A Chilean and a Paraguayan Filmmaker Selected for Cannes' Cinefondation

The Cannes Film Festival announced today the 15 film projects from around the world that have been selected for Cinéfondation's L'Atelier 2012 which include two Latin American projects by Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Fernández Almendras (pictured) and Paraguayan filmmaker Pablo Lamar. Created in 2005, L'Atelier is a program focused on film financing and co-production. So far the program has supported 115 directors and 72 films have been made, with 20 currently in pre-production. L'Atelier will arrange meetings between May 18 - 25, during the Cannes Film Festival, with film industry professionals interested in the selected projects.

Alejandro Fernández Almendras will be present the project Matar a un hombre / To Kill a Man about a simple man who seeks revenge and justice with his own hands. This is would be Fernández Almendras' third feature film after Huacho (2009) and Sentados frente al fuego /Sitting by the Fire (2011).

Pablo Lamar is participating with the project La última tierra / The Last Land, which is a reflection about death. Lamar was born in Asunción, Paraguay and he studied filmmaking at Universidad del Cine of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  La última tierra will be his debut feature film.

Full Frame Film Fest to Show Five Latino Docs

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, NC has just released today its lineup for the 2012 NEW DOCS program consisting of 57 selections including five films about Latin America. Full Frame will present the US Premiere of Bernardo Ruiz's Reportero (pictured), that follows a veteran journalist and his colleagues as they challenge the drug cartels and the corrupt local officials in northern Mexico despite increasing danger.

Additionally the festival includes the North American premiere of the Chilean documentary El salvavidas / The Lifeguard by Maite Alberdo who uses the backdrop of a Chilean beach to tell the story of her subject; Abuelas / Grandmothers by Afrain Eghbal, an animated doc about the grandmothers who fill Argentina's Plaza de Mayo in search of their grandchildren and in protest of their disappearance; the North American premiere of Raising Resistance by Bettin Borgfeld and David Bernet who contrast the contested relationship of Paraguayans to transgenic soy; and Unfinished Spaces by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray who examine the evolution of the architecture of the early Cuban Revolution.

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of nonfiction cinema, this year it will run April 12-15.

San Francisco Film Fest Selects Four Latino Films for Official Competition

The 2012 San Francisco Film Fest lineup is out for its 55th edition that will run April 19 - May 3. Latin American films that will compete for the $15,000 New Directors Prize include the US premiere of Argentine film, Back to Stay / Abrir puertas y ventanas (pictured) by director Milagros Mumenthaler, the story of three sisters who are left alone in the home of their grandmother after she dies; Found Memories / Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas from director Júlia Murat, the Brazilian film that recounts the story of a photographer who enchants the elders of a small town with her camera;Neighboring Sounds / O som ao redor from Brazilian director, Kleber Mendonça Filho, depicting the happenings on city block on an upscale street in Recife; and Mosquita y Mari, a coming-of-age tale about two Chicana teens in Los Angeles by US-based director Aurora Guerrero.

Chilean Film BONSÁI Tops Miami Film Festival

Chilean film Bonsái (pictured) by director Cristián Jiménez won the prizes for Best Ibero-American Film and the Screenwriting Award at the 29th edition of the Miami Film Festival, as it was announced this evening at the closing night ceremony at the Gusman Theater in South Florida. Based on the novel by Alejandro Zambra, Bonsái tells the story of writer who taps into his past to inspire his new novel. The film will receive a cash prize of $30,000 as Best Ibero-American Film, and $5,000 for the Screenwriting Award.

Another Chilean film, Violeta se fue a los cielos / Violeta Went to Heaven by Andrés Wood, received the Grand Jury Discretionary Prize with a cash prize of $5,000. The festival also awarded Mexican film Fecha de caducidad / Expiration Date by Kenya Marquez for Best Ibero-American Film. Additionally, the documentary film Unfinished Spaces by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray about Cuba's National Art Schools received an Honorable Mention from the jury in the official documentary competition.

The festival opened on March 2 with the world premiere of Tom Gustafson's Mariachi Gringo (which won the prize for Best Mexican Film at the Guadalajara Film Festival today) and is showing the Argentine film Un cuento chino / Chinese Take-Away by Sebastián Borensztein in its closing night today.  

MARIACHI GRINGO Wins Guadalajara Film Fest

The Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG27) just announced the winners of the Mayahuel Awards for its 27 edition, which comes to a close today. In a surprising decision, Mariachi Gringo by American director Tom Gustafson won the top prize, the Mayahuel Award for Best Mexican Film. The US-Mexico co-production, which had its world premiere  as the opening night of the Miami Film Festival last week, stars Shawn Ashmore as a small-town man that runs away to Mexico to become a mariachi singer. The film also stars Mexican actresses Martha Higareda and Adriana Barraza, and renowned singer Lila Downs.

Everardo Gout won the Mayahuel Award for Best Mexican Director for his debut feature film Días de gracia / Days of Grace, whilst Sebastián del Amo's El fantastico mundo de Juan Orol / The Fantastic World of Juan Orol, the biopic on the Mexican version of Ed Wood, won the prize for Best Mexican First Film.

The award for Best Ibero-American Film was for the Argentine film Abrir puertas y ventanas / Back to Stay by Milagros Mumenthaler, and a Special Jury Award for the Spanish-Swiss co-production Los pasos dobles / The Double Steps by Isaki Lacuesta. Sebastián Cordero got the award for Best Director in the same category for his film Pescador from Ecuador, and Brazilian Film Transeúnte / Passerby by Eryk Rocha was the winner for the Mayahuel Award for Best Ibero-American First Film.

The prize for Best Ibero-American Documentary was for ¡Vivan las antípodas! / Long Live the Antipodes!, the Argentine-Chilean-German-Dutch co-production directed by Russian director Victor Kossajovsky; whilst Chilean film El salvavidas by Maité Alberdi received a Special Mention from the jury.

Cuates de Australia / Draught by Everardo González won the Mayahuel Award as Best Mexican Documentary Film; and there were two Special Mentions in the same category for Juan Carlos Rulfo and Natalia Gil'sCarrière, 250 metros / Carrière, 250 Meters and Alejandro Solar's El paciente interno / The Convict Patient.

The Audience Award prize was for the Mexican film Espacio Interior/ Richness of Internal Space, Kai Parlange's debut feature film and the Argentine film Mía by Javier Van de Couter received the Maguey Award as Best LGBT Film, the first time the prize is given in the festival.

For the complete list of winners, click here.  

Daniel Burman's New Film to Be Premiered at Tribeca

The Tribeca Film Festival announced today part of its lineup for its 11th edition that includes some Latino titles. The World Narrative Feature Competition includes the international premiere of Argentine film All In / La suerte en tus manos (pictured) by Daniel Burman, a story about a professional poker player who discovers love with an old flame starring Oscar®-winning Uruguayan songwriter Jorge Drexler and Argentine actresses Norma Aleandro and Valeria Bertuccelli; the world premiere of the US/Mexico co-production, The Girl by David Riker, that depicts the plight of a desperate mother who, after losing her job and the custody of her son, gets heavily involved in smuggling immigrants across the border.

Additionally the festival will feature the North American premiere of the Cuban film Una Noche by Lucy Mulloy, the story of two Cuban teens who entertain the idea of fleeing to Miami. The festival runs April 18-29 in New York City.