Tag Archives: Abner Benaim

Samuel Goldwyn Films Acquires Ilse Salas’ “Plaza Catedral”

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Ilse Salas’ acclaimed project has a new distributor…

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired Plaza Catedral, starring the 40-year-old Mexican actress.

Ilse Salas, Plaza Catedral, The Oscar-shortlisted film, which hails from writer-director Abner Benaim, is looking to represent Panama at the 94th Academy Awards, in the category of Best International Feature.

Samuel Goldwyn Films’ release plan has not yet been disclosed.

The drama centers on Alicia (Salas), a woman who had a perfect life before her 6-year-old son died in a tragic accident. Plagued by grief, she becomes estranged from society – until one night a street-smart 13-year-old boy named Chief (Fernando Xavier de Casta) arrives at her door bleeding from a gunshot wound, and begs her to let him inside.

Plaza Catedral made its world premiere at the Guadalajara International Film Festival, where it won the awards for both Best Actress and Best Actor. The film then went on to win the Audience Award for Best Film at the International Film Festival of Panama.

Abner Benaim’s “Plaza Catedral” Makes Oscars Short List in International Feature Film Category

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Abner Benaim is celebrating a special first for Panama…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has unveiled its shortlist of 15 films that will advance to the next stage of voting in the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards, with the 50-year-old Panamanian filmmaker’s latest film making the cut.

Abner BenaimBenaim’s thriller Plaza Catedral becomes the country’s first film to make the short list.

Starring Ilse Salas, Xavier de Casta and Manuel Cardona, explores the relationship between a melancholy divorcee and a poor street child.

As a co-production between Panama, Mexico and Colombia, it’s Benaim’s second fiction feature film after his 2009 comedy Chance.

But Benaim’s Plaza Catedral isn’t the only Latin film making the short list…

Mexico’s Prayers For The Stolen, directed by Tatiana Huezo, and Spain’s The Good Boss, directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Javier Bardem, have also made the cut.

Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.

In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.

Nominations voting begins on January 27, 2022, and concludes on February 1, 2022. They will be announced on February 8, 2022 with the ceremony held on March 27.

Here’s the shortlist in full:

Austria: Great Freedom
Belgium: Playground
Bhutan: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Finland: Compartment No. 6
Denmark: Flee
Germany: I’m Your Man
Iceland: Lamb
Iran: A Hero
Italy: The Hand of God
Japan: Drive My Car
Kosovo: Hive
Mexico: Prayers For The Stolen
Norway: The Worst Person In The World
Panama: Plaza Catedral
Spain: The Good Boss

Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Starz Pilot for “Vida” Wins Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival

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The audience has spoken… And, they’ve given Alonso Ruizpalacios his due prize.

The SXSW Film Festival announced its Audience Award winners, with the Mexican film director and co-helmer So Yong Kim’s Vida taking home the Episodic prize.

Starz's Vida

The forthcoming Starz series was created by Tanya Saracho and directed by Kim. Ruizpalacios directed the Vida pilot.

Abner Benaim took home the prize in the 24 Beats Per Second category for his documentary film, Ruben Blades Is Not My Name.

The Panamanian film director’s film is hailed as a celebration of the Latin American icon who was at the center of the New York Salsa revolution in the 1970’s. His socially charged lyrics and explosive rhythms brought Salsa music to an international audience. Blades has won 17 Grammys, acted in Hollywood, earned a law degree from Harvard and even ran for President of his native Panama.

Santiago Caicedo’s Virus Tropical was the Audience Award Winner in the Global category.

The black-and-white feature is closely adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Power Paola, the nom de plume of Colombian-Ecuadorian cartoonist Paola Gaviria.

The Audience Awards follow the previously announced 2018 Jury Awards.

Over nine days, the 2018 SXSW Film Festival screened 136 features.

Here’s the complete list of Audience Award winners:

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: First Match
Director: Olivia Newman 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: TransMilitary
Directors: Gabriel Silverman, Fiona Dawson 

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: All Square
Director: John Hyams 

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: The Dawn Wall
Director: Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer 

VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: Profile
Director: Timur Bekmambetov 

MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: Upgrade
Director: Leigh Whannell 

EPISODIC
Audience Award Winner: Vida
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios, So Yong Kim 

24 BEATS PER SECOND
Audience Award Winner: Ruben Blades Is Not My Name
Director: Abner Benaim 

GLOBAL
Audience Award Winner: Virus Tropical
Director: Santiago Caicedo 

FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Audience Award Winner: Science Fair
Director: Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster 

SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Audience Award Winner: #19 – Offf Barcelona 2017
Directors: Eve Duhamel, Julien Vallee

Docu-Feature Film “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name” Currently in Production

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Here’s your chance to learn about the man behind the living legend that is Ruben Blades…

The 67-year-old Panamanian singer will be the focus of a docu-feature from Abner Benaim’s Apertura Films and Gema Juarez Allen’s Gema Films.

Ruben Blades

Entitled Ruben Blades Is Not My Name, the film about the Grammy– and Latin Grammy-winning salsa singer/composer is currently shooting in New York, will then segue to Panama and other Latin American countries.

Benaim, who helmed Panama’s 2014 Oscar entry Invasion, is directing.

Ruben Blades Is Not My Name turns on a multi-faceted figure who wrote and performed what was then the best-selling salsa album in history, 1978’s Siembra, was educated at Harvard University, was and is a political activist, and made a run for Panamanian president in 1994, obtaining 20% of the votes. He has enjoyed a second career as an actor, is currently playing Daniel Salazar in Fear the Waking Dead.

“The arc of the story is still playing itself out, but it will definitely be related to the history of Latin America in the past 50 years, of which Ruben has been a witness and an active part of,” said Benaim.

“We will concentrate on his music and particularly his lyrics and their effect on those who’ve listened to them, danced to them, thought about them, and were somehow shaped by them.”

“By way of its format, Ruben Blades Is Not My Name will include interviews with Ruben, other musicians and artists, friends and family and will use lots of incredible archive footage from concerts, daily life, politics, films and more,” Benaim added, saying that the docu-feature will also shoot Blades offstage as a man, “as someone who lives a private life also.”

Ruben Blades Is Not My Name is “a film full of rhythm, music and good stories -with the most remarkable characters. Ruben is a wonderful storyteller, so it will be a very entertaining and moving piece that will travel wherever there are fans of Ruben and beyond,” added Juarez Allen.

Panamanian TV station TVN is backing the docu-feature. Producers are in talks with co-producers from the U.S. and Latin America and sales agents for worldwide rights, per Benaim.