosa (The Milk of Sorrow) who will travel to New York to present her film.

Szifron's WILD TALES Selected for Telluride

The Argentinean film Wild Tales / Retratos salvajes (pictured) by Damián Szifron will have it's North American premiere at the 41st edition of the Telluride Film Festival this weekend, it was announced today. The film, which was the only Latin American film at Cannes' official competition this year, is breaking records at the box office in Argentina after its theatrical release few days ago.

Other Latin American-related titles announced today as selections of the film festival in Colorado are The Salt of the Earth co-directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado about the acclaimed Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman -which just had its world premiere yesterday as opening film of the Venice film festival, and Rosewater the debut feature by Jon Stewart which stars Mexican actor Gael García Bernal as an Iranian journalist.

The 41st edition of the Telluride Film Festival takes place August 29-September 1 in Telluride, Colorado.

San Sebastian Announces Latin American Titles

Eight films from Argentina, three from Brazil, and one from Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, will be competing in the Horizontes Latinos section of the 62nd edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, it was announced today.

The Argentinean films featured at the Horizontes Latinos section are Matías Lucchesi's Natural Sciences / Ciencias naturales, Matías Piñeiro's The Princess of France / La princesa de Francia, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja, Celina Murga's La tercera orilla / The Third Side of the River, Martín Rejtman's Two Shots Fired / Dos disparos, Juan Martín Hsu's La Salada, Benjamín Naishtat's History of Fear / Historia del miedo, and Diego Lerman's Refugiado.

From Brazil, Gabriel Mascaro's August Winds / Ventos de agosto; Fellipe Barbosa's Casa Grande, and Karim Aïnouz's Futuro Beach / Praia do Futuro. Chile will be represented by Alejandro Fernández Almendras' To Kill a Man / Matar a un hombre, Mexico with Alonso Ruizpalacio's Güeros, and Colombia with Gente de Bien by Franco Lolli.

As it was previously announced, two South American films will be participating in the festival's main competition: the Argentinean film Open Air / Aire libre by Anahí Berneri, and the Chilean film Voiceover / La voz en off by Cristián Jiménez.

The 62nd edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival will take place September 19-27 in Spain.

BRAZILIAN WESTERN Tops Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro

Brazilian Western / Faroeste Caboclo (pictured) the debut feature film by René Sampaio was the top winner of the 13th annual edition of the Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro which were announced last night at a ceremony in the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro.

Sampaio's film received six "Grande Othelo" awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editing (Fiction), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound.

The award for Best Director was for Bruno Barreto for Reaching for the Moon / Flores Raras. The film's protagonist Gloria Pires received the award for Best Actress for her character of Lota de Macedo Soares. Kleber Mendonça Filho was awarded with the prize for Best Original Feature for his debut feature film Neighboring Sounds / O som ao redor. 

In the documentary category, the award for Best Film was for Nelson Pereira dos Santos' A luz do Tom about Musician composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. The award for Best Editing (documentary) was presented to Elena by Petra Costa. Director Domingos Oliveira was presented with a special award.

The Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro was created in 2000 and it's presented by the Brazilian Film Academy.

Lerman and Alonso Selected as Jury Members at Venice

Argentinean filmmakers Diego Lerman and Lisandro Alonso have been selected as jury members for the 71st edition of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the world. Lerman has been selected as president of the jury for the independent section Giornate degli Autori, also known as Venice Days, while Alonso will be participating in the jury to select the Best First Film of the Festival.

Both Lerman and Alonso premiered their fourth and fifth films at the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival: Refugiado and Jauja respectively. Born in 1976, Lerman has previously directed the films Tan de repente / Suddenly (2002), Meanwhile / Mientras tanto (2006) and The Invisible Eye / La mirada invisible (2010), while Alonso (1975) has directed the films La libertad (2001), Los Muertos (2004), Fantasma (2006), and Liverpool (2008).

The 71st edition of the Italian film festival has next to none Latin American representation, only the Argentinean-Uruguayan film El Cinco / El 5 de Talleres by Adrián Biniez will be competing in the independent Venice Days section, and the omnibus film Words with Gods produced by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Arriaga, will have its world premiere as a special screening.