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Director Adrián Saba turned some heads with his first movie El Limpiador (The Cleaner) a minimalist drama with sci-fi elements that showed the relationship between an orphaned boy and the man in charge of cleaning up after the corpses left in the wake of a deadly virus which left the capital city of Lima a virtual ghost town, Essentially, it was a post-apocalyptic film filtered through the director's unique sensibilities; just the logistics behind making this chaotic, noisy city look abandoned and desolate on screen were worthy of praise. Now Saba's coming back to theaters with his sophomore feature El Soñador (The Dreamer), which premiered earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, in the Generation section. The film tells the story of Chaplin, a...

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Winners have been announced! See below.

The First Edition of the Platinum Awards, a gala presentation in Panama April 5th, sponsored by Egeda and Fipca was an idea born two years ago in Panama at the Festival'sl Forum with Iberoamerican filmmakers and the Iberoamerican Producers Association (Fipca). Panama's Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce offered to pay for the first edition which is being held now. Jose Pacheco, the Deputy Minister and also the President of the Panama Film Commission, along with Arianne Marie Benedetti, then had to convince their government that the investment in the awards, along with the investment in cinema would further the country's extraordinary influx of capital and would help establish the Premios Platinos as the most important global event promoting and supporting the Iberoamerican film industry. Everyone here for the 4th Annual Panama Film Festival was quite excited and it was an extraordinary affair. Twenty-two Spanish speaking countries in the Americas as well as Brazil, Portugal and Spain gathered along with world press (John Hopewell of Variety and I myself of SydneysBuzz/ LatinoBuzz and Indiewire were the only gringo press around) and producers, directors, actors, cinematographers and writers to pay homage to the great talent arising out of the Iberoamerican countries whose potential audience exceeds that of the United States.

This was pointed out with great enthusiasm by Javier Camára, the actor nominated for Best Male Actor for his role in David Trueba's Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados). He plays a high-school English/ Latin teacher in 1966 Spain who drives to Almeria in hopes of meeting his hero, John Lennon. Along the way, he picks up two runaways. The movie title, Living is Easy With Eyes Closed, comes from a line in Lennon's song Strawberry Fields Forever which he wrote while filming How I Won the War in Almeria. (Camára is also a fan of Real Madrid.)

In this first edition 701 films have participated. Of these, each of the countries made a pre-selection of their candidates through their representatives Fipca and national film academies. Subsequently, a jury of prominent industry professionals has selected the winners just announced at the gala on April 5 in Panama. The Directors of the event are Adrian Solar Lozier for Fipca and one of Chili's most recognized producers and Enrique Cerezo Torres, one of the founders of Egeda twenty-five years ago, its chief executive for the past seventeen years, President of the Madrid Film Commission and President of the Madrid School of Cinema. (He is also the President of the Athletic Football Club of Madrid.)

Mexican singer and actress, Alessandra Rosaldo, and Colombian journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas whose TV show on film is featured on CNN Latino, co-hosted the televised event. Canal Plus of Spain and others representing television across the Americas were present.

The winners in each of the eight categories were named to a huge audience of the most important Latin American cinema talent who sat on pins and needles waiting to hear the winners.

Accepting the Platinum Award of Honor, Sonia Braga, known to U.S. audiences from the 1976 breakout Brazilian film, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, and again in 1985 and 1988 with Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Milagro Beanfield War respectively, was elegant and eloquent in her acceptance.

The most nominated films were The German Doctor: Wakolda, Gloria and Living is Easy with Eyes Closed. The surprise was that Living is Easy did not win a single award. Already the winner of 11 Awards and nominated for 5 other awards, David Trueba definitely can not hide behind the loser category. The Spanish film Living is Easy with Eyes Closed won six Goya Awards including Best Director.

And The Winners are:

Best Iberoamerican Fiction Film: Gloria (Chile). Nominated were The German Doctor: Wakolda (Argentina), Heli (Mexico), Witching and Bitching (Spain), La jaula de oro (The Golden Cage) (Mexico), Roa (Colombia) and Living is Easy with Eyes Closed Spain) compete for the title of Best Latin American Film of the Year.

Best Female Performance: Paulina García (Gloria). Nominated were Karen Martínez (The Golden Cage), Laura De la Uz (Ana's Film), Marian Álvarez (Wounded), Nashla Bogaert (Who's the Boss?), Natalia Oreiro (Wakolda). You can read Gloria's review and interview with Sebastian Lelio and Paulna Garcia here: Review by Carlos Aguilar and Interview with Sebastian Lelio and Paulina Garcia by Sydney Levine. You can soon read more about upcoming Dominican Republic's Nashla Bogaert whom I met and interviewed in Panama. She is my choice of the one to keep an eye on.

Best Male Performance: Eugenio Derbez (Instructions Not Included). The equivalent of the Platinos, our own Academy Award usually steers clear of comedy in the best actor category, as if comedy were not as difficult as drama. But this was well deserved in terms of popularity as this film's huge success in both U.S. and Mexico shows. U.S.$44 million in U.S. and U.S.$ 41 million in Mexico are not to be ignored. This major hit hit a major nerve in U.S. and Mexico. Also nominated were Antonio de la Torre (Cannibal), , Javier Cámara (Living is Easy with Eyes Closed), Ricardo Darín (Thesis on a Homicide) and Víctor Prada (The Cleaner).

Platinum Award For Best Director: Amat Escalante (Heli). Nominated were Sebastian Lelio (Gloria), David Trueba (Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed), Lucia Puenzo (The German Doctor: Wakolda). You can read Heli's Review by Carlos Aguilar and the Interview with Amat Escalante by Carlos Aguilar.

Platinum Best Screenplay Award: Sebastian Lelio, Gonzalo Maza (Gloria). Also nominated were Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (Great Spanish Family), David Trueba (Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed), Lucia Puenzo (The German Doctor-Wakolda)

Platinum Award For Best Original Score: Emilio Kauderer for Foosball (Football). Also nominated were Karin Zielinski for El Limpiador (The Cleaner) -- you can read its Review by Carlos Aguilar , Joan Valent (Zugarramurdi Witches)

Platinum Award For Best Animated Film: Foosball (Football). Nominated were Anina -- you can read Anina's Review by Carlos Aguilar , The Secret Of Jade Medallion, Justin And The Sword Of Value, Uma History Of Love And Fury

Platinum Award For Best Documentary: Con la Pata Quebrada (With a Broken Leg). Nominated were: Cuates de Australia (Friends from Australia), Eternal Night Of The Twelve Moons, The Day That Lasted 21 Years from Brazil about the U.S. instigated coup d’etat in 1964, Still Being.

Camilo Vives (recently deceased, head of production for Icaic) Platinum Award for Best Iberoamerican co-production, in memory of his Presidency of Fipca for over 10 years and co-chair of the Forum Egeda / Fipca was The German Doctor Wakolda which beat out Anina, Esclavo de Dios and La jaula de oro. Read more on The German Doctor Wakolda here: Review by Carlos Aguilar and Case Study by Sydney Levine.

See more on the Platinum Award website: www.premiosplatino.com.

Alessandra Rosaldo stated: "These Awards will be the most valuable Iberoamerican Film Excellence Awards, something this industry needs and demands to reward the creativity and talent of our film industry.

Juan Carlos Arciniegas said: "The Platinum Awards are pioneers, transcend borders and put our countries in a fair competition that will highlight the diversity of the region cinematically. These awards will write the history of the participating films."

Eugenio Derbez, Blanca Guerra, Victoria Abril and Patricia Velasquez were some of the presenters.

As the leading presenter of Latin American Cinema in the U.S. Cinema Tropical advocates for the Latino filmmaking community and honors their achievements. Cinema Tropical Awards now in its fourth edition have announced this year's nominees

The winners of the 4th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards will be announced at a special event at The New York Times Company headquarters in New York City in late January, 2014.

The nominees for this year’s Cinema Tropical Awards were selected by a nine-member jury panel from a list of Latin American and U.S. Latino feature films of a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 (January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, for U.S. Latino productions). The list was culled by a nominating committee composed of 17 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times Company. Media Sponsors: LatAm Cinema and Remezcla. Special thanks to Mario Díaz, Andrea Betanzos, and Tatiana García.

Best Feature Film

- Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, Chile/Spain, 2013)

- No (Pablo Larraín, Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)

- Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Germany/Netherlands, 2012)

- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)

- VIolA (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina, 2012)

Best Director, Feature Film

- Sebastián Silva, Crystal Fairy (Chile, 2013)

- Pablo Larraín, No (Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)

- Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico/ France/ Germany/ Netherlands, 2012)

-Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Tanta Agua | So Much Water

(Uruguay/ Germany/ Mexico, 2013)

- Matías Piñeiro, Viola (Argentina, 2012)

Best Documentary Film

- El Alcalde | The Mayor (Emiliano Altuna, Carlos F. Rossini, Diego Osorno, Mexico, 2012)

- La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (José Luis García, Argentina, 2012)

- La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Martín Benchimol and Pablo Aparo, Argentina, 2012)

- El Huaso (Carlo Guillermo Proto, Chile/Canada, 2012)

- El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Ignacio Agüero, Chile, 2012)

Best Director, Documentary Film

- José Luis García, La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (Argentina, 2012)

- Priscilla Padilla, La Eterna Noche De Las Doce Lunas | The Eternal Night of the Twelve Moons (Colombia, 2013)

- Martín Benchimol, Pablo Aparo, La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Argentina, 2012)

- Mercedes Moncada, Palabras MÁGICAS (Para Romper Un Encantamiento) | Magic Words (Breaking a Spell) (Mexico/Guatemala, 2012)

- Ignacio Agüero, El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Chile, 2012)

Best First Film

- Carne De Perro | Dog Flesh (Fernando Guzzoni, Chile/France/Germany, 2012)

- El Limpiador | The Cleaner (Adrián Saba, Peru, 2012)

- Melaza | Molasses (Carlos Díaz Lechuga, Cuba/France/Panama, 2012)

- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)

- Los Salvajes | The Wild Ones (Alejandro Fadel, Argentina, 2012)

Best U.S. Latino Film

- American Promise (Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, USA, 2013)

- Filly Brown (Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos, USA, 2012)

- Mosquita Y Mari (Aurora Guerrero, USA, 2012)

- Reportero (Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2012)

- Wonder Women! The Untold Story Of American Superheroines (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, USA, 2012)

2013 Jury:

Chris Allen, founder and director, UnionDocs; Melissa Anderson, film critic, Artforum; Beth Janson, executive director, Tribeca Film Institute; Daniel Loría, overseas editor, BoxOffice; Mike Maggiore, programmer, Film Forum; Paco de Onís, filmmaker; Anita Reher, executive director, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar; Julia Solomonoff, filmmaker; Maria-Christina Villaseñor, film curator and writer.

2013 Nominating Committee:

Cecilia Barrionuevo, programmer, Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina; Raúl Camargo, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile; John Campos Gómez, director, Transcinema Film Festival, Peru; Inti Cordera, director, DocsDF Film Festival, Mexico; Christine Davila, programmer, Sundance, Los Angeles Film Festival, Ambulante USA; Eugenio del Bosque, director, Cine Las Américas, USA; Raciel del Toro, Cinergia, Costa Rica; Vanessa Erazo, film programmer and journalist, indieWIRE/LatinoBuzz, Remezcla, USA; Lisa Franek, programmer, San Diego Latino Film Festival, USA; Robert A. Gomez, film journalist, Cinemathon, Venezuela; Jaie Laplante, director, Miami Film Festival, USA; Agustín Mango, film journalist, Hollywood Reporter, Argentina; Jim Mendiola, programmer, CineFestival, San Antonio, USA; Luis Ortiz, director, Latino Public Broadcasting, USA; Rafael Sampaio, programmer, Sao Paulo Latin American Film Festival, Brazil; Eva Sangiorgi, programmer, Ficunam, Mexico; Gerwin Tamsma, programmer, Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands.

In “The Cleaner” (“El Limpiador”), Peru’s submission for the best foreign film Oscar, writer/director Adrián Saba creates a world where a mysterious illness has killed much of the country’s population. Amid the death and devastation, a forensic cleaner must care for a young orphan who has survived. But to film this bleak, post-apocalyptic environment on a limited budget in Lima, a vibrant city of 9 million people, the first-time feature director had to re-envision his hometown. This was no small task. Also read: TheWrap Screening Series: ‘Porcelain Horse’ Writer-Director on the ‘Expectation’ of Freebase Addiction “The feeling I wanted was for foreigners to.

The Peruvian Ministry of Culture announced today the country's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2014 Academy Awards; the honor goes to The Cleaner ("El Limpiador"), from first-time director Adrián Saba,A drama with science fiction overtones, the film shows the nation's capital as it's never been seen before: a city struck by a devastating virus of unknown origin which is rapidly killing off the population. We follow a forensic worker named Eusebio, who cleans up after the dead and lives in near-isolation, awaiting the inevitable. His lonely existence changes when he is forced to care for a young boy named Joaquín, who is alone and searching for his family.After a local theatrical run earlier this year, the movie has made an impression...

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The debut feature of India’s Anand Gandhi adds to prizes won in Dubai and Tokyo.

This year’s Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) came to a close at the weekend in Cluj-Napoca with the awarding of the main prize, the Transilvania Trophy, to Indian feature debutant Anand Gandhi’s Ship Of Theseus.

The Competition Jury - comprising directors Cristi Puiu and György Pálfi, UK producer Lynda Myles, German actress Franziska Petri and Tribeca’s Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer - said Ship Of Theseus was evidence of “a new major talent of world cinema”.

The film’s also won the Best Cinematography Award for the work of DoP Pankaj Kumar.

Both prizes were accepted in Cluj on their behalf by the film’s Hungarian sound designer Gabor Erdelyi who spoke about the shoot as being a life-changing experience.

Fortissimo Films is handling international sales.

The Best Directing Award went to Japan’s Rikiya Imaizumi for I Catch...