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Santiago Maza’s “State of Silence” Wins Best Feature at Sanfic Festival

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Santiago Maza is celebrating an inspiring win for his fourth documentary film…

The Mexican filmmaker’s State of Silence, a passion project of producer Diego Luna at Mexico-based label La Corriente del Golfo where he partners with Gael García Bernal, has walked off with the coveted best feature award at this year’s Sanfic Festival in Santiago de Chile.

Santiago Maza Documentary features have been made before on Mexico’s appalling death count of journalists: from 2000 to the beginning of 2024, 163 have been murdered and 32 remain missing, a pre-credit roll stat notes in State of Silence.

What sets State of Silence apart, however, is its sense of intimacy as its follows the lives of four journalists who refuse to be silent about Mexico’s crux: the toxic mix of organized crime syndicates and local governments, or narco-politics.

Two journalists chose exile, one is relocated, another sends his wife and kids to live with his mother, fearing for their safety. Two of them return, however, to high-risk zones to continue reporting.

World premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this June, and recently picked up by Netflix for North and Latin America, State of Silence is fast-paced in its interviews and achieves an aesthetic cinematographic finish with the idea of ennobling the extraordinary courage of journalists portrayed, Maza explained to Variety.

The doc feature climaxes in scenes, which demonstrate what they are up against with now out-going president Andrés Manuel López Obrador at a press conference paranoically rejecting journalists’ criticism of his indifference to journalists’ fates as the opinions of paid underlings of opposition party PRI.

Other big winners were Agustín Toscano’s I Trust You, which took best direction in Sanfic International Competition and Our Memory from Matías Rojas Valencia and The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine, from Alfredo Pourally, which shared top best feature honors in Sanfic’s Chilean Film Competition.

Major winners at Sanfic Industria, Sanfic’s vibrant industry forum, were led by Caye Casas’ El Show del Gran Luciferio, his follow-up to The Coffee Table, which Stephen King consecrated by applauding it as “horrible and also horribly funny. Think the Coen Brothers’ darkest dream.”

Water Never Hurt, from Argentina’s Ana Clara Bustelo, and Concert for a Single Voice, directed by Peru’s Alejandra Carpio, won double in Sanfic Industria’s Ibero-American Work in Progress, its industry centerpiece.

More than anything else the Sanfic and Sanfic Industria prizes are a testament to the slew of new talent still breaking out in Latin America and Spain. 11 of the 13 winning films at Sanfic the year are first or second fiction, doc or solo features.

Three of the four biggest winners at Santiago Ibero-American WIP and Santiago Lab Fiction And Documentary were first fiction features.

Here’s a look at this year’s winners:

SANFIC AWARDS, 2024

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 

Best Performance (ex aequo)
Lorenzo Ferro, (“Simon of the Mountain”)
Franklin Aro, (“The Dog Thief”)

Best Director
Agustín Toscano, (“I Trust You”)

Special Mention
Itsaso Arana (“The Girls are Alright”)

Best Film
“State of Silence,” (Santiago Maza)

Special Mention
“The Universal Theory,” (Timm Kröger)

CHILEAN FILM COMPETITION 

Best Performance
Gastón Salgado, (“The Affections”)

Special Mention
Paola Lattus por (“Sariri,” “Las Cenizas”)

Best Director
Roberto Salinas, (“La Primera Dosis”)

Special Mention
Alberto Hayden, (“Una Luz Negra”)

Best Film
Shared by “The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine,” (Alfredo Pourally) and “Our Memory,” (Matías Rojas Valencia)

Special Mention
“Las Cenizas,” (Stejpan Ostoic)

SANFIC INDUSTRIA , 2024

IBERO-AMERICAN WORK IN PROGRESS 

Malaga Work In Progress Award
“Water Never Hurt,” (Ana Clara Bustelo, Argentina, Uruguay)

Yagan Films & Chemistry Award
“The Clearing,” (Maira Carrasco, Chile)

Marketing Movie Runner Award
“Concert for a Single Voice,” (Alejandra Carpio Valdeavellano, Peru)

E-28 Award
“Concert for a Single Voice,”

Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana Award
“Laureano,” (Claudia Ccapatinta, Peru)

LatAm Cinema Award
“Water Never Hurt”

SANTIAGO LAB FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY 

SAPCINE Award
“Southern channels,” (Pilar Higuera, Chile)

Atómica Award
“Southern channels,”

Malaga Festival Industry Zone (MAFIZ) Award
“The Queers Riots,” (Wincy Oyarce, Chile)

Festival Intl. de Cine Documental de Buenos Aires (FIDBA) Award
“The Criminal Record of Madame Wittmann,” (Anastasia Benavente, Nicolás Videla, Chile)

Guadalajara Film Festival Co-Production Meeting Industry Award
“Cupid’s Arrow,” (Ernesto Meléndez, Chile)

Cine Qua Non Lab Award
“Arde un reino,” (Catalina Arroyave, Colombia)

Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM) Award
“The Queers Riots,”

Nuevas Miradas – EICTV Award

“The Shorn Sheep,” (Rossana Castillo, Chile)

SANFIC MORBIDO LAB 

Morbido Award 30%
“El Show del Gran Luciferio,” (Caye Casas. Mexico, Spain)

Morbido Award 10%
 “El Silencio es la Musica del Diablo,” (Cremance, Mexico)

Fantastic Pavilion Award
“El Show del Gran Luciferio,”
“Loved Ones,” (Guillermo Amoedo, Mexico, España)

Lahaye Media Award
“Loved Ones,” (Guillermo Amoedo, Mexico, España)

Begin Again Films Acquires Santiago Maza’s “State of Silence” Documentary

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Santiago Maza’s latest project is going global…

Madrid-based Begin Again Films has acquired the Mexican documentary filmmaker-screenwriter’s State of Silence, produced by Diego Luna and La Corriente del Golfo, the shingle he runs with Gael García Bernal.

Santiago MazaThe sales agency and distributor, which acquired international rights with the exception of North America and Latin America, has also unveiled the film’s first trailer.

State of Silence, which traces the harrowing stories of four journalists who risk their lives in pursuit of truth and transparency in Mexico, will have its world premiere simultaneously this month at the Tribeca and Guadalajara Film Festivals before competing at the Sheffield DocFest for its European premiere.

Detailing the endangered state of press freedom in Mexico, the documentary follows the journalists’ journeys as they navigate treacherous terrain in their effort to shed light on the enduring suffering and anxiety experienced by their fellow citizens two decades after the so-called war on drugs began.

Their resolute commitment exposes them to the risk of reprisals as they willingly make themselves targets: Taking on the roles of investigators and chroniclers, they immerse themselves in the unimaginable violence perpetuated by a narco-political system formed by organized crime syndicates and corrupt local governments.

Mexico has for several years been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Since the year 2000, 163 journalists have been murdered and another 32 have gone missing, according to British human rights organization Article 19. In 99% of cases, the murders of journalists remain unsolved.

“In a country like Mexico, where impunity reaches alarming levels, journalism becomes a fundamental pillar,” said Luna, who produced alongside Maza. “It is independent journalism that guides us towards the truth. Today, I can affirm that my civic consciousness has been largely shaped by the tireless work and courage of the journalistic profession in my country. Hence, my concern and indignation arise from the conditions under which they carry out their work, leading to the creation of this documentary as a tool to denounce this situation.”

“As a documentarian, I have always had great respect for journalists,” Maza added. “Their work shapes us. It allows us to understand the world, and often, we act or think based on their interpretation of events. In Mexico, mistreatment of journalists occurs on many levels, from discrediting the profession to the most lethal consequence. The fact that their commitment to the truth costs many of them their lives is unacceptable.”

Begin Again Films said, “This urgent and intimate portrait serves as a timely reminder that the freedom of the press must not be allowed to remain under siege anywhere in the world.”

Maza also directed La Corriente del Golfo’s documentary web series El Tema, about the impact of the climate crisis in Mexico.