Mexican Doc THE NAKED ROOM Will Have NYC Theatrical Run

Anthology Film Archives has announced the New York theatrical premiere run of the award-winning Mexican documentary film The Naked Room / El cuarto desnudo (pictured) by Spanish-born director Nuria Ibáñez. The film, which was the winner of the Best Documentary award at the Morelia Film Festival, is distributed in the U.S. by Magic Lantern Films. Hailed by Variety as "a haunting exploration of mental illness in children," The Naked Room opens Friday, August 29th.

Among the most immensely powerful, exquisitely sensitive, and formally inspired documentary films in recent memory, The Naked Room takes place entirely within the confines of a pediatric therapist’s office in a Mexico City hospital, observing the initial consultations of a succession of deeply troubled kids, and brilliantly transforming this constricted space into a microcosm vast in its metaphorical dimensions.

Through the children’s expressions and gestures, The Naked Room paints a vivid picture of a society that inflicts its resentments and frustrations, its insecurities and sense of powerlessness, on those who are entirely unequipped to defend themselves, who have just begun the delicate process of understanding their world and forming their own identities. Shattering yet somehow resisting despair, thanks to the children’s reed-like resilience and astonishing honesty, The Naked Room is a landmark of contemporary documentary filmmaking. 

Watch the trailer: 

Colombian Film GENTE DE BIEN Tops Lima Film Fest

Franco Lolli's debut feature film Gente de Bien from Colombia was the top winner at the 18th edition of the Lima Film Festival receiving the award for Best Film.

The film tells the story of Eric, a 10 year-old kid who finds himself almost overnight living with Gabriel, his father, who he barely knows. The man has trouble keeping their heads above water and building a relationship with his son. María Isabel, the woman Gabriel works for as a carpenter, decides to take the child under her wing.

Lisandro Alonso's Jauja from Argentina was awarded a Special Jury Mention, while Uruguayan filmmaker Manuel Nieto Zas was awarded the prize for Best Director for The Militant / El lugar del hijo. The Mexican film Güeros by Alonso Ruizpalacios was presented with the prize for Best First Film.  Other winners include Colombian film Tierra en la lengua / Dust in the Tongue for Best Screenplay, and actors Leandra Leal and Milhem Cortaz from the Brazilian film A Wolf at the Door / O lobo atrás da porta for Best Actress and Best Actor respectively.

In the documentary section, the Best Film was awarded to Mexican film Echo of a Mountain / Ecos de la montaña by Nicolás Echeverría, while Argentinean film El color que cayó del cielo by Sergio Wolf was awarded a Special Jury Mention.

The 18th edition of the Lima Film Festival took place August 6-16 in Peru.

NAVAJAZO from Mexico Wins Golden Leopard at Locarno

Navajazo (pictured), the directorial feature debut by Mexican director Ricardo Silva (pictured below right) was the winner of the Golden Leopard award for Best Film in the Filmmakers of the Present competition at the 2014 edition of the Locarno Film Festival.

The award, presented to the best film of the competition for first and second features, comes with a cash prize of $44,000 USD approximately to be shared equally between the director and the producer.

The Colombian film Los Hongos by director Oscar Ruiz Navia was awarded the Special Jury Prize in the Filmmakers of the Present competition. Two other Latin American films received Special Mention in two separate sections of the festival: the Brazilian film August Winds / Ventos de Agosto by Gabriel Also in the main competition, and Chilean short film Muerte blanca by Roberto Collío in the Pardi di domani international competition.

Mixing documentary and fiction, Navajazo portrays characters struggling to survive in a hostile environment, in the border city of Tijuana, where all they have is each other and the only thing they possess is the will to keep on living, no matter the cost. The film portraits prostitutes and migrants, a musician nicknamed El Muerto, a director of porn films, a collector of toys and a home-video actor known as El Alacrán.

The 2014 edition of the Locarno Film Festival took place August 6-16 in Switzerland.

Morelia Film Fest Announces 2014 Lineup

The Morelia Film Festival has announced the lineup for the official competition of its 12th edition. The Mexican Feature Film Section will see the national premieres of Los ausentes / The Absent (pictured left) by Nicolás Pereda, Carmín Tropical by Rigoberto Perezcano, El comienzo del tiempo by Bernardo Arellano, Sand Dollars / Dólares de arena (pictured below right) by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas, Güeros by Alonso Ruizpalacios, and I Am Happiness on Earth / Yo soy la felicidad de este mundo by Julián Hernández, among others.

In the Mexican Documentary Feature Film section, Morelia will showcase Muerte en Arizona / Death in Arizona by Tin Dirdamal, Chuy, El hombre lobo / Chuy, the Wolf Man by Eva Aridjis, La hora de la siesta / The Naptime by Carolina Plat, Bering, equilibrio y resistencia by Lourdes Grobet, and Café by Hatuey Viveros, among others.

Prolific director Pereda will also have the Mexican premiere of his film El palacio / The Palace as part of the Mexican Documentary Short Film section, which also include 11 other short films made by Mexican directors. The 12th edition of the Morelia Film Festival will take place October 17-26 in Mexico.

Complete selection:

Mexican Feature Film Section

1. The Absent / Los ausentes by Nicolás Pereda
2. Carmín Tropical by Rigoberto Perezcano
3. El comienzo del tiempo by Bernardo Arellano
4. Sand Dollars / Dólares de Arena by Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas
5. Eddie Reynolds y los Ángeles de Acero by Gustavo Moheno
6. En la estancia by Carlos Armella
7. Güeros by Alonso Ruizpalacios
8. Hilda by Andrés Clariond Rangel
9. Los muertos by Santiago Mohar Volkow
10. Las oscuras primaveras by Ernesto Contreras
11. Plan sexenal by Santiago Cendejas
12. I Am Happiness on Earth / Yo soy la felicidad de este mundo by Julián Hernández

Mexican Documentary Feature Film Section

1. Bering. Equilibrio y resistencia by Lourdes Grobet
2. Café (Cantos de humo) by Hatuey Viveros
3. Chuy, El hombre lobo by Eva Aridjis
4. La danza del hipocampo by Gabriela D. Ruvalcaba
5. Historias de la Sierra Madre by Omar Osiris Ponce Nava
6. El hogar al revés by Itzel Martínez del Cañizo
7. La hora de la siesta by Carolina Platt Soberanes
8. Matria by Fernando Llanos
9. Death in Arizona / Muerte en Arizona by Tin Dirdamal
10. Retratos de una búsqueda by Alicia Calderón
11. El silencio de la princesa by Manuel Cañibe
12. Sporen / Huellas by Diego Gutiérrez, Danniel Danniel

Mexican Documentary Short Film Section

1. Estado de ánimo by Genaro Rojas Ramírez
2. Gallo de pelea by José Luis Palma
3. El hombre de maíz by Irving Mondragón
4. Jefe del desierto by Alejandro Ramírez Collado
5. Jeuh kieh a hm jm kahun / El sendero del caldo de piedra by Arturo Juárez Aguilar, Sarah Borealis
6. Nenek by Sabdyel Almazán
7. OSO_TAPATÍO by Erick Flores, Miguel Cedeño
8. El palacio by Nicolás Pereda
9. ¿Por qué el recuerdo? by Juan Pablo González
10. El sudor de la agonía by Mariano Rentería Garnica
11. Toñita’s by Sebastián Díaz, Beyza Boyacioglu
12. Xochicalco, altar al tiempo by Alicia Ortega García

Columba Domínguez, Icon of Mexican Golden Age, Dies at 85

Iconic Mexican actress Columba Domínguez Adalid passed away Wednesday night at the age of 85 in Mexico City. Born in Guaymas, Sonora on March 4, 1929, Domínguez would go onto become one of the leading actress of the Mexican 'Golden Age' of cinema. In 1946, she made her film debut in Pepita Jimenez, by the hand of director Emilio "El Indio" Fernández.

She is most remembered for her roles in Maclovia (1948), in which she won the Ariel Award for Best Supporting Actress and Pueblerina. Domínguez worked with legendary directors like Fernández (pictured below along with Marilyn Monroe) in La malquerida (1949) and Reportaje (1953); Luis Buñuel in El río y la muerte (1955) and Ismael Rodríguez in Los hermanos del hierro (1961) and Ánimas Trujano (1962).

In 1984, the Mexican National Association of Actors (ANDA) gave Domínguez the “Virginia Fábregas” medal for 25 uninterrupted years of artistic work. The actress returned to the screen in 2008 after more than two decades away from the spotlight in the film Paloma by Roberto Fiesco.

Domínguez’s last screen appearance was in En el último trago (2014) by Jack Zhaga, a tribute to Mexican composer Jose Alfredo Jiménez.

Last year the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences gave Domínguez the Gold Ariel in recognition of her long and fruitful trajectory that included more than 60 films and included extensive work in radio, television and theater.

Berneri and Jiménez to Compete in San Sebastian

Two South American films will form part of the Official Selection for Spain’s 62nd edition of the San Sebastian Festival. Competing for the coveted Golden Shell will be the Argentinean film Open Air / Aire libre from Anahí Berneri and Chilean director Cristián Jiménez’s comedy, Voiceover / La voz en off (pictured left).

Berneri, returns to the competition after presenting Encarnación in 2007, a film about an aging starlet returning home to her conservative family. Her new film, Open Air (pictured below right) follows Manuel and Lucía, husband and wife, as their relationship begins to fracture.

Reluctant to admit they have drifted apart they set out to renovate a house with the hope of rekindling their relationship. After selling their apartment they move in with Lucía’s family which leads Manuel to move in with his own parents. Without a shared home they forget what brought them together. Open Air was presented in 2012, in the San Sebastian Co-Production Forum and will also screen at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September in the Contemporary World Cinema section.

Voiceover, Jiménez’ third feature (Ilusiones ópticas, Bonsái) was filmed in southern Chile in the town of Valdivia and follows 35-year-old vegetarian Sofia (Ingrid Isensee), a recently separated mother of two. In a rut, she swears off TV, Internet, books and her mobile phone for a year with the hope of finding peace. Things get complicated when her father leaves her mother, her belligerent older sister returns and her kids become obsessed with eating meat. The film is a co-production between Jirafa Films and Rogue International.

Last year the Venezuelan film Bad Hair / Pelo Malo was the winner of the Golden Shell for Best Film at the festival, becoming the first film from that South American country to win the honors. The 62nd edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival will take place September 19-27.