Baja International Film Festival Announces Awards

FILM AWARDS

Best Mexican Feature
Los Mejores Temas, directed by Nicolás Pereda. Drifting from fiction to documentary, Los Mejores Temas tells the story of Emilio, a man in his fifties, who shows up at his family home after fifteen years of absence.

Best International Feature
No, directed by Pablo Larrain. Revolving around Chile’s 1988 referendum on the Pinochet regime, this brilliant behind-the-scenes drama tracks with

Benicio del Toro will start filming in March “Paradise Lost” in Panama

International star Benicio del Toro and newcomer Josh Hutcherson are to star in Italian actor Andrea Di Stefano‘s directorial debut, Paradise Lost. These media-friendly American actors’ participation in the project was revealed by its French production company Chapter 2.
Written by the recent filmmaker, the screenplay is to follow Nick (Josh Hutcherson), a young Irish surfer who thinks that all his dreams have come true when he goes to visit his brother in Colombia. In an idyllic setting of blue lagoons and white sand beaches, he falls madly in love with a young Colombian called Maria. Everything seems perfect until he meets her uncle, a man named Pablo Escobar (Benicio del Toro)…
Born in 1949, Pablo Escobar was a famous Colombian cocaine trafficker who headed the Medellin Cartel. He died

Morelia Film Festival as career launching pad “HIGHLIGHTS”

This year the Morelia Festival had the difficult task of plucking nine fiction films for competition from a pool of 70 first and second features. The size of that pool is proof that tax incentives and expanded government coin programs launched under the National Action Party (PAN) are working.
In its first edition in 2003, Morelia sported only two competitions — shorts and docus — and screened a single feature-length work, “Nicotine.” Fest did not introduce a feature competish until 2007, when there were enough Mexican-made newcomer films to merit a section.

Latin American Films playing at the ‪@BFI‬ London Film Festival (Mexico full list)

After Lucia
Después de Lucía
Director-Screenwriter Michel Franco
Producer Michel Franco, Marco Polo Constandse, Elias Menassé, Fernando Rovzar
With Tessa Ia, Hernán Mendoza, Gonzálo Vega Sisto
Mexico 2012
102 mins

A harrowing and all too believable film looking at the relationship between a father and daughter.
For trailer, times and tickets click here.

Latin American Films playing at the ‪@BFI‬ London Film Festival (Colombia)

La Sirga

Director-Screenwriter William Vega
Producer Oscar Ruiz Navia, Diana Bustamante
With Joghis Arias, Julio César Roble, David Fernando Guacas
Colombia-France-Mexico 2012
89 mins

William Vega’s debut feature is an intense, elliptical drama that develops in a wildly evocative setting.
For trailer, times and tickets click here

Latin American Films playing at the ‪@BFI‬ London Film Festival (Brazil full list)

The Great Kilapy
O Grande Kilapy
Director Zézé Gamboa
Producer Fernando Vendrell
Screenwriter Luís Carlos Patraquim, Luís Alvarães
With Lázaro Ramos, João Lagarto, Pedro Hossi
Portugal-Brazil-Angola 2012
102 mins

Angolan filmmaker Zézé Gamboa offers a quirky political observation of the lives and passions of flawed characters set in Luanda and Lisbon.
For trailer, times and tickets click here.

Latin American Films playing at the ‪@BFI‬ London Film Festival (Argentina full list)

3

Director Pablo Stoll Ward
Producer Fernando Epstein, Agustina Chiarino
Screenwriter Gonzalo Delgado Galiana, Pablo Stoll Ward
With Humberto de Vargas, Sara Bessio, Anaclara Ferreyra Palfy
Uruguay-Argentina-Germany-Chile 2012
119 mins

Uruguayan director Pablo Stoll crafts a stylish, droll tale of a dysfunctional family who can’t be honest about what they want.
For trailer, times and tickets click here.

Documentary Filmmakers Laura Poitras and Natalia Almada Named MacArthur Fellows

Laura Poitras

Laura Poitras and Natalia Almada have been named MacArthur Fellows for 2012, which brings a $500,000 grant to each over the next five years. The documentary filmmakers are among 23 fellows chosen by the MacArthur Foundation, which made the announcement Monday.

Poitras is a 48-year-old New Yorker and founder of Praxis Films. For the last ten years, she has been working on a trilogy of films about the world since 9/11 and the war on terror, including “My Country, My Country” (2006), “The Oath” (2010) and a forthcoming untitled doc that looks at the effect of prolonged international conflict in the U.S. After an early start in experimental film, Poitras studied

DAY 1 @LondonMexFest: Programme Highlights (Films, Talks, Music…)

FILMS:
Expiration Date / Fecha de Caducidad
2011 | Mexico | 35mm | Color | 110 min
MORELIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (MEXICO, 2011), SPECIAL JURY AWARD, MOSCOW FILM FESTIVAL (RUSSIA, 2012)
The life of compulsive Ramona is turned upside down when she finds out, after a long search, that Osvaldo, her only son, has died.

Latinbeat 2012 is in full bloom from 12-20 Aug Latin American Cinema takes NY

In its 13th edition, Latinbeat presents a variety of the best recent Latin American cinema.

The region continues to offer an incredible wealth of strong documentaries that explore uncharted aspects of history and travel beyond capital borders, redefining national identities. Personal stories and formal exploration abound in bold new fiction.

There will be lots of music–from Uruguay, Brazil and Chile–and, as always, the exciting presence of filmmakers, producers and actors at screenings and at our panel on New Mexican Cinema.