Javier Bardem nominated for an Oscar – Best Actor for “Biutiful”

Spanish actor, Javier Bardem, proves he remains a darling of Hollywood with the news that he has been nominated in the Best Actor category for this year’s Oscars. It comes for his role in the Mexican film, ‘Biutiful’ and is his third nomination.
His first was in 2000 for ‘Antes que anochezca’ and then he won the gong in 2007 for his role in the Coen brothers film ‘No Country for Old Men’
The film he stars in this year, from director Alejandro González Iñárritu, is also in the final nominations for Best Film in a Foreign Language, but the Spanish candidate in the category from Iciar Bollaín, ‘También la Lluvia’ has missed out.
The gala takes place on February 27.

Hefty Latin American Presence in this Year’s Nominations to Spain’s Goya Awards

The Spanish Academy of Film Arts and Sciences (Academia de las Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas de España) announced today the nominees for its annual Goya Awards which have an important Latin American component. The Mexican/Spanish co-production Biutiful by Alejandro González Iñárritu earned eight nominations to the Awards, none for Best Film or Director though; whilst the film Lope directed by Brazilian filmmaker Andrucha Waddington was nominated for seven awards mostly in the technical categories, including the nomination for Best Song for Que el soneto nos tome por sorpresa composed by Uruguayan musician Jorge Drexler.
Additionally Iciar Bollaín‘s film También la lluvia / Even the Rain, shot in Bolivia and starring Gael García Bernal, was nominated for awards -none for the Mexican actor though. For Best

Cinema Tropical Awards Tonight at the IFC Center

 

Three of Argentinian Director Lucrecia Martel's films will be honored as part of Cinema Tropical AWARDS presentation today in New York. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

“Latin American cinema has reinvented itself once again” said Carlos Gutierrez, co-founding director of Cinema Tropical. Throughout the last ten years, Latin American filmmakers have established themselves as ambitious and clearly discernable voices in the cinematographic landscape.
This was the reason, according to Gutierrez, for bringing to life the first ever Cinema Tropical AWARDS that will be presented today at the TimesCenter in New York City. The presentation will honor ten distinguished film productions from the region.
Gutiérrez believes this is truly an exciting moment for Latin American cinema. An extensive list of young filmmakers has emerged from and gained international acclaim for their diverse, artistic, and innovative work. New York based Cinema Tropical—an established purveyor of Latin American cinema—hopes this cutting edge event will have international impact and will help draw even more attention to the creative output from Latin America.
This October, Cinema Tropical has organized a series of events celebrating Latin American cinema that kicked off last week with an insightful panel discussion with Chilean director Sebastián Silva (The Maid). It also includes the publication of a book of essays about the nominated films, a product of a special partnership between Cinema Tropical and Jorge Pinto Books.
The highlight of the ten-day program will be tonight’s AWARDS ceremony, with Triple nominated Lucrecia Martel from Argentina and Mexican director Carlos Reygadas to attend.

Film festival shows contrasts of Mexico’s drug war

 

Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu, left, and Spanish actor Javier Bardem pose for photographers at the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia, Mexico, Saturday Oct. 16, 2010.

From afar it seems like Baghdad: car bombs, beheadings and corrupt politicians.
Up close, Mexico remains magical and picturesque in parts, feeling oddly safe even in the hardest-fought territories of the drug war.
The 8th annual International Film Festival opened Saturday in the drug-plagued state of Michoacan to its largest turnout ever, drawing the contrast that defines Mexico today.
Only blocks from the site where a 2008 grenade attack killed eight people, hundreds lined the red carpet to squeal at one of Hollywood’s leading men, Oscar-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem. Unlike the Jonas Brothers in the drug-war-ravaged city of Monterrey, no one canceled – organizers say – for a festival that also features Hollywood blockbuster director Robert Rodriguez and Monty Python funnyman-turned-director Terry Gilliam.
“I’m waiting to see the bad side of Morelia,” Gilliam told reporters Sunday. “Since I’ve been in Morelia, I’ve been blown away by the architecture. It’s such a beautiful place.”
Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, whose film “Biutiful” starring Bardem opened the festival, acknowledged to a full auditorium in cocktail attire that his homeland is seeing a difficult time.
He told The Associated Press on Sunday that violence in Mexico appears to be out control. But culture and education are very powerful weapons in the war against it.
“These are very powerful acts of resistance. I think the seed or the root of what we’re experiencing is a

Morelia Int’l Film Festival Prizes Emerging Mexican Voices: Full List

 

Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia

Arriving two weeks before Mexico’s Day of the Dead, the Morelia International Film Festival (October 16 to 24, 2010) is well positioned to take the pulse of the Mexican film industry. Perhaps more than any time in its eight-year history, FICM 2010 offers proof that the domestic cinema is alive and well, even resurrecting its Golden Age of Cinema. This year the country produced 80 films.
Morelia, the state capital of Michoacán, isn’t Mexico’s only forum showcasing home grown product. The more senior Guadalajara Film Festival had its beginnings as a national film expo, and the two fests still compete for glory. (Guanajuato, Chihuahua and soon Mérida also occupy the country’s growing roster of festival towns.)

Javier Bardem Gets Emotional in ‘Biutiful’ International Trailer

The first full trailer for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu-directed film “Biutiful” has been made available for viewing pleasure. Though it is cheap in sharing the dialog, the video’s narration by Javier Bardem‘s Uxbal explains that his life is controlled by fate which keeps changing direction.

Little is known about the storyline but the film centers its story on a man embroiled in shady dealings who is confronted by a childhood friend, now a policeman. Sensing the danger of death, Uxbal tries to reconcile with love and save his children, as he tries to save himself.  Click here for trailer.