Mexican Cinema Rocks at Cannes

For second consecutive year, Mexican cinema had a stellar performance at the Cannes Film Festival winning for second time in a row the prize for Best Director. Last year Carlos Reygadas took home the prize for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux while this year Amat Escalante (pictured left) was the winner with his equally controversial film Heli (pictured below right). Escalante thus becomes the fourth Mexican filmmaker to win the prize for Best Director at Cannes following in the footsteps of Luis Buñuel (Los Olvidados, 1951), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, 2006), and Reygadas (2012).

After receiving his award from American actor Forest Whitaker, Escalante said: "I’d like to thank this Jury for making this brave decision. It is a sign of hope for Mexico. Hopefully our suffering will come to an end very soon." This year's Cannes jury was composed by Steven Spielberg, actors Daniel Auteuil, Vidya Balan, Nicole Kidman, Christopher Waltz, and directors Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu and Lynne Ramsay.

Heli, Escalante's third film after Sangre (2005) and Los Bastardos (2008, both of which were premiered at Cannes' Un Certain Regard) and his first time participating at Cannes' Official Selection, tells the story of Estela is a 12 year old girl who has just fallen crazy in love with a young police cadet who wants to run away with her and get married. Trying to achieve this dream, her family will have to live the violence that is devastating the region.

Additionally, the ensemble cast of non-professional actors (pictured below left) of the Mexican film La jaula de oro / The Golden Cage by Spanish director Diego Quemada-Diez won the Un Certain Talent award in the Un Certain Regard competition. The cast is formed by the 17-year-olds Karen Martínez and Brandon López from Guatemala and Rodolfo Domínguez, 16, from Mexico. The film was also presented with the Gilles Pontecorvo Award by an independent jury.

Last year, in addition to Reygadas' prize, Michel Franco won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section for his film Después de Lucía / After Lucía, while the Mexican co-production films No, directed by the Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín and Aquí y Allá directed by the Spanish director Antonio Méndez Esparza won the top prizes in the Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week sections respectively. The first time ever Mexican cinema won prizes in all of Cannes' competitive sections.

Other Latin American winners at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival were the Argentinean film Los dueños / The Owners, the directorial debut by Agustín Toscano and Ezequiel Radusky, which received a Special Jury Mention in the Critics' Week section, and the Brazilian short film Pouco mais de um mês / About a Month by André Novais Oliveira which also won a Special Jury Mention in the Directors' Fortnight section.

Bolado's TLATELOLCO, VERANO DE 68 Wins Audience Award at Hola Mexico

The film Tlatelolco, Verano del 68 / Tlatelolco Summer of 68 (pictured) directed by Carlos Bolado was named winner of the Audience Award at the fifth year of the Hola Mexico Festival, chosen among 13 feature films and six documentaries by Mexican filmmakers.

Set in a city of great heroes as well as villains, Tlatelolco is a love story between two students of different social backgrounds. As the first developing country to host the Olympic Games in 1968, México City was under a magnifying glass. Under pressure, the Mexican government strove to advance the city and present it as stable, but a student movement confronted the government with riots and demonstrations. With characters from all walks of life, Tlatelolco is full of emotion and surprises. This epic love story is set against the backdrop of a time that remains controversial to date.

The Hola Mexico Festival took place during May 15 - 22nd in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to bringing the best in Mexican cinema, food and music.

Cannes: Argentinean Film LOS DUEÑOS Gets Jury Mention at Critics' Week

The Argentinean film Los dueños / The Owners (pictured), the directorial debut by Agustín Toscano and Ezequiel Radusky received a Special Jury Mention in the competition of the 52nd edition of the Critics' Week parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Starring Rosario Bléfari and German de Siva, the film tells the story of Sergio, who works in a estate in Argentina’s northern region with his family. When their employers aren’t home, they occupy the main house and emulate the life of the owners. Pia, the eldest daughter of the owner, arrives at the estate with the intention of staying a few days until her father’s marriage.

The jury composed by Portuguese director Miguel Gomes, film programmers Dennis Lim and Neil Young, and journalists Alin Tasciyan and Alex Vicente gave the top award to the Italian mafia thriller Salvo by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza. Last year, the film Aquí y Alláby Antonio Méndez Esparza won the top prize at Critics' Week.

Film Society of Lincoln Center to Feature a Matías Piñeiro Retrospective

The Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) announced today that it will showcase the work of Argentinean filmmaker Matías Piñeiro during the upcoming Latinbeat film festival that will take place July 12 – 21 in New York, and will simultaneously open two of his films, Viola (pictured) and Rosalinda, theatrically on July 12th.

Latinbeat will play host to the NY premiere of Piñeiro’s 2007 film The Stolen Man / El hombre robado and 2009 filmThey All Lie / Todos mienten. Viola returns to the Film Society after debuting at this year’s New Directors/New Films and will be released in the US through Cinema Guild. All screenings of Viola at the Film Society of Lincoln Center will be followed by his short film Rosalinda.

"Only 31, Matías Piñeiro has already established himself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary world cinema," said Dennis Lim, FSLC Director of Programming, Cinematheque. "His playful, mysterious films, about the power of desire and of language draw freely on theater and literature while remaining fully cinematic, at times calling to mind the youthful works of the French New Wave masters Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohmer. We are delighted to be tracing the evolution of Piñeiro's career to date by supplementing the theatrical release of Viola with a complete retrospective of his work."

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1982, Matías Piñeiro studied at the Universidad del Cine, where he went on to teach filmmaking and film history. In 2011 he received the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship from Harvard University for his new film project, Sarmiento, Translator. He currently lives in New York on a New York University scholarship in creative writing. His films include El hombre robado (2007), Todos mienten (2009), Rosalinda (2010), and Viola (2012). He is currently developing the third installment of his Shakespearean project, The Princess of France.

Iván Giroud Reappointed Director of the Havana Film Fest

The Havana Film Festival announced that it was reappointing Iván Giroud (pictured) as its director for the 35th edition of the festival which will take placeDecember 3-13 in Cuba. Giroud had been director of the festival between 1994 and 2010, and was currently serving as an advisor to the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC).

The Havana Film Festival also announced that for its 35th edition it will pay tribute to the founder and president of the festival Alfredo Guevara who died last April.

Created in 1979, the festival was created with the mission of promote films with artistic values that advance and enrich the Latin American and Caribbean identity.

Watch the Trailer of Jodorowsky's New Film LA DANZA DE LA REALIDAD

The French distribution company Pathé has just released the trailer for the new film by Alejandro Jodorowsky La danza de la realidad / The Dance of Reality (pictured), which marks the Chilean director's return to filmmaking after a 23-year hiatus. The film premieres today as part in the official competition of Cannes' Directors Fortnight section.

A playwright, actor, author, musician, comics writer, and spiritual guru, in addition to filmmaker, Jodorowsky gained international fame with his cult films, the acid western El Topo (1970) and the spiritual awakening journey La montaña sagrada / The Holy Mountain (1973), which he made in Mexico.

Based on his autobiography novel of the same name, in The Dance of Reality Jodorowsky returns to his childhood town of Tocopilla in Chile. In addition to the world premiere of his newest film, Directors' Fortnight will also screen the documentary film Jodorowsky’s Dune by Franck Pavich which chronicles the failed attempt by the Chilean director to shoot Herbert's novel.

The film premiered to the press earlier today, and the first reviews are emerging. Peter Bradshaw writing for the British newspaper The Guardian calls the film "an arresting spectacle (...) a triumphant return, which mixes autobiography, politics, torture and fantasy to exuberant, moving effect."

Watch the trailer: