In Memoriam: Octavio Getino

Argentine filmmaker Octavio Getino died today at the age of 77, victim of cancer. Born August 6, 1935 in León, Spain, Getino became one of the leading figures and protagonist of the vigorous political and social cinema of South America in the late sixties and the seventies.

In 1968, along with Fernano "Pino" Solanas, he directed La hora de los hornos / The Hour of the Fournace, the epic milestone film, a three-part, four-hour-plus indictment of the neocolonialist exploitation of Argentina. "For the first time", said Getino, “we demonstrated that it was possible to produce and distribute a film in a non-liberated country with the specific aim of contributing to the political process of liberation." 

With Solanas and Gerardo Vallejo he created the Grupo Cine Liberación, an organization that was linked to the creation of the Third Cinema movement, along with Brazilian Cinema Nôvo, Raymundo Gleyzer's Cine de la base, the Cuban Revolutionary cinema, among others. The term Third Cinema was coined in the manifesto "Towards a Third Cinema" which was written by Solanas and Getino and published in 1969 in the Tricontinental cinema journal by the OSPAAL (Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. [Click here to read the complete manifesto].

He also directed with Solanas and the Grupo Cine Liberación the documentary films Argentina, mayo de 1969: Los caminos de la liberación (1969); Perón: La revolución justicialista (1971); and Perón: Actualización política y doctrinaria para la toma del poder (1971), and he directed the feature film El Familiar (1975).

Argentine Film DE MARTES A MARTES Wins Biarritz Latin American Film Fest

The Argentine production De martes a martes by Gustavo Triviño was the winner of the Best Film award at the 21st edition of the Latin American Film Festival of Biarritz which took place September 24-30 in France. The Cuban film Juan de los Muertos / Juan of the Dead by Alejandro Brugués was awarded the Special Jury Prize while the Argentine film El etnógrafo by Ulises Rosell won the prize for Best Documentary Film.

Other awards announced at the festival were the prize for Best Actress for Roxana Blanco in the Mexican-Uruguayan co-production La Demora by Rodrigo Plá; the prize for Best Actor for Luis Tosar in the Colombian-Spanish co-production Operación E by Miguel Courtois Paternina; the French Critics Award to Pablo Larraín's No (Chile); and the Audience Award prizes to the Feature Fiction Film Sofía y el terco by Andrés Burgos Vallejo (Colombia) and the Documentary Film La máquina loca by Emilio Maillé.

CARNE DE PERRO and EL ÚLTIMO ELVIS Awarded at San Sebastian

Two Latin American films were awarded two of the top prizes at the 60th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival which came to a close today in Spain. The debut feature film Carne de perro / Dog Flesh (pictured) by Chilean director Fernando Guzzoni was awarded the Kutza Prize for Best Film in the New Directors competition, while the Argentine film El último Elvis / The Last Elvis (pictured left) by Armando Bo was the winner of the Grand Prize at the Horizontes Latinos (Latino Horizons) section.

Guzzoni's film is a present day story of Alejandro, a 55 year old solitary, fragile and unpredictable man crushed by the hostility of his past. He is a man with a distorted view of reality who begins to disintegrate dangerously. A former torturer who tries to reinvent his life and give new meaning to it.

Bo's debut feature film which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival tells the story of singer Carlos Gutiérrez, an Elvis impersonator who will have to chose between his dream of becoming the King of Rock and Roll and his family.

Additionally, the Peruvian film El limpiador by Adrián Saba received a special mention in the Kutza-New Directors section, while the Brazilian film Era uma vez eu, Verônica / Once Upon a Time Was I, Veronica by Marcelo Gomes, and the Mexican film Después de Lucía / After Lucía by Michel Franco received a Special Mention in the Horizontes Latinos competition.

Other Latin American winners at San Sebastian include the Paraguayan film 7 Cajas by Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schémbori which received the Euskatel Youth Award; the Argentina film Días de pesca by Carlos Sorín which got the Signis Award; and the Chilean film Joven y alocada / Young & Wild by Marialy Rivas, winner of the Sebastiane Award.

Corto Circuito, Latino Short Film Fest of NY, Announces Lineup

The Corto Circuito, the Latino Short Film Festival of New York, has announced the lineup for its 9th annual edition that will take place October 4-6 at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at New York University.

More than 45 titles will be presented in the festival including award-winning short films in fiction and documentary, as well as some experimental works that resist easy classification and push at the boundaries of established structures and formats. The selections come from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the U.S.

"Being in our ninth year, we can say that Corto Circuito's role has been to bring movies that New Yorkers probably wouldn't see otherwise, but, also, to strengthen the bridge between Hispanic cultures, and New York audiences" says Diana Vargas, director of Corto Circuito.

The festival opens on Thursday October 4 with a program of award-winning films including Thais Fuginaga's L (Brazil), Miguel Moulet's Los anfitriones (Cuba-Peru), and Pablo Ortega's Animales de alquiler (Costa Rica). Over the course of the weekend, the festival will present dedicated programs of experimental films; a selection of shorts from the School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba –EICTV, the Universidad del Cine from Buenos Aires, and Mexico's Centro de Capacitación CInematográfica (CCC); a program on Uruguayan shorts and a selection of shorts made by Latino filmmakers living in the U.S. All the screenings are free an open to the public.

Chilean Director Sebastián Lelio Wins San Sebastian's Cine en Construcción

The newest project by Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio untitled Gloria (pictured) was the top winner of the 'Cine en Construcción' industry award, the work-in-progress section at the San Sebastian Film Festival, which is currently underway in Spain and runs through Saturday, September 29.

The film, written by Lelio and Gonzalo Maza and produced by Juan de Dios Larraín of Fabula Films, tells the story of Gloria (performed by Paulina García), a 58 year-old-lonely woman who meets an older man with whom she establishes a very intense relationship.

Gloria is Lelio's fourth feature film after La sagrada familia / The Sacred Family (2005), Navidad / Christmas (2009), and El año del tigre / The Year of the Tiger (2011). The film which was shot last July will receive in-kind technical support to secure all of its post-production

Additionally the Uruguayan-Mexican co-production Tanta agua / So Much Water by directors Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge received the Norteado Award consisting of $5,000 USD in the same competition, in which six films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay participated.

Latin American Countries Select their Oscar Entries [Complete]

[October 2, 2012 Update] Uruguay announced it has selected Rodrigo Plá's La Demora (a co-production film with Mexico and France) to represent the country in the Foreign Language category for the Oscars. The third feature film by Plá, starring Carlos Vallarino and Roxana Blanco, is a study of a single-mother and his aging, dangerously forgetful father, whose presence in her cramped home is driving her to desperate measures. 

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[September 28, 2012 Update] Argentina has selected Benjamín Ávila's Infancia clandestina / Clandestine Childhood as its Oscar entry for this year. Produced by filmmaker Luis Puenzo, the film  screened at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight, and has been acquired for US distribution by Film Movement for a November release. Set in Argentina in 1979, the film shows the hidden lives of political militants during the Argentine dictatorship through the eyes of a 12 year-old boy that has just returned from exile with his family. Ávila's debut feature film is largely based on his own personal story.

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[September 26, 2012 Update] Peru announced today that Rosario García-Montero's debut feature Las malas intenciones / The Bad Intentions will represent the country in the Oscar's Foreign Language category. The film, a coming of age tale set in the convoluted Lima in the 1980s, tells the story of eight-year-old Cayetana who is captivated by reports of guerrilla attacks and fascinated with the lives and deaths of the heroes of Peruvian independence. On more related news, Argentina will announce its candidate film this Friday, September 28. 

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A handful of Latin American countries have already selected their official submissions for the Foreign Language Film category for the 85th edition of the Academy Awards which will take place on February 24, 2013. So far Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Venezuela, have announced the films that will be representing each country for the Oscars.

Brazil has selected O Palhaço / The Clown, a charming, light-hearted dramedy co-written and directed by lead actor Selton Mello. The film tells the story of the father/son clown duo of Pangaré and Puro Sangue who work in a traveling circus in the Brazilian countryside.

Chile is submitting No the newest film by Pablo Larraín which stars Mexican actor Gael García Bernal and was the winner of the top prize in this year's Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. The film tells the fictionalized story of René Saavedra, an ad man who designs the marketing campaign to take dictator Augusto Pinochet out of power in the 1988 national plebiscite.

Colombia has opted for Carlos Moreno's drug crime thriller El Cartel de los Sapos / The Cartel of Snitches which stars Manolo Cardona, Tom Sizemore, Juana Acosta and Kuno Becker. The third film by Moreno (Perro come perro, Todos tus muertos) is based on the life story of former drug trafficker Andrés López who adapted his memoir into a telenovela and co-wrote the film's screenplay.

Jaque mate / Checkmate by José María Cabral is the Dominican Republic's candidate which is the fourth film ever that the Caribbean nation has submitted to the Oscars. The film was selected out of 10 contenders, which marks a local record. Cabral's film is about a TV host who receives a call from his family's kidnappers while he's on air. Mexico has selected Michel Franco's Después de Lucía / After Lucía which won the top prize at Cannes' Un Certain Regard section. The film follows the young Lucía, who just moved to town with her dad. She is new at school and becomes a victim of bullying by his new classmates.

Last, but not least, Venezuela has announced that Hernán Jabes' drama Piedra, papel o tijera / Rock, Paper Scissors will be representing the South American country.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the five nominees for Best Foreign-Language Film on January 10. 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.