Tag Archives: Colombian Film Academy

Guerra’s “Embrace of the Serpent” Wins Best Film at Mar del Plata Film Fest

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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.

Ciro Guerra's Embrace of the Serpent

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

Colombia Selects Gamboa’s “Mateo” as the Country’s Representative in the Foreign Language Category for the 2015 Oscars

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Maria Gamboa could possibly have a date with Oscar in the near future…

The Colombian filmmaker’s Mateo will be Colombia’s bet for a nomination in the Foreign Language category at the 2015 Academy Awards. The news was announced this week by the Colombian Film Academy on its Facebook account and confirmed by the film’s press agency LBV.

Maria Gamboa's Mateo

A winner of screenplay and first feature awards at the Miami Film Festival this year, Mateo was one of the three finalists to represent Colombia at the Oscars, together with Oscar Ruiz Navia‘s Los hongos — winner of a special jury prize in Locarno this year — and Ruben Mendoza‘s Dust on the Tongue, which topped Colombia’s main film event, the Cartagena Film Festival. The 378 members of the academy participated in the voting of the final slate, preselected by its board of directors.

“Both the crew and the people from Magdalena Medio who participated in this project, we all feel honored and happy to be able to represent Colombia,” Gamboa said in a statement. “We’re thrilled that there’s a recognition to Mateo’s story of peace and reconciliation, which offers a more human and truthful vision, so different from the way this crucial topic is usually presented.”

A Colombia/France co-production starring Carlos Hernandez and Felipe Botero, Mateo tells the story of a 16-year-old boy who faces a dilemma about the direction his life will take when his corrupt uncle asks him to infiltrate a local Barrancabermeja theater group to uncover its members’ political activities.

No local films have ever been picked for an Oscar nomination. But the recently reborn Colombian film industry has been expanding in number and size ever since the passing of the first film law in 2003 which poured funds into film production, the new Bogota Audiovisual Market and new co-production and shooting incentives.