News

Disney’s “Kingdom of The Planet of the Apes” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.8 million ($4.7 million), according to numbers from Comscore.

Universal’s “The Fall Guy” dropped down to second place with £948,970 and now has a running total of £6.7 million. In third place, in its third weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Challengers” collected £333,281 for a total of £4.7 million.

In fourth position, in its fifth weekend, Studiocanal’s “Back to Black” earned £211,408 for a total of £11.2 million. Rounding off the top five was Sony’s “Tarot,” which read the cards to the tune of £140,983 in its second weekend and now has a total of £923,013.

The only other debut in the Top 10 was Trafalgar Releasing’s opera recording “Madama Butterfly,” which bowed in ninth place with £96,727.

The mid-week releases coming up include Trafalgar’s “Transformers: 40th Anniversary Event,” where episodes of the animated 1984 series will be screened alongside original voice-over talent,...

Luis Ospina, interviewed shortly before his death, recalls a fierce career that applied the lessons of the French New Wave to his work

Jorge Carvalho’s brief documentary is a study of the Colombian documentarist and film-maker Luis Ospina, the founder of the Grupo de Cali; named after his home town of Cali in Colombia, it was an artists’ collective including director Carlos Mayolo and the writer Andrés Caicedo, whose early death at 25 helped make him a legendary figure of Colombian literature. They were formed in radical opposition to what Ospina and others saw as the dullness and complacency of Colombian cinema, and in sympathy with leftist currents in moviemaking after Godard. The Californian-educated Ospina himself displays a classic New Wave reverence for the American masters such as Hawks and Ford, in whose company he includes Jerry Lewis without any hesitation. Ospina and the Grupo de Cali were the subject...

Currently on view at the Swiss Institute, multidisciplinary artist Karen Lamassonne’s exhibition “Ruido / Noise” is one of the season’s essential gallery shows. In addition to a life-spanning survey of paintings, photography and sculpture by the Colombian-American artist, the show details Lamassonne’s work as an art director, perhaps most famously on Luis Ospina’s pitch-black 1982 vampire parable Pura Sangre (Pure Blood). Lamassonne was a key figure in the storied Grupo de Cali, a posse of artists, writers and filmmakers based in the city of same name, notorious both for their hard-partying lifestyle and their bottomless appetite for the macabre. Ospina […]

The post Karen Lamassonne on the Grupo de Cali, Luis Ospina and Pornomiseria first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Currently on view at the Swiss Institute, multidisciplinary artist Karen Lamassonne’s exhibition “Ruido / Noise” is one of the season’s essential gallery shows. In addition to a life-spanning survey of paintings, photography and sculpture by the Colombian-American artist, the show details Lamassonne’s work as an art director, perhaps most famously on Luis Ospina’s pitch-black 1982 vampire parable Pura Sangre (Pure Blood). Lamassonne was a key figure in the storied Grupo de Cali, a posse of artists, writers and filmmakers based in the city of same name, notorious both for their hard-partying lifestyle and their bottomless appetite for the macabre. Ospina […]

The post Karen Lamassonne on the Grupo de Cali, Luis Ospina and Pornomiseria first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Film at Lincoln Center

NYFF Revivals concludes with restorations of Edward Yang’s A Confucian Confusion, Beirut the Encounter, Canyon Passage, and Black God, White Devil.

Film Forum

Isabelle Huppert, maybe our greatest actress, is celebrated in a retrospective with work by Godard and Chabrol; Breathless continues, while Wallace and Gromit shows on Sunday.

Japan Society

Mamoru Oshii’s legendary Angel’s Egg screens on Friday.

Roxy Cinema

Weyes Blood presents Possession, An American Werewolf in London, Virginia Woolf, and Hardcore on 35mm, as well as Funeral Parade of Roses and Rebecca; Band of Outsiders and a print of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence also screen.

Anthology Film Archives

Alexei German’s Khrustalyov, My Car! has a revival run; a retrospective of Colombian filmmaker Luis Ospina continues.

IFC Center

Guy Maddin (who we spoke to here) presents a restoration of his...

Film Forum

Isabelle Huppert, our (give or take) greatest living actress, is celebrated in a retrospective that includes films by Pialat, Chabrol, and more, while this Saturday offers a free screening of the documentary One Life to Play; Breathless and Antoine Doinel continue, while Babe show on Sunday.

Film at Lincoln Center

NYFF Revivals continues with restorations of Beirut the Encounter, Manoel de Oliveira’s The Day of Despair, and The Passion of Remembrance.

Anthology Film Archives

A 35mm print of Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction plays alongside Kathryn Bigelow & Monty Montgomery’s The Loveless; a retrospective of Colombian filmmaker Luis Ospina continues.

Japan Society

The horror classic Ringu screens on Friday.

Museum of the Moving Image

A packed weekend for The Caan Film Festival is headlined by Thief and a print of Bottle Rocket.

Roxy Cinema

A Woman is a Woman and Weekend show on 35mm, while Band of...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Lincoln Center

As the 60th New York Film Festival launches, so does Revivals—having a banner year with Canyon Passage, Drylongso, Le Damier, The Long Farewell, and (my most-anticipated) Glauber Rocha’s Black God, White Devil.

Roxy Cinema

Mishima and Light Sleeper screen on 35mm throughout the weekend; a print of Godard’s King Lear continues, while 1 p.m. screens on 16mm this Sunday.

Bam

Wayne Wang’s Life is Cheap…But Toilet Paper is Expensive debuts a restored director’s cut. Along with seeing it this weekend, watch a clip below.

Museum of the Moving Image

A packed weekend for The Caan Film Festival is headlined by Thief and a print of Bottle Rocket.

Film Forum

The 4K restorations of Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel series continue, as does Breathless on 35mm; Princess Mononoke screens this Sunday.

IFC Center

“World of Wong Kar-wai” returns; Videodrome,...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

Michael Almereyda’s rarely screened and extremely funny Twister plays on 35mm this Friday and Saturday, while a print of Godard’s King Lear shows Saturday and Sunday; on Sunday, Stephen Dwoskin’s The Carnal Screen plays on 16mm and Morvern Callar shows on 35; “City Dudes” returns this Saturday for a secret screening.

Film Forum

Choose your fighter: as 4K restorations of Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel series start, so does Breathless on 35mm; Carnal Knowledge continues while The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings screens this Sunday.

Museum of the Moving Image

A packed weekend for The Caan Film Festival is headlined by The Gambler, while Safety Last! screens this Sunday.

Film at Lincoln Center

New 4K restorations of the Infernal Affairs trilogy continue.

IFC Center

Godard’s Sympathy for the Devil has late-night screenings; “World of Wong Kar-wai” returns; Pulp Fiction,...

In the late 1950s newly elected President of Brazil Juscelino Kubitscheck ordered the country’s capital be moved from Rio de Janeiro toward a more central location. Thus began Brasilia, a modernist utopia built in the span of a few years and designed to unite people from all walks of life. Except reality didn’t quite live up to that dream. The thousands of workers who helped build the new capital—and the thousands of migrants who sought to move in—ended up segregated in satellite cities the government created to keep Brasilia safe from unwanted “invaders.” Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós’ explosive Dry Ground Burning is a portrait of one such places, Ceilândia, and an engrossing homage to a handful of people stranded in its crime-ridden slum of Sol Nascente: a vast canvas, in turns wistful and furious, of what life in Bolsonaro’s Brazil amounts to for those...

“Holy Beasts” doesn’t work on every level, but it hits the bullseye where it matters most: as a cinematic reclamation project in honor of the late Dominican director Jean-Louis Jorge. Murdered in 2000 at age 53, Jorge only completed three feature films, but his predilection for kitsch and blurring the line between dreams and reality could have eventually made him the homegrown answer to Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

In “Holy Beasts,” a commanding Geraldine Chaplin plays Jorge’s fictional friend, Vera, who has arrived in Santo Domingo to helm the late director’s never-filmed screenplay. To its detriment, the resulting tribute-within-a-tribute often plays like a private, alienating conversation between the filmmakers and anyone who knows more about Jorge’s work than you do. But this languid yet engrossing homage is alive with tasty characters and tantalizing, if underdeveloped, ideas and its polished production values bode well for future crossover arthouse...

Based on the real-life experiences of a mother in Mexico, Romanian director Teodora Ana Mihai dives deep into the brutal and violent conditions surrounding life in Northern Mexico. Co-written by Habacuc Antonio De Rosario the film follows Cielo (Arcelia Ramírez) who, after the kidnapping of her daughter and lack of help from the authorities, ends up in a relentless search through a society crippled by systemic violence. Her journey reveals open wounds to which the population has become all too accustomed, drawing a keen picture of the idiosyncrasies that spring from said violence.

Produced by Hans Everaert’s Menuetto alongside One For the Road and some stellar names: Les Films du Fleuve (the Dardenne brothers), Mobra Films (Christian Mungiu) and Teorema Films (Michel Franco), the feature marks Mihai’s jump to fiction after having won at Karlovy Vary with her documentary “Waiting for August.” An auteur and female twist on...

With streaming dominating the industry — and suddenly becoming the “new normal” in a changing world — IndieWire is taking a closer look at the news cycle, breaking down what really matters to provide a clear picture of what companies are winning the streaming wars, and how they’re pulling ahead.

By looking at trends and the latest developments, Streaming Wars Report: Indie Edition offers a snapshot of what’s happening overall and day-to-day in streaming for the indie set. Check out the latest Streaming Wars Report for updates to the bigger players in the industry.

Holiday Cheer

Do you like scary movies? Come October, it seems as if everyone is a horror fan, cuddling up for another “spooky season” of thrills, chills, and the surprisingly enduring family classic or two, and a recent look at the viewing numbers and audience preference indicates that Halloween-centric films remain big business during autumn.

Fandango...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSElaine May by Brigitte LacombeWe're thrilled to hear that Elaine May is set to direct her first narrative feature in 30 years. The film, entitled Crackpot, will star Dakota Johnson. "We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean," says filmmaker Anton Ernst. A filmmaking duo has acquired the rights to use the image of James Dean in a forthcoming war drama.Recommended VIEWINGPaul Thomas Anderson's collaboration with the American pop-rock band Haim continue with this music video for their latest single "Now I'm In It." Recommended READINGRitwik Ghatak As New York's Lincoln Center begins a retrospective on the films of Ritwik Ghatak, critic Shiv Kotecha provides an essential overview of Ghatak's...

Mubi's retrospective, "A Matter of Faith: Three Films by Luis Ospina," is showing November 4 – December 17, 2019. The Vampires of Poverty“My generation was young when George Romero’s The Night of the Living Dead came out,” the Colombian filmmaker Luis Ospina told me last October, at DocLisboa, where he was given a retrospective. “That was a turning-point B-movie for me. It was about zombies and cannibalism, but you could give it a political reading, since it was filmed during the Vietnam War. It taught me that the horror genre, and the myth of Dracula, which is a metaphor of power, could be adapted to other latitudes and social and political contexts.” Born in Cali and educated in film at UCLA, Ospina, who died this past September, transplanted the idea of vampirism to his native country. In the mockumentary short The Vampires of Poverty (1977), which he shot with his friend, Carlos Mayolo,...

NEWSCarolee Schneemann by Lynne SachsThe great Carolee Schneemann has died, gifting us with an inimitable legacy as a trailblazing avant-garde feminist filmmaker, painter, cat lover, performance artist, and much more. Lynne Sachs's 2017 documentary, Carolee, Barbara and Gunvor, previously screened on Mubi in partnership with the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. Read Sachs's introduction of the short film, and recollection of a life's friendship with Schneemann, here.The master film editor Thelma Schoonmaker has announced plans to publish the diaries of her late husband, filmmaker Michael Powell (The Red Shoes). "I want people to be able to read about all the great movies we lost," she states. "The ones he had hoped to make.” Recommended VIEWINGOlivier Assayas's satirical comedy on book publishing, the changing media landscape, and, of course, romantic coupling get a U.S. trailer.In the event of its new restoration, the controversial British dancehall cult-classic Babylon has a shining new trailer.

Berlin — “Holy Beasts” begins memorably with a shot of an inky sea, as black as death. Surveying it is Vera, played by Geraldine Chaplin, an actress who travels to the Dominican Republic to shoot the unfinished film of real-life Dominican director Jean-Louis Jorge, who died in 2000.

Vera is most probably dying. This will certainly be her last film, she tells its producer.”Holy Beasts” is a step up in scale for its directors, Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas. Shot at the island’s Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios and extraordinarily plush Casa de Campo Resort, “Holy Beasts” records the bathetic happenstance of movie shoots, the tight budgets and schedules, the accidents, the conflict of creative will. Above all, however, the film turns on Vera who asks what matters and mattered in her life: Her answers, respectively, her grandson and Jean-Louis. Shooting his film may rescue not only Jean-Louis from oblivion but be,...

Madrid — Big Spanish-language arthouse sales company Latido Films has just acquired world sales rights to Berlinale Panorama entry “Holy Beasts,” a step up in scale for its directors, “Sand Dollars” Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas, which turns around the extraordinary, if ill-known, Dominican cineast Jean-Louis Jorge.

The deal excludes producers’ home territories.

Starring Geraldine Chaplin, Udo Kier, Luis Ospina and, “Holy Beasts” is produced by the Dominican Republic’s Gabriel Tineo at Batú Films (“Miriam Miente”), Lantica Media and Aurora Dominicana, Argentina’s Rei Cine, and Mexico’s Pimienta Films, represented by Nicolás Celis and Sandino Sarabia Vinay, a producer and associate producer on “Roma.”

“Holy Beasts” turns on an actress (Chaplin), based on the figure of Edwige Belmore, who travels to the Dominican Republic to direct and star in an unfinished film she originally took part in, begun by Jean-Louis Jorge.

George’s short oeuvre, with just two...

The Metrograph is screening all ten of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's favorite films: Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar, Howard Hawks's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter, Vasily Shukshin's The Red Snowball Tree, Josef von Sternberg's Dishonored, Max Ophuls's Lola Montes, Michael Curtiz's Flamingo Road, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom, Raoul Walsh's The Naked and the Dead and Luchino Visconti's The Damned. Also in New York: King Hu’s A Touch of Zen and work by Luis Ospina. Screening tonight in Chicago: Nathan Silver's Riot, Mike Ott's Lancaster, CA and William Greaves's In the Company of Men. And we have a few more goings on. » - David Hudson...

The Metrograph is screening all ten of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's favorite films: Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar, Howard Hawks's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter, Vasily Shukshin's The Red Snowball Tree, Josef von Sternberg's Dishonored, Max Ophuls's Lola Montes, Michael Curtiz's Flamingo Road, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom, Raoul Walsh's The Naked and the Dead and Luchino Visconti's The Damned. Also in New York: King Hu’s A Touch of Zen and work by Luis Ospina. Screening tonight in Chicago: Nathan Silver's Riot, Mike Ott's Lancaster, CA and William Greaves's In the Company of Men. And we have a few more goings on. » - David Hudson...

Gabriel Mascaro’s selection from Brazil-Uruguay-Holland has won the official narrative competition award as the Colombian festival came to a close on Monday.

Jurors Michel Franco, Mike Downey and Ailín Salas awarded Neon Bull (Boi Neon, pictured) the $15,000 Cine Colombia prize.

Best director went to José Luis Guerín for Spain’s La Academia De Musas.

The Fipresci Prize went to Alejandro Fernández Almendras’ recent Sundance world premiere Much Ado About Nothing (Chile).

The Cine Colombiano official competition prize and an $11,000 award was presented to Noche Herida (Colombia-Belgium) by Nicolás Rincón.

A special jury prize went to Siembra (Colombia-Germany) by Angela Osorio and Santiago Lozano, while best director was awarded to Luis Ospina for Todo Comenzó Por El Fin. Ospina’s film also won the audience award.

Top documentary honours went to El Viento Sabe Que Vuelvo A Casa (Chile) by José Luis Torres Leiva, and best director to Jorge Caballero for Paciente (Colombia). The jury prize was awarded...

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is presenting Neighboring Scenes, a new showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema co- presented with Cinema Tropical. Taking place January 7-10, this selective slate of premieres highlights impressive recent productions from across the region and exhibits the vast breadth of styles, techniques, and approaches employed by Latin American filmmakers today.

Opening the series is Benjamín Naishtat’s "El Movimento," a stark, black-and-white snapshot of anarchy in 19th-century Argentina and follow-up to his acclaimed debut, History of Fear. Other highlights include the 2015 Cannes Caméra d’Or winner, César Augusto Acevedo’s "Land and Shade;" the U.S. premiere of Arturo Ripstein’s" Bleak Street," which has drawn comparisons to Luis Buñuel’s Mexican period; Rodrigo Plá’s Venice Horizons opener "A Monster with a Thousand Heads;" Pablo Larraín’s Silver Bear– winning and Golden Globe-nominated "The Club," which was also Chile’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar; and more.

With titles from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico, Neighboring Scenes spans a wide geographic range, evidencing the many sites of contemporary Latin American filmmaking. Some of the featured directors are established auteurs, while others have recently emerged on the international festival scene, snagging top prizes and critical accolades at festivals like Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Locarno.

"El Movimiento"

Dir. Benjamín Naishtat

Argentina, 2015, Dcp, 70m

Spanish with English subtitles

Continuing his preoccupation with violence and Argentina’s past, Benjamín Naishtat (History of Fear, a New Directors/New Films 2014 selection) dramatizes a crucial moment in that nation’s history characterized by political zealotry and terrorism. Pablo Cedrón portrays the fiery, unhinged leader of a mysterious militia (modeled on Confederacy-era dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas’s Mazorca) who wantonly roam the pampas in an effort to “purify” and unite society, killing and plundering settlers along the way. Characters emerge from and disappear into dark expanses—the film is masterfully shot in black and white—heightening its intense, chilling atmosphere. Funded by the Jeonju Digital Project. Thursday, January 7, 7:00pm (Q&A with Benjamín Naishtat)

"Alexfilm"

Dir. Pablo Chavarria Gutiérrez, Mexico, 2015, Dcp, 60m

Spanish with English subtitles

Marked by a light touch and emphasizing openness over conventional, linear narrative, biologist-turned-filmmaker Pablo Chavarria Gutiérrez documents the rhythms of a man awaiting an important event that never comes. As he cooks breakfast, naps, paints, tries on sunglasses, and wanders through different rooms in his home, Chavarria Guitérrez lovingly frames every action in beautiful natural light, allowing each moment to flow to the next while maintaining its own transcendent essence. North American Premiere

Screening with:

"Gulliver"

Dir. María Alche

Argentina, 2015, Dcp, 25m

Spanish with English subtitles

Flawlessly transitioning from a highly naturalistic family tale to something overtly surreal and back again, "Gulliver" captures the circumstances—imagined or not—of one of those evenings when siblings come to a deeper understanding of one another. After hanging out at home with their mom (Martín Rejtman regular Susana Pampin) and older sister Mariela (Agustina Muñoz), Agos and Renzo go to a raging party where Agos ends up drinking too much. Upon stepping outside to recover, the pair wander into a strange but familiar landscape, and begin to ask questions about the world and themselves.

Sunday, January 10, 5:00pm

"Bleak Street" (La calle de la amargura)

Dir. Arturo Ripstein

Mexico/Spain, 2015, Dcp, 99m

Spanish with English subtitles

Based on a true story, the latest feature by Arturo Ripstein is an unflinching look at the mean streets of El Defectuoso. Two prostitutes Adela (Nora Velázquez) and Dora (Patricia Reyes Spíndola) are burdened by horrible marriages and financial problems stemming from their long-departed youth. In an attempt to make ends meet, they drug and rob dwarf twins (Juan Francisco Longoria and Guillermo López)—who themselves barely scrape by as doubles for professional luchadores. Ripstein masterfully contrasts the grittiness of alleyways and seedy apartments with gliding Steadicam cinematography, siding with neither the victims nor the perpetrators. A Leisure Time Features release.

U.S. Premiere Sunday, January 10, 3:00pm

"The Club" (El Club)

Dir. Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2015, Dcp, 98m

Spanish with English subtitles

Pablo Larraín (director of "No" and "Post Mortem") continues to explore the long shadows of Chile’s recent past with this quietly scathing film about the Catholic Church’s concealment of clerical misconduct. Four aging former priests peacefully live out their days together in a dumpy seaside town, focused on training their racing greyhound rather than doing penance for their assorted crimes. Their idyll is shattered when a fifth priest arrives and, confronted by one of his victims, commits suicide. A young priest begins an investigation into the retirees’ pasts, setting off a series of events that call into question faith, piety, and complicity. Winner of the Silver Bear at the 2015 Berlinale and Chile’s Oscar submission. A Music Box Films release.

Sunday, January 10, 9:00pm

"The Gold Bug, or Victoria’s Revenge" (El escarabajo de oro o Victorias Hamnd)

Dir. Alejo Moguillansky & Fia-Stina Sandlund

Argentina/Denmark/Sweden, 2014, Dcp, 102m

Spanish and Swedish with English and Spanish subtitles

Fusing elements of Edgar Allan Poe’s titular short story and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Alejo Moguillansky and Fia-Stina Sandlund’s meta-film follows an Argentine-Swedish co-production in Buenos Aires shooting a biopic of the 19th-century realist author and proto-feminist Victoria Benedictsson. After a hustling actor finds a treasure map detailing the location of ancient gold hidden near a town in the Misiones province named after the 19th-century politician Leandro N. Alem, he successfully persuades the producers to reframe the project as a portrait of the radical Alem (swapping feminist politics for anti-Eurocentric ones) and move the production there—so he can better search for the treasure. Fast-paced and hilariously self-reflexive, the film takes a playful approach to texts and history that is reminiscent of Borges.

Thursday, January 7, 9:00pm

"Hopefuls" (Aspirantes)

Dir. Ives Rosenfeld

Brazil, 2015, Dcp, 71m

Portuguese with English subtitles

Focused on the alluring promise of wealth and fame that professional soccer holds for Brazilian youth, Ives Rosenfeld’s directorial debut features a host of excellent performances from its cast. Junior (Ariclenes Barroso) ekes out a living working nights at a warehouse while playing by day in an amateur league with his talented best friend Bento (Sergio Malheiros). When Bento gets signed to a professional team, Junior struggles with his crippling jealousy—which becomes heightened by his pregnant girlfriend and alcoholic uncle. Artfully lensed and deliberately paced, the film silently builds toward a legitimately shocking climax that provides a grim reality check. Sunday, January 10, 7:00pm (Q&A with Ives Rosenfeld)

"It All Started at the End" (Todo comenzó por el fin)

Dir. Luis Ospina

Colombia, 2015, Dcp, 208m

Spanish with English subtitles

Luis Ospina (The Vampire of Poverty, Paper Tiger) turns the camera toward his radical roots—and his own intestines—for this documentary about the Cali Group, the Colombian artists’ collective that revolutionized art, cinema, and literature amid drug-related terrorism in the 1970s and ’80s. Boasting a wide array of never-before-seen archival material, Ospina (the group’s only surviving member, who was diagnosed with cancer during the making of the film) focuses on telling the stories of co-founders Andrés Caicedo and Carlos Mayolo. Never maudlin or self-important, this kaleidoscopic inside view of “Caliwood” is essential viewing for anyone looking for darkly comic, anarchic inspiration. U.S. Premiere

Saturday, January 9, 2:00pm (Q&A with Luis Ospina)

"Ixcanul"

Dir. Jayro Bustamante

Guatemala 2015, Dcp, 93m

Kaqchikel and Spanish with English subtitles

Maria (María Mercedes Coroy) is set to marry a much older foreman at the coffee plantation, but she has a crush on Pepe, who has fanciful dreams of getting rich in the U.S. After consummating their flirtation, Pepe leaves for the States—without Maria, who soon learns she is expecting a baby. A difficult pregnancy assisted only by traditional medicine finally leads her to the hectic big city, but on very grim terms. Shot in collaboration with the Kaqchikel Mayans of Guatemala’s coffee-growing highlands, Jayro Bustamante’s exquisitely shot debut feature (winner of a top prize at the Berlinale and Guatemala’s Oscar submission) explores what tradition and modernity mean for women living in marginalized communities. A Kino Lorber release.

Friday, January 8, 7:00pm

"Land and Shade" (La tierra y la sombra)

Dir. César Augusto Acevedo

Colombia, 2015, Dcp, 94m

Spanish with English subtitles

A poetic and devastating statement on how environmental issues impact every aspect of life, César Augusto Acevedo’s Camera d’Or–winning directorial debut is not to be missed. The elderly Alfonso (Haimer Leal) returns to the small house in Valle del Cauca he left 17 years earlier in order to care for his bedridden son Geraldo (Edison Raigosa), who suffers from a mysterious ailment related to the harsh farming techniques of the sugar-cane plantations around them. Tensions quietly simmer between Alfonso and his ex-wife (the wonderful Hilda Ruiz), but familial ties and pride keep them tied to the land in Acevedo’s meditative and painterly allegory.

Friday, January 8, 9:00pm

"Mar"

Dir. Dominga Sotomayor

Chile, 2014, Dcp, 70m

Spanish with English subtitles

Reminiscent of the films of Josephine Decker and Joe Swanberg, this low-key drama centers on the problems between Martin, aka Mar (Lisandro Rodríguez), and his girlfriend, Eli (Vanina Montes). On vacation in the Argentine resort town of Villa Gesell, conflicts arise concerning expectations and long-term commitments—having a baby, home ownership—but get pushed aside or elided. A visit from Martin’s gregarious, wine- guzzling mother and a random act of God threaten to push the couple to breaking point. Dominga Sotomayor matches her characters’ frustrations with the film’s expert framing, which often obscures faces and bodies, visually emphasizing their mutual misunderstanding.

Saturday, January 9, 6:30pm Q&A with Dominga Sotomayor)

A Monster with a Thousand Heads ( Un monstruo de mil cabezas)

Dir. Rodrigo Plá

Mexico, 2015, Dcp, 74m

Spanish with English subtitles

Developed in tandem with his wife’s novel of the same title, Rodrigo Plá (The Delay, The Zone) crafts another airtight thriller, this time taking on a health-insurance system that prefers profit to adequate medical care. Refused treatment that would alleviate her terminally ill husband’s pain—yet not the frustrations of dealing with maddening bureaucracy—Sonia (Jana Raluy) snaps and, gun in hand, single-mindedly goes up the chain of command with a vengeance. The series of increasingly harrowing provocations are interspersed with moments of dark comedy, and coalesce into a final, shocking climax.

Saturday, January 9, 8:30pm (Q&A with Rodrigo Plá)...

Films set to show at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), updated as announcements are made in the run up to the event.

Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.

Tiff 40

Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.

GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPDisorder (Maryland) (France-Belgium), Alice Winocour NAPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPMan Down (Us), Dito Montiel NAPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPMiss You Already (UK), Catherine Hardwicke WPMississippi Grind (Us), Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden CPMr. Right (Us), Paco Cabezas WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall ([link...

Jennifer Peedom.s Sherpa and Gillian Armstrong.s Women He.s Undressed will screen at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival next month.

They are among 26 titles selected for the Tiff Docs section of the fest, which runs from September 10 to 20, enhancing Australia.s profile at the event where Jocelyn Moorhouse.s The Dressmaker will have its world premiere in Gala Presentations and Simon Stone.s The Daughter will have its North American premiere in Special Presentations.

Produced by Bridget Ikin and John Smithson, Peedom.s film chronicles how Sherpas united in grief and anger to reclaim Mount Everest after an icefall killed 15 of their members on Mount Everest.. It will open in Australia in February, co-distributed by John Maynard's Footprint Films and Transmission.

It will be the international premiere of Armstrong.s doc which profiles Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly, who won three Academy Awards.

Among the world premieres...

The Toronto International Film Festival’s prominence on the festival circuit has only grown over the years, with films from numerous different fields having gone on to critical and commercial acclaim. Among the festival’s different categories are Tiff Docs and Vanguard. Tiff Docs allows documentaries to get their own spotlight at the festival, giving acclaimed documentarians such as Michael Moore and Frederick Wiseman a platform for their films. The Vanguard section, on the other hand, showcases films that aren’t easily categorisable into a specific genre. With the Canadian Films lineup announcement having revealed the first set of films playing in each group, Tiff today revealed more of the lineup in each section. The list of newly announced films, with their official synopses, is as follows.

Tiff Docs

Amazing Grace, directed by Sydney Pollack, making its International Premiere

Sydney Pollack’s film of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Amazing Grace.’ Filmed...

Films set to show at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), updated as announcements are made in the run up to the event.

Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.

Tiff 40

Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.

GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall (Us), Roland Emmerich, Wpspecial PRESENTATIONSAnomalisa (Us), Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson, CPBeasts of No Nation (Ghana), Cary Fukunaga, CPBlack Mass (Us), Scott Cooper, CPBorn To Be Blue (Canada-uk), Robert Budreau WPBrooklyn (UK-Ireland-Canada), John...

Organisers unleashed their latest volley of programming, an embarrassment of riches featuring new non-fiction work about education activist Malala Yousafzai, Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the iconic tango pairing of María Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes.

Midnight Madness brings a Turkish glimpse of hell, new work from the directors of Almost Human and The Loved Ones, a cyborg Pov story and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, which premiered in Cannes and backer Broad Green Pictures recently made available for Us distribution after electing not to self-release.

Vanguard entries include Gaspar Noé’s Love, Alex de la Iglesia’s My Big Night and Ryoo Seung-wan’s South Korean cop thriller Veteran.

The Masters Of Cinema programme features Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, while the Tiff Cinematheque selection of restored classics includes Luchino Viconti’s Rocco And His Brothers and Marcel Ophüls...

Recently during the 67th Edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Cinema23, an association created in 2012 to promote Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese film culture, announced the Fénix Film Awards (Premio Iberoamericano de Cine Fénix). This unique event will take place for the first time in Mexico City in October 2014.

The Mexican actor, director and producer Gael García Bernal (in absentia because of his duties on the jury for Cannes Competition), Portuguese director and actress Maria de Medeiros, Brazilian actress Alice Braga, Spanish actress Paz Vega and Mexican actress Ana de la Reguera, presented the Fénix Film Awards to the international media as one of the key strategies of Cinema23 to provide visibility and recognition of the cinema made in the region.

“There is great variety in our region´s cinema with different forms and languages that in many cases reflect part of who we are. However we are not always able to enjoy it in our own countries, much less worldwide. The activities carried out by Cinema23 aim to develop a closer engagement between the filmmakers and their audiences. It is extremely important to have more visibility in order to gain recognition for the diversity of cinema. This is the premise under which we organized the Fénix Film Awards, commented Ricardo Giraldo, Director of Cinema23.

Ana de la Reguera added: “We have great talent in the region, but it is barely known outside film festivals; it’s important to find another way to reach a broader audience and I believe the Fénix Film Awards is a great strategy and opportunity to achieve it.”

“It is very important for us to get together, allowing us to get closer to the work of our colleagues in order to discover, meet and recognize the voices that make us so different. A celebration like this one opens up a space for us to meet and get to know each other. More importantly it will set the basis for a more profound way for us to share our ideas, create, and cooperate”, added Alice Braga.

María de Medeiros also mentioned: “We are creating a film community that has not existed till now. A community that aims to be inclusive by integrating not only those who make films but also those who study, promote, teach, distribute and exhibit films; so that we all help, support and communicate with each another, allowing our work to be shared both within and outside the region.”

Paz Vega commented: “Collaboration provides an opportunity for creative exchange that strengthens and nourishes our film culture. This collaboration and integration allows our industries to grow without losing their identity and create better opportunities. In the end, difference is what unites us.”

For the past two years, Cinema23 has been shaping a diverse film community from the 22 countries of the region and those who work closely with the region’s filmmaking. The tasks of this community include movie promotion, study, reviews, festivals, distribution, exhibition and filmmaking. The editorial project Cinema23 Notebooks, the conferences during festivals and the student program Classroom Cinema are developed throughout the year, seeking a creative, cultural and knowledge exchange between the different film cultures. These strategies are complemented and strengthened for the general audience through the Fénix Film Awards.

The Fénix Film Awards granted by more than 350 film professionals from Mexico, Latin America, USA, Europe and Canada, will award 12 categories and 4 special recognitions.

It is worth noting that the members of Cinema23 all have an active role in the selection, nomination and voting process for the Fénix Film Awards. Members include:

Karim Ainouz, Elena Anaya, José Carlos Avellar, Héctor Babenco, Luiz Carlos Barreto, Alice Braga, Brigitte Broch, Demián Bichir, Eugenio Caballero, Javier Cámara, Sebastián Cordero, Enrique Chediak, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón, María de Medeiros, Guillermo del Toro, Amat Escalante, Dolores Fonzi, Gael García Bernal, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Iván Giroud, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Salma Hayek, Carlos F. Heredero, Dolores Heredia, Pablo Larraín, Juan de Dios Larraín, Sebastián Lelio, Fernando León de Aranoa, Mónica Lozano, Emmanuel Lubezki, Diego Luna, Fernando Meirelles, Daniela Michel, Luis Miñarro, Wagner Moura, Bertha Navarro, Luis Ospina, Fito Páez, Marisa Paredes, Rodrigo Plá, Alejandro Ramírez, Édgar Ramírez, José Luis Rebordinos, Ana de la Reguera, Carlos Reygadas, José María Riba, Erica Rivas, Catalina Sandino, Ilda Santiago, Rodrigo Santoro, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Albert Serra, Juan Carlos Tabío, Paz Vega, Maribel Verdú & Monika Wagenberg.

Other international members that participate in the various activities of the association include:

Cameron Bailey (Artistic Director Toronto International Film Festival), Frederic Boyer (Artistic Director Tribeca Film Festival), Klaus Eder (President Fipresci), Robert Koehler (Film Critic), Claudia Landsberger (Vice-President Eye Film Institute) and Sydney Levine (Indiewire Blog Sydneys Buzz).

The award ceremony will be held in October 2014 in Mexico City and will be broadcast live on E! Entertainment Television to over 200 million people worldwide with the support of Mexico City’s Government.

To view Cinema23’s promotional video, click on the following link:

www.vimeo.com/81518414

To find out more about Cinema23 and the Fénix Film Awards please visit:

http://www.cinema23.com

About Cinema23

Cinema23 is an association created in 2012 to promote, support and raise awareness for the Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese film culture. It is formed by a diverse group of people with outstanding career trajectories from the film community mainly from the 22 countries of the region and those who work closely with the region’s filmmaking: directors, producers, actors, screenwriters, cinematographers, editors, art directors, sound designers, music composers, costume designers, festival directors and programmers, critics, researchers, distributors and film exhibitors.

Cinema23 seeks a more participative community amongst it members and provides a forum for creative and cultural exchange and cooperation among filmmakers from the region. Its yearly strategies and projects aim to promote and safeguard contemporary Ibero-American film culture, reaching new audiences, sharing ideas and enhancing the visibility and fostering the work of those who make films in Ibero-America.

About the Premio iberoamericano de cine Fénix®, (Fénix Film Awards)

The Fénix Film Awards is the key strategy to further Cinema23’s aims. It celebrates and emphasizes the work of film professionals, provides international visibility and strengthens bonds from the region’s film industry besides captivating and reaching a broader audience.

The first Fénix Film Awards’ gala will award 12 categories and 4 special recognitions. It will be held in October 2014 in Mexico City and will be broadcasted live on E! Entertainment Television to over 200 million people worldwide with the support of Mexico City’s Government.

Today I am writing from Cartagena, Colombia where I attended Ficci, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias.

This former colonial jewel in the crown of Spain offers a huge array of delights, film-wise, art-wise, food-wise and people-wise. Gorgeous arts and gorgeous people, sweet, polite and proud. As much as I love Havana, Cartagena is how Havana should look.

And as much as I loved Careyes where I was last week, the art and artisanal scope here is so wide; from the Colombian painter and sculptor, Botero to indigenous palm weaving – décor for homes (not cheap!), bags, designer clothing, linen and rubies.

Aside from films, my big discoveries of the day are Ruby Rumie, a Colombian artist who spends much of her time here in her studio in the Getsemaní section of town and in Chile. Coincidentally (again) Gary Meyer (Telluride Film Festival) and his wife Cathy who are here with Gary on the Documentary Competition Jury (I just left them in Careyas!) also just discovered her as well. The other artist, Olga Amaral, works in indigenous styles of weaving and textile production and now is favoring gold leaf displays of woven wall tapestries. Stunning. Both are available at the Nh Gallery, a place I just happened to wander into as I was walking from the theater to my equally stunning hotel Casa Pestagua.

The courteous and helpful people here are a proud mix of white, brown and black. They say the blacks will never follow the orders of a white. They say the blood of slaves is embedded in the wall fortifications of the city. The Inquisition here was very powerful, and they say the Jews (Conversos) coming in the conquistadors’ ships went to settle Medellín and the Catholics to Bogotá. Cartagena was the last city to be free of the Spanish crown and as such, it was extremely conservative.

It would take days to visit all the museums throughout the city. The Art Biennale is now in many of them (free entry) including the Museum of the Inquisition with its torture machines. The Museum of Gold with pre-Colombian gold artworks is astounding. All the gold of Latin America (and emeralds, diamonds and silver) went from here in the Spanish galleons back to Spain until the city declared its independence in 1811. We in the North know this history but from a different perspective. Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America and Gonzalo Arijon’s documentary Eyes Wide Open, an update of Galeano’s ideas are good starting points for understanding this part of the world. Eye opening indeed!

The beauty of the city and its people is matched by the food. There is great food here here and some very haute cuisine restaurants. Ceviches of many kinds, new sweet fruits like the pitaya and the drink mixing limeade and coconut milk delight the palate. The festival invites enough but not too many industry folks so it can host lunches and dinners in wonderful venues along with cocktail hours where we can all meet and talk. Talk among us is of food and film, film and food…even of food film festivals that are cropping up from Berlin, San Sebastian, here and in Northern California…stay tuned.

The Colombian government is aware of the need for the public to rediscover their own stories and to this end all the festival screenings are free, and all are packed Sro. The government also supports filmmakers with a deliberate, well-planned and well executed strategy to increase production and create an infrastructure.

Colombian films’ biggest challenge is to increase their share of their rapidly growing domestic market, worth $182.3 million in box office in 2012. One way forward is international co-production, where Bam (Bogotá Audiovisual Market) July 14-18, 2014 plays a large role. There is a mini version of this here (Encuentros Cartagena), centering on French and Colombian co-production, but not limited to that, with guests like George Goldenstern from Cinefondation (Cannes), producer/ international sales agent Marie-Pierre Masia and and the ever present Thierry Lenouvel of Cine-Sud whose film Tierra en la lengua aka Dust on the Tongue won the Best Picture Award in Competition. Vincenzo Bugno of World Cinema Fund of the Berlinale is always here too as is Jose Maria Riba on the Jury of the Competition and programmer for San Sebastian and Directors Fortnight. Also on the jury are Wendy Mitchel and Pawel Pawlikowski whose film Ida (Isa: Portobello Film Sales) is playing (outside of the Competition). A look at the winning competition films shows the strength of co-productions today.

Best Picture: Dust on the Tongue of Ruben Mendoza (Colombia) Colombia Film of $15,000. Special Jury Prize: The Third Side of the River (La tercera orilla) which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale, by Celina Murga (Argentina, Netherlands, Germany) (Isa: The Match Factory) Best Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras for To kill a man (Matar a un hombre) which premiered in Sundance (Chile, France). Film Factory is selling international rights and Film Movement has U.S. It also won the Fipresci or International Critics’ Award. Best Actor: Fernando Bacilio by El Mudo (Peru, Mexico, France), Urban Distribution International is the sales agent.

Cinema in Colombia continues its steep ascent in the international production world. The reasons, according to Bugno, lie in “new political decisions, funding structures, and the developing of a new producing environment that also has to do with new emerging young talent.”

A visit to the festival headquarters proves the point of the extensive government support of film not only for its own sake, but for the sake of all the people, dispossessed, abused, Lgbt, children and women. It is a beautiful sight to see such support, and the people seem to reciprocate; I hear more praise than complaints about the government and everyone seems cautiously optimistic, aware of its current position vis à vis what has thankfully become recent history with the guerillas who had been waging war with the government for the past 40 years and the current elections and competing points of view between the former President Uribe and the current President Juan Manuel Santos.

Aecid , Association Espagnola de Cooperacon Internacional para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Association for International Cooperation for Development), a festival sponsor supports social cohesion, equality of genders, construction of peace, respect for cultural diversity and the reduction of poverty.

Currently in Colombia, national cinema holds a 10% share of the Colombian market and 8% of the box office. In 2012, 213 films were produced in Colombia, a huge increase since 2009 when 19 were produced according to Ocal, the Observotario del Cine f nCl [sic]. In 2012, 23 of the 213 domestic films were released theatrically, a tremendous increase from the 6 Colombian films released in the year 2000. [1],[2] This number surpasses every record in Colombia’s film history

This 10 day spectacular film festival gives free entry to all at 8 theaters and, proving the point that people love the movies, every single screening is packed solid, Sro. More than 135 films come from 27 countries. 48 daily screenings include 14 open air screenings in great locations. There are 40 world premieres and 26 Latin American premieres.

150 invited guests included Abbas Kiarostami, Clive Owen, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Pavel Pawlikowsky with his film Ida, John Sayles with whom I had an interesting talk about U.S. current distribution and of Return of Seacaucus Seven and Sunshine State. The screening of his film Go For Sisters has received an enthusiastic response from the audiences.

Since 2013, coproductions between the U.S. and Colombia with variations on the theme are on the rise. With its 40% cash rebate, Colombia is proving to be a great place to make movies.

Colombians such as Simon Brand are making English language genre films such as this year’s festival debuting Default (Isa: Wild Bunch). For budgets under Us$1 million, action, thrillers and horror genres can cross borders, and can recoup costs and even profit.

The reverse is also notable. Four films screening here are Colombian films made by Americans. The winner to three prizes here for Best Director, Best Documentary and the Audience Prize, Marmato by Marc Grieco was workshopped twice at Sundance where it premiered this January 2014. It is represented internationally by Ro*co and its U.S. representative is Ben Weiss at Paradigm. The other three remarkable debut films are Mambo Cool by Chris Gude,Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka (a Japanese-Polish American) and Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz. Look for upcoming interviews with these four directors who came to Colombia and, because of their experiences here, decided to make these exceptional movies. My next blog will be interviews with each of these films’ directors.

Secundaria , the first film I saw here was not shot here although it too was directed by an American who made 21 trips to Cuba to make it. Documenting the high school ballet training and competitions held by Cuba’s world famous National Ballet School -- Watch the trailer here -- it was not only beautiful but it magically captured the ever-present economic issues of Cuba. I can’t wait to see Primaria about the grade school of the Nbs.

Director and coproducer Mary Jane Doherty has been an Associate Professor of Film at Boston University since 1990. Proud of her lineage as a student of iconic documentarian Ricky Leacock, she developed B.U.’s Narrative Documentary Program: a novel approach to non-fiction storytelling using the building blocks of fiction film. Lyda Kuth , the coproducer, is founding board member and executive director of the Lef Foundation, which supports independent filmmakers through the Lef Moving Image Fund. In 2005, she established Nadita Productions and was producer/director on her first feature documentary, Love and Other Anxieties.

A cocktail party is given daily at the festival where we can all meet up. It was there I met Gail Gendler VP of Acquisitions for AMC/ Sundance Channel Global (international not domestic) and Gus

Dinner one night was with the jury for Nuevos Creadores (New Creators). Cynthia Garcia Calvo, Editor in Chief of LatamCinema.com, a Latino equivalent to Indiewire.com out of Chile and Argentina and I spoke of possible ways to cooperate. The third member of the jury, Javier Mejia, director of Colombia’s best film of 2008 Apocalypsur also has a documentary here, Duni, about a Chilean filmmaker who left Chile during the dictatorship and came to Colombia where he made political films in Medellin but never discussed his reasons for coming or even his Chilean roots. How happy I was that I had seen and enjoyed the films of the third jury member, Daniel Vega, who with his brother Diego made The Mute aka El Mudo (Isa: Urban Media) which played in Toronto and San Sebastian and his earlier film October, both dark comedies or perhaps dramadies dealing with subjective realities in unique environs of Peru we have never seen. He promised to help me with the Peru chapter of my upcoming book. Peru is in the lower middle of countries which support filmmaking. Their film fund is a rather laid back affair administered by the Ministry of Culture who receives money from the Ministry of Finance when they “get around to it”.

Jury for New Creators: Javier Mejía, Cynthia García Calvo and Diego Vega,displaying the winner for the Best Short Film: Alen Natalia Imery (Universidad del Valle) who won a Sony video camera, 2,000, 000 pesos of in kind services from Shock Magazin, and a scholarship for graduate Project Management and Film Production at the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga

Second prize went to The murmur of the earth Alejandro Daza (National University) - Win a Sony camera, and a Fellowship for Graduate Record Audio and Sound Design of the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga.

Other winners are:

Official Colombian Film Competition

Jurors: David Melo - Alissa Simon - Daniela Michel

Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA) Winner of the I.Sat Award for $30K and the Cinecolor Award for $11k in deliveries

Special Jury Prize: Mateo by María Gamboa

Best Director: Rubén Mendoza for Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua). Winner of Hangar Films Award for $30K in film equipment to produce his next film.

Additional Awards

Audience Award Colombia: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of $15K

Official Documentary Competition

Jurors: Gary Meyer- Luis Ospina - Laurie Collyer

Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of the Cinecolor Award for $13Kin post-production services.

Special Jury Prize: What Now? Remind Me (E Agora? Lembra-me) by Joaquim Pinto (Portugal)

Best Director: Justin Webster for I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) (Spain, Denmark, U.K.)

Official Short Film Competition

JurorsOswaldo Osorio -Pacho Bottia - Denis de la Roca

Best Short Film: Statues (Estatuas) by Roberto Fiesco (Mexico). Winner of a professional Sony camera and $3K from Cinecolor in post-production services for his next project.

Special Jury Prize: About a Month (Pouco Mais de um Mês) by André Novais Oliveira (Brazil)

Best Director: Manuel Camacho Bustillo for Blackout chapter 4 "A Call to Neverland" (Blackout capítulo 4 "Una llamada a Neverland") (Mexico). Winner of a Sony photographic camera.

Gems

Jurors: Mauricio Reina - Manuel Kalmanowitz - Sofia Gomez Gonzalez

Best Film: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan). Winner of the Rcn Award for $50 to promote the release of the film in Colombia.

Special Jury Prize: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen (Singapore)

[1] http://www.cinelatinoamericano.org/ocal/cifras.aspx

[2] http://www.mincultura.gov.co/areas/cinematografia/estadisticas-del-sector/Documents/Anuario%202012.p...

The 54th Edition of the Cartagena Film Festival has come to an end and the winners have been announced. The indisputable protagonists this year were Marmato by Mark Grieco, winning three awards, Rubén Mendoza's Dust on the Tongue, and the Chilean film To Kill a Man by Alejandro Fernández Almendras, with two awards each. Surely these three films and several other winners will become important works at other upcoming festivals since many of them have already done well at Sundance, Rotterdam, and Berlin.

Official Competition: Narrative Feature

Members of the Jury: Wendy Mitchell - Jose Maria Riba - Pawel Pawlikowski

Best Film: Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la Lengua) by Rubén Mendoza (Colombia- Winner of $15K

Special Jury Prize: The Third Side of the River (La Tercera Orilla) by Celina Murga (Argentina, The Netherlands, Germany)

Best Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras for To Kill a Man (Matar a un hombre) (Chile, France)

Best Actor: Fernando Bacilio for El Mudo (Peru, Mexico, France)

Fipresci

Members of the Jury: Carlos Heredero - Hiroaki Saitô - Michal Oleszczyk

Best Film: To Kill a Man by Alejandro Fernández Almendras (Chile, France)

Other Awards

Oclacc Award (Catholic Organization of Communications for Latin America and the Caribbean)

Special Mention: Mateo by María Gamboa (Colombia

Official Competition: Colombian Cinema

Members of the Jury: David Melo - Alissa Simon - Daniela Michel

Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA) Winner of the I.Sat Award for $30K and the Cinecolor Award for $11k in deliveries

Special Jury Prize: Mateo by María Gamboa

Best Director: Rubén Mendoza for Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua). Winner of Hangar Films Award for $30K in film equipment to produce his next film.

Additional Awards

Audience Award Colombia: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of $15K

Official Competition: Documentary

Members of the Jury: Gary Meyer- Luis Ospina - Laurie Collyer

Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of the Cinecolor Award for $13Kin post-production services.

Special Jury Prize: What Now? Remind Me (E Agora? Lembra-me) by Joaquim Pinto (Portugal)

Best Director: Justin Webster for I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) (Spain, Denmark, U.K.)

Official Competition: Short Film

Members of the Jury: Oswaldo Osorio - Pacho Bottia - Denis de la Roca

Best Short Film: Statues (Estatuas) by Roberto Fiesco (Mexico). Winner of a professional Sony camera and $3K from Cinecolor in post-production services for his next project.

Special Jury Prize: About a Month (Pouco Mais de um Mês) by André Novais Oliveira (Brazil)

Best Director: Manuel Camacho Bustillo for Blackout chapter 4 "A Call to Neverland" (Blackout capítulo 4 "Una llamada a Neverland")  (Mexico). Winner of a Sony photographic camera.

Gems

Members of the Jury:Mauricio Reina - Manuel Kalmanowitz - Sofia Gomez Gonzalez

Best Film: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan). Winner of the Rcn Award for $50 to promote the release of the film in Colombia.

Special Jury Prize: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen (Singapore)

New Creators

Members of the Jury: Javier Mejía- Diego Vega - Cynthia García Calvo

Best Short Film: Alén by Natalia Imery (Universidad del Valle).

Runner-up:  The Earth's Whisper (El murmullo de la tierra) by Alejandro Daza (Universidad Nacional)...

Dust On The Tongue [pictured], Marmato, To Kill A Man take home prizes.

The 54th edition of the Cartagena Film Festival wrapped tonight in Colombia, with the festival’s main Latin American competition prize going to a local film, Ruben Mendoza’s Dust On The Tounge (Tierra En La Lengua). The award comes with $15,000.

The film blends fake documentary and fiction in the story of a crude, violent patriarch (Jairo Salcedo) who brings his cityslicker grandchildren to his ranch to help him die.

The jury gave its best director prize to Alejandro Fernández Almendras for To Kill A Man (Matar a un hombre), a Chilean dark dramatic thriller that also took home Cartagena’s Fipresci prize.

Best actor was Fernando Bacilio for The Mute (El Mudo) by Daniel and Diego Vega from Peru. The special jury prize went to Celina Murga’s The Third Side of the River (La tercera orilla) from Argentina.

Best documentary...