Arts & Entertainment

Chile dominates Guadalajara Film Festival awards

Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct 9 (EFE).- Chilean films “Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos” (My Brothers Dream Awake) and “Inmersión” (Immersion) on Saturday swept the awards at the 36th Guadalajara International Film Festival, held in eastern Mexico.

In the closing ceremony, Chilean director Claudia Huaiqiimilla’s “Mis Hermanos (…)” was announced as the winner of the Mayahuel award for the best Iberoamerican feature film, while it also grabbed the best actor (male) prize for Ivan Caceres and best scriptwriting for Huaiquimilla and Pablo Greene.

The film, which focuses on the lives, dreams and injustices faced by children leaving in orphanages and juvenile homes in Chile, also received a honorable mention by the Federation of Schools of Image and Sound.

Greene said that their team hoped that the film attracts attention towards these centers, where close to 1,700 children have died in the last 15 years, even as Chile is drafting a new constitution.

“I hope that this becomes a real wake-up call because in our country, in the context of a new constitution being drafted, we have reached the moment to stop this injustice in a fractured nation,” he said.

Chilean-Mexican production “Inmersión,” won the best debut and best director awards for Nicolas Postiglione, apart from best cinematography for Sergio Armstrong.

Its producer and scriptwriter Moises Sepulveda said that the film was a thriller based on the class divide and prejudice in Chilean and Latin American societies.

The best actor (female) award went to Spaniard Maria Romanillos for the film “Las consecuencias” (The Consequences).

The Chilean film “El cielo está roja” (The Sky is Red) was chosen as the best documentary feature, while in this category the best director prize went to Brazil’s Luiz Bolognesi for “A ultima Floresta” (The Last Forest), and the best cinematography to Eryk Rocha and Jorge Chechile for “Edna.”

The award for best Iberoamerican short film went to Iker Esteibarlanda’s “Before I die.”

The nine-day long festival was attended by 22,000 people, with around 200 films being screened across genres, apart from keynote speeches, workshops for students and youth, and open-air exhibition in public squares.

With Guatemala being chosen as the country of focus, the festival was attended by famous directors such as Julipo Medem and Carlos Saura (Spain), Oscar-nominated costume designer Oscar Mayes C Rubeo, and animation series director Jorge R Gutierrez.

Around 100 short, feature, animation and documentary films from Latin America and the Iberian peninsula competed in different categories for the various awards on offer. EFE

mg/ia

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