Peru and Brazil Selected in Locarno Film Fest's Official Competition

The Locarno Film Festival has announced its lineup for its 66th edition, the first year under new artistic director, Carlo Chatrain. The 20-film International Competition lineup features almost all world premieres and includes the Brazilian film Educação sentimental / Sentimental Educations by Júlio Bressane, which tells the story of a woman's love and desire for a boy, and the Peruvian film (in co-production with France and Mexico) El mudo / The Mute (pictured) by Diego and Daniel Vega which details the life of Constantino Zegarra, a Peruvian judge, lead him to think that someone is trying to get rid of him.

As part of the Filmmakers of the Present section, the Mexican film Los insólitos peces gato / The Amazing Catfish (pictured right) by Claudia Sainte-Luce will be representing Latin America. The film is a semi-autobiographical story is about a lonely young woman working at a supermarket, who moves in with a colorful family and bonds with each of its members, finding a sense of belonging.

Chosen to participate in the Piazza Grande is Chilean Sebastián Leilo's most recent feature, the tragicomedy Gloria. Unfolding against the backdrop of Chile's current political developments. Gloria is the story of a 58 year old divorcée who is determined to defy old age and loneliness and fills her evenings attending parties for single adults. One day, she meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer and embarks on a relationship which will force her to confront her own dark secrets.

Last year Mexican director Pedro González-Rubio won the Golden Leopard Award for his  feature film Inori in the Filmmakers of the Present competition. The 66th edition of the Swiss Locarno Film Festival will take place on August 7th and will conclude on August 17th.

PRESUMED GUILTY Filmmakers Sued in Mexico

Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete, directors of the controversial 2011 Mexican documentary film Presunto culpable / Presumed Guilty (pictured) face 19 lawsuits which has hindered the distribution of the film on DVD in the country. The film is an exposé of the Mexican judicial system and it follows the trial of Antonio Zúñiga who was wrongly accused of murdering a young man.

Among the plaintiffs are Victor Daniel Reyes, who appears as a witness in the film, and José Manuel Ortega Saavedra, a former police commander who arrested the film's protagonist. They claim in their lawsuits for defamation that they were recorded without their consent. As reported by different media, the legal case could take years during which time the film could not be distributed on DVD.

This past Wednesday, there was a hearing at a court in Mexico City for the presentation of evidence. Through their Twitter account (@PresuntoC), the filmmakers pointed out that one of the plaintiffs has not seen the film despite claiming that it distorts reality. During the course of the legal case, the filmmakers have also denounced incidents of harassment by local judiciary players.

Presumed Guilty was awarded with an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and it also was awarded with the Best Documentary prize at the Morelia Film Festival.

Projects from Chile and Cuba Awarded with Sundance Doc Grant

Three Latin American films were among the 29 awarded projects that will receive funds from the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program and Fund (DFP) totaling $550,000. The three awarded Latin American projects, all of them at the development stage, are Maite Alberdi's Children (pictured left) and Carola Fuentes' Chicago Boys both from Chile, and the Cuban-Spanish co-production Hotel Nueva Isla by Irene Gutierrez and Javier Labrador.

Alberdi's film focuses on the Chilean support for people with Down Syndrome, which ends at 25, but life expectancy is now in the 50s. A group of friends are facing a stage they were never prepared for, because no one ever expected them to grow up or get old.

Fuentes' Chicago Boys tells how a group of Milton Friedman’s disciples – backed by a military dictatorship in the ‘70s – managed to turn Chile into the first and most extreme model of neoliberalism in the world. Hotel Nueva Isla tells the story of Jorge, who lives with his four neighbors in the formerly luxurious Hotel Nueva Isla in Old Havana. Now in ruins, it is a shelter for people living on the fringes of society. Evacuation becomes imminent, but Jorge resists abandoning the building.

Other Latino-themed winners include the American projects Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four by Deborah S. Esquenazi, Marmato by Mark Grieco, and The Hand that Feeds by Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick. Southwest of Salem tells the story of four Chicana lesbians languish in Texas prisons, found guilty of sexually assaulting two girls ages 7 and 9. Now, advocates and attorneys believe that a spurned suitor's revenge, homophobia and 'junk science' were key factors in their conviction. The film also explores the tedious process of exonerating innocents in Texas.

Marmato (pictured right) is a documentary feature about an artisan gold-mining village in rural Colombia on the precipice of opportunity and destruction as a Canadian mining company plans a massive regional investment. For five centuries these miners have lived in the lush Andes Mountains; the gold being their only source of sustenance. This intimate portrait follows the lives of the villagers as they struggle to preserve their centuries old way of life and confront the arrival of large-scale mining operations.

The Hand that Feeds follows 12 undocumented immigrant workers that take on a well-known New York City restaurant chain owned by powerful investors. This David-and-Goliath story explores what it takes for ordinary people to stand up for their dignity, and win. 

Guzmán's NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT Is Nominated for Two Emmy Awards

The Chilean documentary Nostalgia for the Light (pictured) by master documentarian Patricio Guzmán was nominated for two categories in the 34th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards for Best Documentary and Outstanding Historical Programming—Long-Form, as it announced the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) today.

Guzmán's Nostalgia for the Light is a remarkable meditation on memory, history and eternity. Chile’s remote Atacama Desert, 10,000 feet above sea level, provides stunningly clear views of the heavens. But it also holds secrets from the past in its arid soil: human remains, from pre-Columbian mummies to the bones of political prisoners "disappeared" during the Pinochet dictatorship. In this otherworldly place, earthly and celestial quests meld: Archaeologists dig for ancient civilizations, women search for their loved ones and astronomers scan the skies for new galaxies.

The Chilean documentary was broadcasted in the United States last October as part of the 25th anniversary edition of PBS' POV series. Guzmán nomination comes just few days after the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences extended him an invitation to become a member.

Other Latino nominees for the 34th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards also included one nomination for the US-Guatemalan co-production Granito: How to Nail a Dictator by Pamela Yates for Outstanding Investigative Journalism—Long-Form; and the US-Mexico co-production film Circo (pictured right) by Aaron Schock for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming.

The News & Documentary Emmy® Awards will be presented on Tuesday, October 1 at a ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located in the Time Warner Center in New York City.

Matías Piñeiro and Sebastián Silva: VIOLA vs. CRYSTAL FAIRY

In an unusual yet happy coincidence, two films by two of the most exciting young South American filmmakers will be opening in New York theaters this coming Friday, July 12.

Cinema Guild will be releasing Viola by Argentinean director Matías Piñeiro (pictured right) at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Elinon Bunin Munroe Film Center, and IFC Films will be releasing Crystal Fairy by Chilean director Sebastián Silva (pictured left) at the IFC Center (it will also open at the Nuart Theater in LA).

TropicalFRONT decided that this fortunate coincidence merited a comparison of these two talented filmmakers, both of whom call New York City home, and whose new films are both named after their leading female characters.

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Matías Piñeiro	Sebastián Silva
Place of Birth:   Buenos Aires, Argentina	Place of Birth:   Santiago, Chile
Age:   31	Age:   34
Astrological sign:   Taurus	Astrological sign:   Aries
Place of Residence:   East Village, Manhattan	Place of Residence:   Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Studied film at:   Universidad del Cine	Studied film at:   Escuela de Cine de Chile and animation in Montreal.
Year of directorial debut:   2007	Year of directorial debut:   2007
Filmography:   El hombre robado / The Stolen Man (2007); Todos mienten   / They All Lie (2009); Rosalinda (2010); Viola (2012)	Filmography:   La vida me mata / Life Kills Me (2007); La nana / The Maid   (2009); Gatos viejos /  Old Cats (co-directed with Pedro   Peirano, 2010); Crystal Fairy (2013); Magic Magic (2013)
Number of shooting days for his newest film:   10	Number of shooting days for his newest film:   12
What the New York Times' Manohla Dargis says:   Viola is "wonderfully inventive... A triumph of narrative   imagination and bottom-line ingenuity."	What the New York Times' Manohla Dargis says:   Crystal Fairy was "one of the best films at this year's   Sundance Film Festival."
Where else can you see his work:   The Film Society of Lincoln Center is doing a retrospective   of Piñeiro this weekend.	Where else can you see his work:   Magic Magic will be released on DVD August 6th; MoMA will   present a one-week theatrical run of Old Cats August 20-26.
What he is currently working on:   The Princess of France, the third installment in his   Shakespearan project to be shoot in Argentina this August.	What he is currently working on:   Nasty Baby, about a gay couple trying to impregnate their   friend, a straight woman. The film, starring Silva himself,   will be shoot in Fort Greene this summer.

Sebastián Silva: "Crystal Fairy Was Something That Really Happened to Me"

By Diego Molano

Thirty-four year old Chilean director Sebastián Silva has received numerous accolades throughout his skyrocketing career. Among his most acclaimed films is 2009’s La nana / The Maid which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Few days ago, he stuck around after a special Cinema Tropical screening of his new film, Crystal Fairy, to answer a Q&A from a buzzing audience.

Tell us about the process of the film. How did Crystal Fairy come about?

Crystal Fairy was something that really happened to me twelve years ago in Chile. Me and my best buddy wanted to take mescaline down in the desert. At the Whalers concert in Santiago we met a woman from San Francisco that had hairy armpits and she actually went by the name Crystal fairy. And I invited her to tag along but then we regretted it. But when we were there, in Copiapo, and she was there and she was getting attacked by the gypsies and we had to adopt the fairy, exactly like the movie. The only fiction thing was that there was no confrontation between me and her. We were actually really good friends. Everything was smooth and fun the entire trip. The movie is based on a true story, what I learned from that experience was compassion. I actually cried for her pain when she told that story. And I felt that the birth of compassion was so important in a young adult and it was such a new feeling. But I kept it there on my computer desktop forever. But it was something I wanted to do, not necessarily a movie, I didn’t know what it was.

Then two years ago we were planning on making Magic Magic and Michael Cera, whom I’d previously worked with on a web series for HBO, he read Magic Magic and he really loved one of the roles. He asked me if he could do it, and I adapted the character for him. So, I got the financing and he moved to Chile because the character had to speak really fluent Chilean, not just Spanish. So I told him to go stay with my family. And he was with my family for three months. Then I went down there and we supposedly got the money but then it got delayed again, and I’d kinda foreseen that so I spoke with Gabby Hoffman, who I’d also worked with on this other HBO short. I told her maybe Magic Magic wasn’t going to get done immediately, but maybe she’d be down to do this road trip movie, ten days, with Michael Cera and my brothers – no food, no make up. And she said yeah. So she came down. Michael Cera agreed, and I wrote just an outline, twelve pages. And we took off to the desert; we filmed it with a lot of improvised dialogue. But everything was pretty clear, because I’m pretty controlling and the directions were really specific for each actor. Right after we finished editing Crystal Fairy the money for Magic Magic was right there, so we shot it immediately.

You had worked with one of your siblings in The Maid. Is that harder or easier to work with three of them in this film?

I wanted to work with only Augustin, the same kid that was in The Maid. But he’s so bad at auditions. So I tried with Champa, the oldest in the film, and he was great. But I felt bad and had all my brothers in there. But it worked great. Production wise, it worked – it was great to have three kids that all looked alike and had such great chemistry. It’s great to work with family, since you can bully them around, no sympathy. I wanted them to be themselves, especially that scene around the fire—those are actually there fears. Except Michael (Cera) we rehearsed that he was going to say sharks, just to fuck with Crystal Fairy.

There’s this flash moment with Michael Cera that felt almost like a horror movie. What is that?

I love when people ask about that. You know, most people don’t notice or forget it. That’s a frame from The Exorcist. And there’s no real meaning behind it, except as an homage to YouTube videos. You know, like videos that have something really cute, and you’re staring at it and all of a sudden a really haunting image pops up.

What happened to the real Crystal Fairy?

I hope she is alive. I mean, it’s a possibility, people die. I’ve tried googling her but I don’t remember her real name—her real name wasn’t Isabelle. She was a dominatrix, so I’ve looked up “Crystal Fairy Domintatrix” and the weirdest things come up. We showed the film at the San Francisco Film Festival, and we gave her a shout out you know, "Crystal Fairy, wherever you are, fly to us we are looking for you." But yeah, I have no idea how to find her. I think she’ll come around when the movie comes out.

Why did you have such an abrupt ending?

Um, there were other alternative endings. There was one ending we tried where she’s walking away but instead of just going behind the rocks she flies away and Michael is so scared starts throwing rocks at her, and it didn’t work. I mean, the real story is, we had breakfast and she took off with another batch of Chilean guys. I mean, it wasn’t so abrupt, she said goodbye. We were eating eggs and free styling rap and she just took off to another adventure. But I mean, for me, the ending is, both characters had a pretty specific journey. They’re in a completely different place from where the story started. She shares her real name, and eats cookies, and Jamie cried for somebody else pain.

Why did you decide to put an American in the film? Was there an American with you on your trip?

Michael is actually playing me. Uh… I’m a nice guy. I was really driven to get the cactus but… I guess it’s that Michael is Canadian, and he speaks English. It made sense that he’d be American, an American drug fanatic, and he’d invite an American girl. I guess there’s some sort of political message to have American guys behave the way that they did in the foreign country. But politics are so intrinsic to any story that I didn’t even pay attention to that. I mean I was just treating them as people. I kinda forgot about language.

Did you read The Doors of Perception?

Yes I’ve read it. I’m pretty open about the fact that I’ve tried a lot of drugs. I think that we’re not painting mescaline as a party drug. There are so many drugs that aren’t party drugs. Its been characterized as a drug movie, but I think its more of a friendship movie, and it happens to have mescaline in it.

I love the use of sound, especially when he starts to feel the effects of the mescaline. Can you elaborate on that?

That is the only moment where I put the audience in one of the characters mind. Almost everything else is from outside. We see Crystal Fairy playing with the shells or the guys playing games or saying “genes are so weird”. The panic attack that Michael taps into, I thought it was good for the audience to feel the fear in that moment because he’d been so insensitive with Crystal Fairy. E had to be really careful because I didn’t want to go as far as having the audience feel the high if the characters. I guess we broke the rules in that moment. We wanted the audience to have a very objective view.

Crystal Fairy opens in theaters and on demand on Friday, July 12.