Mexican Film KINGS OF NOWHERE Rules at Full Frame

Mexican film Kings of Nowhere / Los reyes del pueblo que no existe (pictured), the debut feature film by Betzabé García, was the winner of the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary at the 18th edition of the Full Frame documentary film festival. The award was shared with (T)ERRROR by Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe, marking a first time in the history of the festival, two films shared the top prize, both receiving a cash prize of $10,000.

Kings of Nowhere documents residents of a Mexican village who choose to remain after a flood leaves their homes semi-submerged. The film “represents its characters with dignity and depth, and does so at the highest levels of our craft,” said filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz who presented the award on behalf of the jury.

The Full Frame President’s Award, for best student film was presented to director Alejandro Alonso for the Cuban film The Farewell, which was produced at the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Television EICTV.

Additionally, The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award was presented to first-time director Jennifer Redfearn for her film Tocando la Luz / Touch the Light, which tells the story of three blind women in Havana, Cuba.

The 18th edition of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival took place April 9-12 in Durham, North Carolina.

Cinema Tropical to Theatrically Release Rejtman’s TWO SHOTS FIRED

Cinema Tropical and Ruda Cine are proud to announce the U.S. theatrical premiere of Two Shots Fired / Dos disparos (pictured), the much-anticipated feature film by Argentinean director Martín Rejtman. The film will open for an exclusive one-week run at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City on Wednesday, May 13, with engagements in other U.S. cities to be announced.

Concurrent to the film’s New York theatrical run, the Film Society of Lincoln Center will present a complete retrospective of the work of Martín Rejtman, a founding figure of the new Argentine cinema. The retrospective will present the films Rapado (1992), Silvia Prieto (1999), The Magic Gloves / Los guantes mágicos (2003), Copacabana (2006), Elementary Training for Actors / Entrenamiento elemental para actores (co-directed with Federico León, 2009), and the short film Doli Goes Home / Doli vuelve a casa (1986).

An official selection of the Locarno, Toronto, New York and Rotterdam film festivals, Two Shots Fired –the first feature in a decade by Rejtman– is an engrossing, digressive comedy with the weight of an existentialist novel. The Argentinean film was hailed as “a rare and wonderful gem of world cinema" by the New York Times’ A.O. Scott, who also called the film "the sleeper” of the 2014 New York Film Festival.

Sixteen-year-old Mariano (Rafael Federman), inexplicably and without warning, shoots himself twice—once in the stomach and once in the head—and improbably survives. As his family strains to protect Mariano from himself, his elder brother (Benjamín Coehlo) pursues a romance with a disaffected girl (Laura Paredes) who works the counter at a fast-food restaurant, his mother (Susana Pampín) impulsively takes off on a trip with a stranger, and Mariano recruits a young woman (Manuela Martelli) to join his medieval wind ensemble.

Rejtman tells this story with both compassion and formal daring, pursuing one thread only to abandon it for another. Two Shots Fired is a wry, moving, consistently surprising film about the irrationality of emotions and how they govern our actions at each stage of our lives.

Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Cinema Tropical’s co-founder and executive director, commented: “We are thrilled to partner with Buenos Aires–based Ruda Cine in the U.S. theatrical release of Martín Rejtman’s new film. At Cinema Tropical we’ve been longtime fans and supporters of his work. The very first event that our organization presented was a special screening of Silvia Prieto with the attendance of the director, and we’re honored to have theatrically released both Silvia Prieto and The Magic Gloves. Without any doubts, Rejtman is a major and influential figure of recent Latin American cinema.”

IXCANUL Tops Cartagena

By Laura Schwab

The 55th edition of Colombia's most renowned film festival -and Latin America’s longest running festival, the International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias, announced its winner last week. The top prize went to Guatemalan film Ixcanul (pictured left).

The film, which premiered at Berlin earlier this year and has been consistently turning heads on the international film festival circuit since its release. At Berlin it took home the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize and a couple weeks ago, at Guadalajara Festival, it took home best Ibero-American picture and director.

Ixcanul tells the story of Marí­a, a 17 year-old Kaqchikel Maya, who lives with her parents on a coffee plantation at the foot of an active volcano. Although she is set to marry the farm’s foreman Marí­a longs to discover what is on the other side of the mountain. Variety called it “a transporting, hypnotically beautiful debut feature from Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante."

The region of Kaqchikel Maya, which is in the midwestern highlands of Guatemala, is home to one of the indigenous Maya peoples. Director Jayro Bustamante grew up in the region and returned home to shoot his debut feature.

The other big winner at this year's Cartagena Fest was Brazil’s White Out, Black In / Branco Sai, Preto Fica (pictured right), which went home both the Special Jury Price and the FIPRESCI Award. The dystopian-futurist thriller follows to Marquim and Sartana, both victims to police brutality, as they plan to end the prevailing racial hatred and segregation, unaware they are being tailed by Dilmar, an information-gathering agent from the future who comes and goes in a time machine.

The Hollywood Reporter called Adirley Queirós' film, "innovative, intriguing and intimate." It has also won numerous awards at other festivals such as the Brazilian Film Festival of Brasi­lia, Festival de Cinema da Fronteira and Vitória Cine Ví­deo.

The award for Best Colombian Film was presented to Carlos Tribiño’s El silencio del río / The Silence of the River (Colombia, pictured left). The film tells the story of Anselmo, a boy who has lost his father, and Epifanio, a poor countryman who sees his world threatened by violence. Two parallel stories that are tragically connected by a river.

Other notable winners at the Colombian festival were Best Director, Hector Galvez for NN (Peru, Colombia, Germany, France), Best Colombian Film, and Best Documentary, Maite Alberdi’s La Once (Chile).

The 55th International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias took place March 11-17, 2015.

NY Colombian Film Festival Announces Winners

Tres Escapularios / Three Scapulars by Felipe Aljure was the winner of the top prize as Best Film at the 3rd edition of the New York Colombian Film Festival, it was announced over the weekend.

Starring Isabel Jiménez, Mauricio Flórez, and Karen Gaviria, Tres Escapularios is a road movie tells the story of two assassins, Nicolas and Lorena have to carry out the assassination of a Colombian guerrilla ex militant  who’s testimony to the authorities provoked the bombing of a guerrilla camp where many combatants died.

The award for Best Documentary went to Infierno o Paraíso / Heaven or Hell by Germán Piffano, which follows José a recovering addict in the process of exorcizing his internal demons.

Dos mujeres y una vaca by Efraín Bahaman was awarded the prize for Best 100% Colombian Film, while Simón Mesa’s Leidi was the winner of the award for Best Short Film. The documentary film Porro Hecho en Colombia was the audience’s favorite.

The 3rd edition of the New York Colombian Film Festival, which took place March 29 at the Tribeca Cinemas in downtown Manhattan, opened with the documentary film Gabo by Justin Webster, and featured Josef Wladyka's Manos Sucias, Nicolás Macario's Monte Adentro, and Franco Lolli's Gente de Bien, among others.

THE OBSCURE SPRING and TEA TIME Win Miami

By Laura Schwab

Latino filmmakers dominated the prizes last week at the Miami International Film Festival. Ernesto Contreras’ The Obscure Spring / Las oscuras primaveras (pictured) took home the Knight Grand Jury Prize, the Festival’s top prize, as well as the Grand Jury Award for Best Performance for stars Cecilia Suarez, Jose Maria Yazpik, Irene Azuela and the rest of the cast.

Contreras’ second feature depicts a story of love, sex and passion. Playing with the notion of love as both passion and illusion, a bizarre love triangle forms amongst the confused state of minds of Igor, a plumber in a big office building, Pina a lonely secretary, and Flora, Igor’s wife. The film premiered last year at the Morelia International Film Festival. Abner Benaim took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Director for his film Invasion / Invasión. The first-ever Panamanian film submitted for the Academy Awards, premiered at the festival. The documentary looks at the invasion of Panama by the US in 1989 by focusing on the memories of ordinary Panamanians. 

The Knight Documentary Achievement Award went to the Chilean-American documentary Tea Time / La once (pictured right). Maite Alberdi filmed a group of senior citizens’ monthly reunions over a period of four years as they catch-up and gossip over tea. The film was partly funded by Tribeca's TFI Fund, and the Miami screening marked its North American premiere.

This year’s Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition also went to a Chilean filmmaker, Claudio Marcone, for In the Grayscale / En las gamas de gris.  It follows Bruno who leads a picturesque life: he is happily married, has a beautiful son, a nice house and a new car. In the midst of an early mid-life crisis he leaves his wife. In the midst of his soul-searching he meets Fer, a young gay man, exuberant and extroverted, who further threatens and changes Bruno’s “perfect” life.

The winner of the Encuentros competitive industry section was The Apostate / El apóstata a co-production from Spain, France and Uruguay.

The 32nd edition of the Miami International Film Festival ran from March 6-15.

IXCANUL and 600 MILES Top Guadalajara

The debut feature of Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante, Ixcanul / Ixcanul Volcano (pictured) won the best Ibero-American picture and best director at the 30th Guadalajara International Film Festival. The film follows 17-year old María, a Mayan Kaqchikel teenager living near an active volcano in Guatemala, as she confronts an unwanted arranged marriage.

Gabriel Ripstein’s debut gun trafficking drama 600 Miles / 600 millas (pictured below), won the Mezcal prize for best Mexican film. The film was also the recipient of the best first feature award at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

The Yellow Thin Line / La delgada línea amarilla by Celso García received the special jury prize, screenplay and audience awards.  It follows five men, hired to paint a 200 kilometer yellow median line on a road that connects two towns.  Their 15-day journey ultimately changes their understanding life. 

The FIPRESCI international critics prize award, and the Special Jury Prize in the Ibero-American section was handed to Natalia Bruschtein’s documentary Suspended Time / El Tiempo suspendido. The film chronicles a woman succumbing to the ravages of memory loss, who’s spent her life fighting for the preservation of historical memory.

Tea Time / La once (pictured left) by Maite Alberdi, won best Ibero-American documentary.  The Chilean film tells the story of five elderly women who have met for tea once a month for the past 60 years.  El Patrón, radiografía de un crimen / The boss, Anatomy of a Crime helmed by Sebastian Schindel was named best first film.

The prize for best Ibero-American short was handed to the animated debut, from Brazilian director Pedro’s Harres, Castillo y el Armado.  The prize for best Mexican animated short film was awarded to Juan José Medina and Rita Basulto for their short Zimbo. 

The Guadalajara International Film Festival was held March 6-15 in Mexico.