GLORIA Tops First Platino Awards

The Chilean film Gloria by Sebastián Lelio (pictured right) was the big winner of the first edition of the Platino Awards which took place last night in Panama City. Lelio's film won the awards for Best Director, Best Actress for Paulina Garciá, and Best Screenplay.

The award for Best Director was presented to Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante for his film Heli, while the Best Co-Production award went to the Argentinean-Spanish film The German Doctor / Wakolda by Lucía Puenzo. 

Other winners include Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez as Best Actor for his leading role in Instructions Not Included / No se aceptan devoluciones (which he also directed). The Argentinean film Metegol / Foosball received two awards, for Best Animated Film and Best Music Score. An honorary Platino Award was presented to Brazilian actress Sonia Braga.

Presented by Spain's Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales (EGEDA) and Iberoamerican Producers Association (FIPCA). Mexican singer and actress Alessandra Rossaldo, warried to Derbez, and CNN Latino's Juan Carlos Arciniegas hosted the ceremony which had presenters such as Paraguayan filmmaker Juan Carlos Maneglia (7 Boxes), and actresses Blanca Guerra and Leandra Leal.

Acclaimed Brazilian Actor José Wilker Dies

José Wilker (pictured), one of Brazil's most acclaimed actors, died today at the age of 66 of a heart attack in Rio de Janeiro. Known internationally for his work in Bruno Barreto's Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976) and Carlos Diegues' Bye Bye Brazil (1979), he worked in over 50 films between 1965 and 2013. He also worked in numerous soap operas and mini series both as an actor and director, and was a film critic. 

Born José Wilker of Almeida on August 20, 1947 in Juazeiro do Norte in northeastern Brazil. He started his professional as a radio announcer in his home town. He moved to Recife with his family where he worked as a member of the Movimiento de Cultura Popular (MCP), an active political theater group, which was banned during the military represation. In 1967 he moved to Rio de Janeiro to pursue a degree in Sociology, which he shortly abandoned for acting.

His first participation in film was in 1965 in Leo Hirzman's drama The Deceased / A Falecida (co-written by the recently deceased filmmaker Eduardo Coutinho) which starred Fernando Montenegro. In 1976 he worked with Diegues in the epic film Xica da Silva, starring Zezé Motta, where he played the role of the Count of Valadares.

That same year he was cast as Vadinho, one of Dona Flor's husbands in Barretto's acclaimed debut feature (pictured right) which was an international hit landing an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Three years later he worked again with Diegues in the critically acclaimed Bye Bye Brazil (pictured below left), which had its world premiere as part of Cannes' official competition, playing the role of Lorde Cigano.

In 1992 he participated in the American production Medicine Man by John McTiernan and starring Sean Connery and Lorraine Branco. More recent film credits include The Battle of Canudos / Guerra de Canudos (1997) by Sérgio Rezende, O Homem do Ano / The Man of the Year (2003) by José Henrique Fonseca, Redeemer / Rendetor (2004) by Cláudio Torres. His last participation in film was last year in the sequel comedy film Casa de Mãe Joana 2 by Hugo Carvana.

Combining his acting roles in film he worked in television soap operas for decades, where he was equally successful. His star role as Roque Santeiro in the soap opera of the same name was perhaps his most internationally known television work. Wilker was also president of the public-funded distribution company RioFilme, and also worked as a film critic with a weekly column in a publication and he was a recurrent film commentator in television.

Watch  the original trailer for Bye Bye Brazil:

Closing Distances 3, Brings POV Executive Producer, Simon Kilmurry to Cuba

For the third time in less then one year, a U.S. documentary program will tour Cuba. Closing Distances/Cerrando Distancias 3 will bring POV Executive Producer, Simon Kilmurry (pictured left) who will screen the POV film, Getting Back to Abnormal (pictured below right). Alexandra Halkin, Director of the Americas Media Initiative (AMI), a non-profit that works with Cuban filmmakers, organized the tour.

The Cuban organizational counterpart providing the logistical support is the Young Directors Film Festival (Muestra Joven) based in Havana. The tour will begin with a presentation by Mr. Kilmurry at the Young Director’s Festival and then Ms. Halkin and Mr. Kilmurry will travel to the Isle of Youth, and Pinar del Rio where they will screen Getting Back to Abnormal and engage in Q&A sessions with Cuban audiences.
 
In spring 2012 AMI launched it’s pioneering Closing Distances/Cerrando Distancias U.S. Documentary tour with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and was the first time that the MoMA did an official program in Cuba. Since then the Closing Distances tours have screened six U.S. documentaries and engaged with Cuban audiences in Cienfuegos, Camaguey, Holguin, Bayamo, Guantanamo, Baracoa, the Sierra Maestra Mountains and Havana. Interviews and portions of the presentations have been broadcast on Cuban National Television, reaching millions of Cubans throughout the island. AMI is the only U.S. organization that Cuba has allowed to screen U.S. documentaries in the Cuban provinces.
 
Produced by American Documentary, Inc. and now in its 27th season on PBS in 2014, the award-winning POV is the longest-running showcase on American television to feature the work of today's best independent documentary filmmakers from around the world. POV has brought more than 365 acclaimed documentaries to millions in the U.S. POV films have won every major film and broadcasting award, including 32 Emmys, 15 George Foster Peabody Awards, 10 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards® and the Prix Italia. Since 1988, POV has pioneered the art of presentation and outreach using independent nonfiction media to build new communities in conversation about today's most pressing social issues.
 
Closing Distances/Cerrando Distancias 3 will screen Getting Back to Abnormal, directed by Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Paul Stekler, and Peter Odabashian. New Orleans' long history of political dysfunction and complicated racial dynamics gets a new lease on life when Stacy Head, a polarizing white woman, wins a seat on the city council after Katrina. Four years later, she needs to get black votes to be re-elected. But will her record of blunt racial talk doom her chances? With its cast of only-in-New-Orleans characters, Getting Back to Abnormal is a provocative and amusing look at race in America, set against the backdrop of New Orleans' rich culture. The film is part of the POV 2014 line-up and will be broadcast on PBS, July 14 at 10 pm.

Gael García Bernal and Marc Silver's WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL? Opens April 25

Who is Dayani Cristal? (pictured left), a new documentary focused on the human toll of the U.S. immigration crisis starring Gael García Bernal and directed by Marc Silver, will open on April 25th in New York at Cinema Village, followed by a release to select cities nationwide.

Winner of the Sundance 2013 World Cinema Cinematography Award and an official selection at the 51st New York Film Festival, Who is Dayani Cristal? adds critical perspective to the intense immigration reform debate in the United States.

In this piercing documentary that pushes the edges of the non-fiction form, acclaimed Mexican actor and activist Gael García Bernal tells the story of one of the many migrant workers who lost their lives in the stretch of Arizona desert known as "the corridor of death." As García Bernal retraces this man’s steps along the migrant trail in Central America, he and director Marc Silver show how one life can become a powerful testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration.

With contributions from the dedicated forensic examiners of the Pima County Morgue in Arizona, the film seeks to answer questions surrounding the death of this yet-unidentified man. As the investigation unfolds, García Bernal embeds himself among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border. He witnesses first-hand the dangers these men, women and children face on their way to the United States, also offering new insight into their sacrifices in search for a better life.

García Bernal and director Silver have created an unique experiential documentary that illuminates an urgent issue of immigration. The film brings viewers intimately close to the often-invisible lives that have been affected by a broken immigration policy.

Watch the trailer:

LOOKING AT THE STARS wins the HBO/NALIP Doc Award

HBO and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers  (NALIP) have announced the winner and finalist of the 2013-2014 HBO/NALIP Documentary Filmmaker Award. The winning documentary, Olhando Pras Estrelas / Looking at the Stars (pictured left) by Alexandre Peralta is the inspiring and empowering story of ballerinas at the Fernanda Bianchini Ballet Association for the Blind, São Paulo’s first and only ballet school for the blind.

Following the achievements and hardships of Geyza, the Prima Ballerina, one of the first students of the company and now a ballet teacher, the documentary shows that anything is possible when you follow your dreams.  The film crew from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts created the film with accessibility in mind, with the harmonious sound design and narration providing an inclusive experience for visually impaired spectators.

The documentary finalist, Jessica Gonzales vs. the United States of America (pictured right) was created by the directing team of Katia Maguire and April Hates. This moving documentary follows Jessica Gonzales, a domestic violence survivor on her crusade to strengthen the legal rights of women who hold restraining orders after her three young daughters are murdered. Jessica took her case to the Supreme Court and the international human rights tribunal becoming a vocal advocate for domestic abuse victims along the way.

Created in 2009 by HBO, the $10,000 cash prize rewards Latino documentarians focusing on capturing the Latino experience.  Professional filmmakers and HBO Documentary Film executives selected the winners from numerous submissions based on uniqueness, quality, structure and tone and style.

CIENCIAS NATURALES and ECO DE LA MONTAÑA Win at Guadalajara

The Argentine film Ciencias naturales / Natural Sciences (pictured), the directorial debut by Matía Luchessi was the top winner at the Guadalajara taking the prizes for Best Ibero-American film, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. The Jury Special Prize went to Marcelo Gomes and Cao Guimaraes' O Homem das Multidões / The Man of the Crowd, which also received the award for Best Cinematography.

Brazilian director Fernando Coimbra was awarded the prize for Best Director for his film O Lobo atrás da porta / A Wolf at the Door. Los Ángeles, a German-Mexican co-production directed by American filmmaker Damian John Harper was awarded the prize for Best First Film.

In the Mexican competition, Nicolás Echeverría's documentary Ecos de la montaña / Echos of the Mountain was the winner of the Best Film award. The film also received a Special Jury Prize in the Ibero-American documentary competition. The Chilean film La última estación / The Last Station was named Best Ibero-American Documentary of the festival.

The 29th edition of the Guadalajara Film Festival tool place March 21-30 in Mexico.