Lucía Puenzo has 10 reasons to celebrate…
The 40-year-old Argentine author and filmmaker’s latest project The German Doctor was the top winner at the Argentine Film Academy awards ceremony, picking up 10 Sur Awards including best film and best director.
Puenzo’s film, Argentina’s entry into the Oscar race in the Foreign Language Film category, also picked up best actor in a leading role for Alex Brendemühl, and seven other statutes for best makeup, editing, art direction, costume design, breakthrough performance by an actress, supporting actor, and supporting actress for Elena Roger.
Produced by Historias Cinematograficas, the film portrays a fictional story based on true events, about Nazi criminal Josef Mengele (played by Brendemuhl) and the time he spent in Argentina hiding after World War II.
In the story adapted from Puenzo’s own novel, Mengele meets a local family in Southern Argentina and becomes obsessed with their young daughter, to whom he secretly delivers a genetic treatment.
Oscar winner’s Juan Jose Campanella’s Foosball, a 3D animated film with the highest budget ever for a local production, picked four Sur awards, including best original score, sound design, cinematography, and adapted screenplay.
Corazon de Leon, starring local comedian Guillermo Francella, won Best Actress in a Leading Role and Breakthrough Performance by a Male Actor.
Jose Luis Garcia’s The Girl From the South, about South Korean activist Lim Sukyung, won best documentary, while Daniel Gimelberg’s Before grabbed Best Opera Prima.
The original Argentine Film Academy of Motion Arts and Science was founded in 1941 during the country’s golden era of film production, and later banned by the dictatorship in 1955. It was re-founded in Buenos Aires in 2004, and is currently headed by Juan Jose Campanella.
