Ciro Guerra continues his winning ways…

The 34-year-old Colombian film director and screenwriter ‘s latest film Embrace of the Serpent took the Astor award for best film at the 30th edition of the Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata, which officially closed on Saturday night.

Earlier this year, the Colombian-Venezuelan-Argentine co-production topped the Director’s Fortnight at the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival, and was selected by the Colombian Film Academy as the country’s submission for the Oscars in the best foreign-language film category.

The best actor award was delivered to the entire male cast of Pablo Larrain‘s The Club: Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farias, Jaime Vadell and Alejandro Goic.

The film, Chile’s Oscar candidate, also grabbed best screenplay for writers Guillermo Calderon, Daniel Villalobos and Pablo Larrain.

The best actress award went to Erica Rivas (Wild Tales), for Ariel Rotter‘s Incident Light.

In the Latin American competition, the jury formed by Valdivia film fest director Raul Camargo Borquez, Jang Byungwon, and Andrea Picard selected Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias‘ Santa Teresa & Other Stories as best film, and Natural Arpajou‘s Princesas for best short.

Benjamin Naishtat‘s Locarno entry El movimiento won best film in the local competition.

The best director award went to Fernando Salem for How Most Things Work.

The only A class festival in Latin America, Mar del Plata runs October 30 to Novenber 7.

Here’s a look at the main awards:

International Competition
Best Film: Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra)
Best Director: Ivan Ostrochovsky, for Koza.
Best Actor: the male cast of The Club – Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farías, Jaime Vadell and Alejandro Goic.
Best Actress: Erica Rivas (Incident Light)
Best Screenplay: The Club – Guillermo Calderon, Daniel Villalobos and Pablo Larrain.

Latin American Competition
Best Film: Santa Teresa & Other Stories (Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias)
Best Short Film: Princesas (Natural Arpajou)

Argentine Competition
Best Film: El movimiento (Benjamin Naishtat)
Special Mention: Docile Bodies (Matias Scarvaci and Diego Gachassin)
Best Director: Fernando Salem, for How Most Things Work.
Best Short Film: Fantastico (Matias Sposato)
Best Short Film Director: Pablo Camaiti, for Gomorra.
DAC Award for Best Argentine Film in All Competitions: Docile Bodies

Other Awards
FIPRESCI Award: Incident Light (Ariel Rotter)
Best Work in Progress: The Corroborators (Luis Bernardez)
Jury Prize Work in Progress: La helada negra (Maximiliano Schonfeld)
Alfredo Alcon Award: Guillermo Francella