Strand to Release Aïnouz's FUTURO BEACH at IFC Center

California-based distribution company Strand Releasing has announced the U.S. theatrical premiere run of Brazilian film Futuro Beach / Praia do Futuro (pictured) by Karim Aïnouz. An official selection of the Berlinale, Outfest Los Angeles and Frameline Film Festival and starring Wagner Moura, Clemens Schick and Jesuita Barbosa, the film opens Friday, February 27 at the IFC Center in New York City.

Part gay romance, part inquisitive self-journey, Futuro Beach is a stunning examination of lives lost and found. Donato (played by Moura) works as a lifeguard at the spectacular but treacherous Praia do Futuro beach in Brazil; Konrad (Schick) is an ex-military thrill-seeker from Germany vacationing with a friend. After Donato saves Konrad from drowning, but fails to save his other friend, initial sexual sparks give way to a deeper, emotional connection.

Donato decides to leave everything behind, including his ailing mother and younger brother, Ayrton, to travel back to Berlin with Konrad. There, he finds both confusion and liberation, and his journey for love soon turns into a deeper search for his own identity. Eight years later, an unexpected visit from Ayrton, brings all three men back together as they struggle to reconcile the pain of loss and longing, instinctively drawn to each other in search of hope and a brighter future.

Latino Titles Headed to SXSW

The SXSW Film Festival has announced today the lineup for its 2015 edition, which includes some of Latino films. Having its world premiere in the Documentary Spotlight is Kingdom of Shadows (pictured left), the newest film by director Bernardo Ruiz (Reportero). The film follows three people grappling with the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico "drug war."

A nun in Monterrey, Mexico fights for the rights of families whose loved ones have been "disappeared," a Texan rancher reflects on his days as a drug smuggler at the height of Reagan's “Just Say No” era, and a Homeland Security Investigator on the border bears witness to the rise of a violent and deadly strain of organized crime, while questioning his effectiveness as a law enforcement official.

Also in the Documentary Spotlight, Sara Hirsh Bordo’s A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story is having its world premiere. The documentary films follows the inspiring journey of 25-year-old, 58-pound Lizzie from cyber-bullying victim to anti-bullying activist.

The 24 Beats per Second section of the festival will feature three Latino titles: the Brazilian film Dominguinhos (pictured right) and the Mexican film Gloria in their U.S. premiere, and the world premiere of the Latino film We Like It Like That.

Directed by Joaquim Castro, Eduardo Nazarian, Dominguinhos reveals this genius of Brazilian music, creator of a deeply authentic, universal and contemporary work. The film values the sensory cinematic experience, a journey driven by Dominguinhos himself.

Christian Keller’s long-awaited biopic Gloria is a bold and compelling tale of ambition, betrayal and redemption. Based on a true story,the film chronicles the life of international pop star Gloria Trevi, the “Mexican Madonna,” featuring an outstanding performance by Sofía Espinosa in the leading role.

We Like It Like That by Mathew Ramirez Warren tells the story of Latin boogaloo, a colorful expression of 1960s New York City Latino soul. From its origins to its recent resurgence, it’s the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too funky to keep down.

The SXGlobal section will feature the Panamanian documentary film Invasion (pictured left) by Abner Benaim, which documents the US military siege of Panama that ousted dictator Noriega 25 years ago while wreaking untold collateral damage. It sets out to shatter the willful amnesia of a country all too eager to bury its troubled past.

The Colombian film Monte Adentro by Nicolás Macario Alonso will see its North American premiere in the same section. The film explores the universe of one of the last muleteer families in Colombia and follows the lives and mule train of two brothers as they get together for an epic mule driving journey to the highest peaks of the Andes.

And the Festival Favorites section will screen the film Western by Bill Ross and Turner Ross, which recently premiered at Sundance and is a portrait of a cowboy and a lawman from the border towns of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico; as well as the acclaimed Salt of the Earth about Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado.

The 2015 edition of the SXSW Film Festival will take place March 13-21 in Austin, Texas.

Check Out All the Latin American Winners of Rotterdam's Tiger Awards

This past week, the Rotterdam Film Festival announced the winners of the Tiger Awards, three yearly prizes for young filmmakers making their first or second film. In the 44th annual edition of the festival, two Latin American film were awarded with the Tiger Award: the Cuban film La obra del siglo / The Project of the Century by Carlos M. Quintela and Videofilia (y otros síndromes virales) / Videophilia (and Other Viral Syndromes) by Juan Daniel F. Molero. In both cases, it marked a first time that a Cuban and a Peruvian film receive the top honers in the Dutch festival.

Since 1995, when the festival introduced the Tiger Awards, ten Latin American films have received the top prize in total, becoming an influential platform for the promotion of cinema from the region internationally. In 2000 Pablo Trapero won the Tiger Award for his debut feature film Mundo grúa, marking a high point in the consolidation of the then-incipient “New Argentinean Cinema.” One year later, a Tiger Award also went to South America, and it was presented to the Uruguayan filmmaker Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll for their debut feature 25 Watts, which also proved to be very influential as it launched a new and fruitful chapter for Uruguayan cinema.

In total two films from Argentina, two from Uruguay, and one from Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru have been recipients of the coveted award. Read the complete list of winners:

2000 Mundo grúa / Crane World by Pablo Trapero, Argentina
2001 25 Watts by Juan Pablo Rebella & Pablo Stoll, Uruguay
2003 Extraño / Strange by Santiago Loza, Argentina
2006 La perrera / The Dog Pound by Manuel Nieto Zas, Uruguay
2007 Baixio das bestas / Bog of Beasts by Claudio Assis, Brazil
2010 Agua fría de mar / Cold Water of the Sea by Paz Fábrega, Costa Rica
2010 Alamar / To the Sea, Pedro González-Rubio, Mexico
2012 De jueves a domingo / Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor, Chile
2015 La obra del siglo / The Project of the Century by Carlos M. Quintela, Cuba
2015 Videofilia (y otros síndromes virales) / Videophilia (and Other Viral Syndromes) by Juan Daniel F. Molero, Peru

Films from Cuba and Peru Top the Rotterdam Film Festival

Two Latin American films were awarded today with the top prize at the Rotterdam Film Festival: the Cuban film La obra del siglo / The Project of the Century by Carlos M. Quintela and the Peruvian film Videofilia (y otros síndromes virales) / Videophilia (and Other Viral Syndromes) were awarded with the Hivos Tiger Award for Best Film.

In total 13 first or second films by international filmmakers were competing for the Tiger Awards, which comes with a prize of €15,000. The Hivos Tiger Awards Competition jury was comprised of writer, director and producer Rolf de Heer, producer Ichiyama Shozo, director Maja Miloš, art photographer and director of Spanish Film Archive Jose Maria Prado Garcia and actress Johanna ter Steege.

Drifting effortlessly between raw psychological realism and dreamy surrealism and loaded with unique Cuban archive footage, Quintela’s The Project of the Century (pictured right) portrays three generations of Cubans. In their apartment in the workers’ quarters at a half-built nuclear power station, they are forced to simply carry on. A fresh voice from, and about, a country in a stalemate. The jury stated that "in dealing with both living and broken dreams, The Project of the Century confronts themes both intimate and epic. With its wonderful performances, with its humour and poignancy and boldness of execution, the film resonates with history."

Internet cafés and slackers, not-so-innocent schoolgirls and amateur porn using Google Glass, Mayans and the end of the world, acid trips and guinea pigs as extras in an exorcism: things in Lima, the Peruvian capital, are pretty similar to contemporary reality, virtual or otherwise, in the rest of the world.

In the ‘comedia tragedia’ Videophilia (pictured left), multi-talent Juan Daniel F. Molero takes us on a digital trip down all the perfidious byways of 'the interwebz'. Peruvian schoolgirl Luz looks a lot more innocent than she is. She meets Junior online, who spends most of his days gaming in Internet cafés. His ambition is earn a living making amateur porn.

In their statement, the jury said that the Peruvian "explores the relationship between the young and the rapidly changing world with unflinching truth. Its anarchy and visual flair reflect its subject matter. The film dives deep into disturbing, necessary waters."

Additionally, another Cuban project was awarded in the CineMart section of the Dutch festival, dedicated to films in development. The Cuban film Santa y Delfín by Carlos Lechuga was awarded with the Wouter Barendrecht Award, with a cash prize of €5,000.

Guzmán and Larraín to Premiere New Films at the Berlinale

The Chilean directors Patricio Guzmán and Pablo Larraín will premiere their newest films as part of the official competition of the 65th edition of the Berlinale.

Documentarian master Guzmán will be premiering El botón de nácar / The Pearl Button (pictured left) a documentary essay about the sea, the longest border in Chile. With its 2,670 miles of coastline and the largest archipelago in the world, the country presents a supernatural landscape. In it are volcanoes, mountains and glaciers. In it are the voices of the Patagonian Indigenous people, the first English sailors and also those of its political prisoners. Some say that water has memory. film shows that it also has a voice.

El Club / The Club, Larrain’s follow-up to the Oscar nominated No, tells the story of four priests that live together in a secluded house in a small, seaside town. Each of them has been sent to this place to purge sins from the past. They live according to a strict regime under the watchful eye of nun, when the fragile stability of their routine is disrupted by the arrival of a fifth man, a newly disgraced companion, bringing with him the past they thought they had left behind.

In total, four Latin American films will be representing Latin American in the Berlinale’s main slate. As it was previously announced, the Guatemalan film Ixcanul (pictured right) by Jayro Bustamante will also be in competition, marking a first time for the Central American country. Additionally British director will be presenting the feature film Einsenstein in Guanajuato, a co-production with Mexico. 

The Panorama section of the festival will have a plentiful Latin American representation with nine productions. The main program of the Panorama section will open with the Brazilian production Sangue azul / Blue Blood by Lirio Ferreira, while the Mexican film 600 millas / 600 Miles by director Gabriel Ripstein will open the Panorama Special program.

Other Latin American titles include Jia Zhang-ke, um homem de Fenyang / Jia Zhang-ke, a Guy from Fenyang by Walter Salles from Brazil; Nasty Baby by Chilean director Sebastián Silva; Ausência / Absence by Chico Teixeira and Que horas ela volta? / The Second Mother by Anna Muylaert, both from Brazil; the Argentinean films Mariposa / Butterfly by Marco Berger, and Juan Schnitman’s El incendio / The Fire; and the Uruguayan documentary film El hombre nuevo / The New Man by Aldo Garay, which had been previously announced.

In the Forum section, films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico will have either their world or international premiere. The lineup features Beira-Mar / Seashore by Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon from Brazil; Brasil S/A / Brazilian Dream by Marcelo Pedroso; H. by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia, and Argentina/USA production; La maldad / Evilness by Joshua Gil from Mexico; Mar by Dominga Sotomayor from Chile; La mujer de barro / The Mud Woman by Sergio Castro San Martín also from Chile; and Violencia / Violence by Jorge Forero from Colombia.

Two Latin American feature films -in their world premiere- will represent the region in the Generation section of the festival: the Guatemalan La casa más grande del mundo / The Greatest House in the World by film Ana V. Bojórquez and Lucía Carreras, and the Argentinean film El Gurí / The Kid by Sergio Mazza.

Additionally, Latin American is the focus of this year’s NATIVe, the Berlinale special series on indigenous cinema. Under the title “A Journey into Indigenous Cinema - From Zacatecas to Patagonia” the program will feature 18 fictional and documentary films made between 1986 and 2014.

The series will open with the stunning documentary Eco de la Montaña / Echo of the Mountain by Mexican director Nicolás Echevarría, and it will also feature the world premiere of the Venezuelan film Lo que lleva el río / Gone with the River by Cuban director Mario Crespo.

The 65th edition of the Berlinale will take place February 5-15 in Germany.

Oscar Unveils Nominees from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Nicaragua

Candidates from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Nicaragua were among the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards, which were unveiled this morning in Los Angeles. For the second time in a row, a Mexican filmmaker was nominated for Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu (pictured left) follows in the footsteps of Alfonso Cuarón who last year was nominated -and won- for his film Gravity.

In total González Iñárritu was nominated for three Oscars for his feature film Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance: as a producer for Best Motion Picture, and for Best Screenplay, along with Argentinean screenwriters Nicolás Giacobone and Armando Bo, and American screenwriter Alex Dinelaris.

Mexican DP Emmanuel Lubezki got his seventh nomination for Best Cinematography for his work on Birdman. He won his first Oscar last year for Cuarón’s Gravity. Birdman was the most honored film -along with Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, with nine Oscar nominations each.

Argentina earned its seventh nomination for Best Foreign Language Film with Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales / Relatos salvajes (pictured right). The South American country has won twice the Oscar in this category, the last time was in 2009 with Juan José Campanella’s El secreto de sus ojos / The Secret in Their Eyes.

In the Best Documentary, Brazilian director Juliano Salgado Ribeiro was nominated for his film The Salt of the Earth (co-directed by Wim Wenders), which is about his father, the renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado.

Last, but not least, the Mexican film La parka / The Reaper by Nicaraguan director Gabriel Serra Argüello was nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject. Selected among 58 entries the film was produced by the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC) film school. Even though Nicaragua had received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1983 for Alsino y el cóndor / Alsino and the Condor, this marks the first time ever a Nicaraguan filmmaker gets an Oscar nomination, as the former was directed by Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littín.

The 87th edition of the Academy Awards will take place on February 22 in Los Angeles, California.