Paolo Tizón is celebrating a special prize…

Following the world premiere of the Peruvian cinematographer and director’s documentary Night Has Come at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Tizon’s film has earned some special recognition.

Night Has Come has been awarded the Proxima Special Jury Prize, which comes with a $10,000 prize, at the festival.

The film centers on a group of young men, many of them teenagers, who sign up for one of the most challenging military training courses in Latin America. The objective is to turn them into fearsome fighters operating in the dangerous VRAEM region, an area plagued by various armed groups, guarding their coca plants and engaged in narcotics trafficking.

“In his absorbing look at the hermetically sealed world of the army, debut director Paolo Tizón paints a portrait of one institution while depicting individual human stories and reflecting on male identity, the potential for self-determination, and a fragile masculinity that stands in striking contrast to the brutal training. Sensitivity alongside violence, beauty alongside vulnerability,” festival programmer Vojtěch Kočárník states in his description.

The film is produced by Diana Castro and executive produced by Tizón. The lead production company is Cinesol Films in Peru, in collaboration with Tupay Cine in Peru, PCM Post in Mexico, and Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in Spain.

The film is funded by DAFO, Peru’s Ministry of Culture.

Tizón graduated from Elías Querejeta Film School in Spain. He has directed the short films Sobre el Cerro Lechuza (2020) and Soroborda” (2023), which were screened at international festivals such as San Sebastian in Spain, ULTRAcinema in Mexico, and Al Este de Lima in Peru.

Night Has Come” is his first feature film.