Tag Archives: Berlin Film Festival

Kino Lorber Acquires North American Distribution Rights to Ruiz Palacios’ “Güeros”

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Alonso Ruiz Palacios’ latest project is headed north of the border…

Kino Lorber has picked up North American distribution rights to the Mexican filmmaker’s Güeros.

Alonso Ruiz Palacios

The comedy, set in 1999, centers on three teens who, during a student strike, kill time searching for folk-rocker Epigmenio Cruz on the streets of Mexico City.

Written, directed and produced by Ruiz Palacios, the black-and-white feature took the best first film award at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival.

Gueros also won three awards at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival including Best New Narrative Director.

More recently Gueros garnered a dozen Ariel Award nominations.

Ruiz Palacios’ 2010 short El último canto del pájaro cú  won an Ariel for Best Short Fiction Film.

Kino Lorber will debut the movie at New York’s Film Forum on May 20, with additional key markets and digital platforms to follow.

Lubezki Wins Best Cinematography Award at This Year’s BAFTA Awards

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Emmanuel Lubezki is a hit across the pond… again!

The Mexican cinematographer on Sunday won his second BAFTA Award in as many years.

Emmanuel Lubezki

During the film awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London, Lubezki picked up the cinematography award for his work on Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Birdman. The win comes one year after getting the same honor for his work on Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity.

At the Academy Awards in 2014, Lubezki won the cinematography award for his work on Gravity. He’s also nominated for the Academy Award this year and widely seen as a lead contender.

There has been only one back-to-back Oscar winner in the cinematography category. John Toll won in 1994 and 1995 for Legends of the Fall and Braveheart.

Lubezki also served as director of photography on Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

BEST FILM
BOYHOOD
Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland

LEADING ACTRESS
JULIANNE MOORE
Still Alice

LEADING ACTOR
EDDIE REDMAYNE
The Theory of Everything

DIRECTOR
BOYHOOD
Richard Linklater

EE RISING STAR
Jack O’Connell

COSTUME DESIGN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Milena Canonero

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Anthony McCarten

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
IDA
Pawel Pawlikowski, Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzieciol, Ewa Puszczynska

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Wes Anderson

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
STEPHEN BERESFORD (Writer), DAVID LIVINGSTONE (Producer)
Pride

CINEMATOGRAPHY
BIRDMAN
Emmanuel Lubezki

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
PATRICIA ARQUETTE
Boyhood

SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. SIMMONS
Whiplash

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
INTERSTELLAR
Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter

ANIMATED FILM
THE LEGO MOVIE
Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

SOUND
WHIPLASH
Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann

EDITING
WHIPLASH
Tom Cross

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka

BRITISH SHORT FILM
BOOGALOO AND GRAHAM
Brian J. Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney

PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Frances Hannon

DOCUMENTARY
CITIZENFOUR
Laura Poitras

ORIGINAL MUSIC
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Alexandre Desplat

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten

Bustamante’s Debut Feature “Ixcanul” to Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival

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Jayro Bustamante
 is headed to Germany…

The Guatemalan director’s first feature film Ixcanul has been chosen as one of the first seven films for the 65th Berlin Film Festival Competition program.

Ixcanul

The film, which Bustamante wrote, centers on a 17 year-old Mayan Kaqchikel girl named Maria, who lives with her parents in a coffee plantation on the side of an active volcano in Guatemala. She’s part of an arranged marriage she doesn’t want but can’t escape her fate.

Bustamante’s short films have earned him acclain at a number of film festivals. The most recent, Cuando sea grande, premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival in 2012, where it landed the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée) quality award and was aired on television networks in France, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The film stars María Mercedes Croy, María Telón, Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo and Marvin Coroy.

Also in the Berlinale mix is Kenneth Branagh’s live-action Disney film Cinderella, although it’s playing out of competition. Lily James plays the titular role, while Helena Bonham Carter portrays the fairy godmother.

Other films that made the first cut include Peter Greenaway’s Eisenstein In Guanajuato. Shot in Mexico, the film stars Stelio Savante, Lisa Owen and Maya Zapata. It follows Eisenstein as he spends 10 days in 1931 in Guanajuato, Mexico, where he falls in love. His sensual experiences there turn out to have been crucial in his life and his films. From being a formal filmmaker with films about conceptual ideas, his trip to Mexico humanizes Eisenstein as a filmmaker, and his films become more sympathetic to the human condition.

Berlinale runs from February 5-15.

Here’s a look at the selected film featuring Hispanic talent in front of and/or behind the camera:

Cinderella
U.S.
By Kenneth Branagh
with Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Derek Jacobi and Helena Bonham Carter
International premiere – Out of competition

Eisenstein In Guanajuato
The Netherlands / Mexico / Belgium / Finland
By Peter Greenaway
With Elmer Bäck, Luis Alberti
World premiere

Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano)
Guatemala / France
By Jayro Bustamante
With María Mercedes Coroy, María Telón, Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo, Marvin Coroy
World premiere – Debut feature

Longoria Raises Awareness About the Plight of Farm Laborers with the Documentary “Food Chains”

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Eva Longoria is shining a spotlight on farm laborers in the United States…

The Mexican American actress and former Desperate Housewives star is hoping to push the plight of farm laborers to the top of the U.S. policy agenda with the release of Food Chains, an activist documentary that she executive produced.

Eva Longoria

The doc had its world premiere on Monday during the Berlin Film Festival‘s Culinary Cinema sidebar.

Food Chains, directed by Sanjay Rawal, follows a group of tomato pickers in Florida – the Coalition of Immokalee Workers – who take on the $4 trillion global supermarket industry.

Longoria has long been an outspoken advocate for farm workers rights for many years.

“Long before I was famous,” the actress told The Hollywood Reporter.

She has spoken to Congress and campaigned for fair work legislation for U.S. farmworkers.

Longoria also produced the 2011 documentary Harvest, which takes a closer look at the fate of the hundreds of thousands of children that work as migrant laborers in the U.S. food industry.

“There’s more interest in food than ever before. Everyone is about organic and local and ‘I don’t eat Gluten.’ but no thought is put to the people who pick the food that feeds us all.”

Hayek’s Spanish Film to Be Released in the U.S.

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Salma Hayek landed a Best Actress nomination at this year’s Goya Awards for her work in As Luck Would Have It… And, now it appears American audiences will finally be able to watch her stellar performance.

IFC Midnight has announced that it is acquiring all United States and United Kingdom rights to director Álex de la Iglesia’s award-worthy Spanish film.

Salma Hayek in As Luck Would Have It

Screened at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, As Luck Would Have It is having its North American premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight Section.

Starring Jose Mota, Salma Hayek, Blanco Portillo and Fernando Tejero, the film centers on an out-of-work publicist who suffers an accident looks to sell the exclusive interview rights to the highest bidder in an attempt to provide for his family.

As Luck Would Have It received two Goya Award nominations, including Best Actress for Salma Hayek’s performance and Best New Actor for Jose Mota’s performance.