Animales del desierto, by Santiago Loza; Crocodilla / She, Crocodile, by Gabriela Amaral Almeida; El espíritu de la ley / The Spirit of Law, by Natalia Meta; La escuela pesada / Hard-Boiled School, by Hernán Rosselli; La levedad de ella / Her Lightness, by Rosa María Rodríguez Pupo; La mujer extraña / The Strange Woman, by Martín Boulocq; Los dos paisajes, by Francisco Lezama; Los erizos / The Hedgehogs, by Victoria Galardi; Malestar Tropical / Tropical Malaise, by Jorge Cadena; Mar de Leva, by Mariana Saffon Ramírez; Otro Jardín / A Different Garden, by Mariana Gil Ríos; Rambler, by Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero; Remanso, by Pablo Lamar; and Solo el amor existe, by Natalia López Gallardo, are the fourteen projects coming from eight countries selected from among the 269 works submitted. This year’s edition will run from 23 to 25 September and representatives of the films attending the event will have the opportunity to show their projects to potential partners in order to complete their funding and improve their access to international markets.
Seven of the projects will be first or second films: La levedad de ella / Her Lightness, by Rosa María Rodríguez Pupo, with four short films and one documentary under her belt; Los dos paisajes, by Francisco Lezama, winner of the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at this year’s Berlin Festival with Un movimento extraño / An Odd Turn; Malestar Tropical / Tropical Malaise, by Jorge Cadena, whose shorts have harvested awards at the Berlinale, the Rotterdam Festival and SXSW; Mar de Leva, by Mariana Saffon Ramírez, winner of the Orizzonti Award at the Venice Festival with her short film Entre tú y Milagros; Otro Jardín / A Different Garden, by Mariana Gil Ríos, whose short film Uli landed a special mention in the Generation KPlus section of the Berlinale 2024; and the project presented at Ventana Sur’s Proyecta 2021, Remanso, by Pablo Lamar who has premiered his short films at the Festival de Cannes and won the Special Jury Prize at the Rotterdam Festival in 2016 with La última tierra, his first feature film. Finally, Natalia López Gallardo will present the project of her second feature film, Solo el amor existe. Her debut movie, Manto de Gemas / Robe of Gems, won the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the Berlin Festival in 2022 and screened in Horizontes Latinos.
Several of the filmmakers return to San Sebastian with their new projects: this will be Santiago Loza’s eighth participation with Animales del desierto, having participated in different sections with previous titles, and particularly Breve historia del planeta verde / Brief Story of the Green Planet (Forum, 2017), winner in 2019 of the Berlin Festival’s Teddy Bear; Natalia Meta presents El espíritu de la ley / The Spirit of Law following El prófugo / The Intruder (2020) in Horizontes Latinos; Martín Boulocq returns with La mujer extraña / The Strange Woman after being selected for Horizontes Latinos in 2006 with Lo más bonito y mis mejores años / The Most Beautiful of My Very Best Years;
The latest films by José Luis Torres Leiva and Celina Murga will respectively open and close Horizontes Latinos, the selection of the year’s features, not yet screened in Spain, from among all those produced totally or partially in Latin America, directed by filmmakers of Latin origin or which take Latin communities in the rest of the world as their backdrop or subject matter. Four of the fourteen feature films competing for the Horizontes Award were screened in WIP Latam (including last year’s winner) and two in the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum while another comes from the Ikusmira Berriak programme.
see video: https://youtu.be/1heQhZkmfTI?si=5arW6_OYVqerfhP3
José Luis Torres Leiva (Santiago de Chile, 1975) will open Horizontes Latinos with Cuando las nubes esconden las sombras / When Clouds Hide the Shadow, premiered at Jeonju Festival. In the film, the actress and director María Alché travels to the world’s southernmost point to shoot a film. Torres Leiva has shown his earlier works at festivals such as Rotterdam and Venice, and competed for the Golden Shell in San Sebastian with Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos / Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes (2019), previously selected for the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum. He has also participated in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera with El viento sabe que vuelvo a casa / The Wind Knows That I’m Coming Back Home (2016), El sueño de Ana (2017) and Sobre cosas que me han pasado (2018).
El aroma del pasto recién cortado / The Freshly Cut Grass, earning Celina Murga (Paraná, 1973) Best Screenplay at the Tribeca Festival, tells the parallel story of two love affairs set in the university environment. The Argentinian moviemaker, who will close Horizontes Latinos with this film included in the Co-Production Forum in 2020, has shown a number of her earlier works in San Sebastian: Ana y los otros / Ana and the Others (Horizontes Selection, 2003), Una semana solos / A Week Alone (Films in Progress, 2007) and La tercera orilla / The Third Side of the River (Horizontes Latinos, 2014).
Lola Arias (Buenos Aires, 1976) will participate in Horizontes Latinos with Reas, selected last year for WIP Latam and premiered in the Forum section of the Berlinale, where she made her debut with Teatro de guerra / Theater of War (Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, 2018). In her second feature, winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Cinélatino-Toulouse, the Argentinian director reinvents the musical in a collective work where a group of performers dance and sing about their time in prison.
Querido Trópico / Beloved Tropic, starring Paulina García and Jenny Navarrete, unravels the lonely souls of a woman with dementia and her carer. The first feature film by documentary filmmaker Ana Endara (Panama City, 1976) will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
The Argentinian Federico Luis (Buenos Aires, 1990), whose shorts have screened at festivals including Cannes, Toronto, BAFICI, Mar del Plata and IDFA (Amsterdam), won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Semaine de la Critique with his feature debut, Simón de la montaña / Simon of the Mountain, about a young mover’s helper who is determined to change his life and makes new friends he tries to emulat
In a celebration of independent filmmaking, the Sundance Film Festival: Asia is set to make its return to Taipei, Taiwan, from August 21-25, 2024. The festival, organized by G2Go Entertainment and the nonprofit Sundance Institute, will transform SPOT-Huashan into a hub for cinephiles and filmmakers alike, offering a carefully curated selection of award-winning features and shorts from the renowned 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
This year’s lineup boasts an impressive array of 10 feature-length films and 5 award-winning shorts, representing a diverse range of voices from Europe, Asia, the United States, and South America. The festival will kick off with the Taiwan premiere of “Dìdi” (弟弟), a highly anticipated work written and directed by Academy Award®-nominated Taiwanese American filmmaker Sean Wang.
Eugene Hernandez, Director of the Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming, along with Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming, expressed their enthusiasm for the event. “We are excited to return to Taipei for a second year with a fantastic lineup of films,” they stated. “It’s a privilege to bring 10 feature films and five short films from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival to Taiwanese audiences and to have the opportunity to connect with and foster the independent film community in Asia and around the world.”
The feature film selection showcases a rich tapestry of storytelling, including several award winners from the main Sundance Film Festival. Among the highlights are Rich Peppiatt’s “Kneecap,” winner of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award: NEXT, starring Academy Award® nominee Michael Fassbender, and “Sujo,” directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, which clinched the 2024 Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic.
Documentary enthusiasts will be treated to all three prize-winning documentaries from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. These include “Porcelain War” by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary; “A New Kind of Wilderness” by Norwegian filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, recipient of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary; and “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” by Benjamin Ree, which secured the Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary.
In recognition of the growing appetite for compelling short-form content, the festival will present a special program of award-winning shorts from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. This carefully curated selection includes “The Masterpiece” by Àlex Lora, winner of the Short Film Grand Jury Prize, and “The Stag” by An Chu, which took home the Short Film Jury Award for International Fiction.
Kevin Lin, Founder of G2Go Entertainment, shared his excitement about the festival’s return to Taipei. “In our inaugural year in 2023, Sundance Film Festival: Asia in Taipei had over 3,000 attendees. With a larger slate of films this year, we hope to provide them to a broader audience,” Lin stated. He emphasized the unique opportunity for Taiwanese movie lovers to experience these premieres on the big screen, celebrating Sundance and independent film in a distinctive setting.
The Sundance Film Festival: Asia serves as an expansion of the Sundance Institute’s programming in the region, aiming to champion and promote visibility for independent storytelling to a wider global audience. As a traveling e
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Gutiérrez
During the Festival, 12 feature films and the Mexican Shorts Program will be screened, along with 8 Q&A sessions and 2 panels featuring directors and producers of the films.
Mexico City, April 25th, 2024 – Cinépolis, the leading cinema exhibition company in Mexico and Latin America, and the Sundance Institute, the nonprofit organization behind the world-famous Sundance Film Festival whose year-round work is dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences, inaugurated the Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 at Cinépolis VIP Miyana, with a press conference featuring Eugene Hernández, Director of the Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming, Kim Yutani, Director of Sundance Programming, Alejandro Ramírez, CEO of Cinépolis, Miguel Rivera, Vice President of Global Programming and Content at Cinépolis, and filmmakers of the films selected for this first edition.
“The Sundance Film Festival has always been a meaningful gathering of storytellers and audiences to discover original voices, ignite captivating dialogue, and build a community dedicated to independent cinema,” said Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “To be able to bring that shared experience to Mexico City is an honor for us. We invite you to join us starting today as we launch Sundance Film Festival CDMX with a dynamic and entertaining program filled with films, panels, and more.”
The inaugural conference presented all the details about the screenings with Q&A sessions, to be moderated by Sundance Film Festival programmers, and the panels that will take place, in addition to the screenings of the 12 feature films and the Mexican Shorts Program. The talented filmmakers that traveled to Mexico City for Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 include: Dorottya Zurbó (Agent of Happiness), Carla Gutiérrez (Frida), Alejandra Vazquez and Samuel Osborn (Going Varsity in Mariachi), Juan Mejía and producer Daniela Alatorre (IGUALADA), Alessandra Lacorazza (In the Summers), Jeff Zimbalist and producer María Bukhonina (Skywalkers: A Love Story), Pedro Freira, (Malú), Caroline Lindy and lead actress Melissa Barrera; (Your Monster). From the Mexican Shorts Program the festival will count with the presence of, Gabriel Herrera (Al Motociclista no le Cabe la Felicidad en su Traje), Selma Cervantes (Chica de Fábrica), producer and cast member Paloma Petra (El Sueño Más Largo Que Recuerdo), and Gerardo Coello (Viaje de Negocios).
“We can’t wait to celebrate the incredible works created by artists who are equally inspiring and visionary with audiences at the inaugural Sundance Film Festival CDMX,” commented Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “The Festival provides a place for cinema lovers to enthusiastically share in the energy and power of independent storytelling. We are looking forward to showcasing the wide range of films and conversations that have been specially curated for this exceptional occasion.”
The opening-night screening of Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 features the documentary Frida
[Pictured: A still from Sujo]
By Stephanie Ornelas
“There are so many stories and layers to be told within Ciudad de México,” Paloma Riojas says over Zoom. The screenwriter/producer has a special place in her heart for Mexico City. Having lived and worked there, she knows that the city’s film scene is hungry and ready for more. Later this month, the first edition of Sundance Film Festival CDMX will take place, in partnership with Cinépolis, ready to expand the global community of independent filmmakers and film lovers.
A diverse and vibrant city, CDMX has been the hub of Mexican independent storytelling for decades and, in the runup to the Festival, we’re highlighting Institute-supported stories centered on Mexico City.
“Mexico City is such a rich environment to share stories and to have things written because it is like Los Angeles,” explains Riojas. “It has the gamut of perspectives and experiences that showcase the broad spectrum of how many different lives are being lived all at the same time in that rich and highly populated place.”
Riojas’ short film Nana, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge, is one of seven projects written by women that we’re spotlighting today.
Something that’s often discussed is how Latine women filmmakers are still grappling with gender inequity and sourcing funding for their projects. Women storytellers are working tirelessly to change that, and the needle is definitely moving. Last year, for the first time ever, women dominated the nominations for Best Director at the Ariel Awards (Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). And just this past January at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, writer-directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic for their film Sujo.
“[Stories written by women] can be universal, but they’re also wholly unique. It’s very important, and needed, to highlight stories written by women and to open up spaces for that to happen,” adds Riojas.
Before we journey to Mexico City on April 25 to showcase 12 features and 10 Mexican shorts at Cinépolis Diana and Cinépolis VIP Miyana, explore the following Sundance-supported films based in Mexico City that were written by women.
Red Dawn (Rojo Amanecer) — 1991 Sundance Film Festival
Jorge Fons’ drama, which was co-written by Guadalupe Ortega and Xavier Robles, addresses the massacre of more than 400 students by the Mexican army at Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Mexico City in 1968. Following a middle-class family who live in the Tlatelolco Housing complex that overlooks the plaza, the film explores the atrocities committed by military forces. Red Dawn (Rojo Amanecer) screened in the “Images of Mexico and Latin America” section at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.
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