16/03/2017 - The festival’s 29th edition will take place between 17 and 26 March, with industry professionals eager to get a glimpse of films currently in post-production at the Cinéma en Construction event

Life Beyond Me by Olivier Peyon

Tomorrow sees the opening of Cinélatino, the oldest European film festival dedicated to the promotion of Latin American film and the largest in terms of the number of films on offer, now in its 29^th year. Around 150 films will be screened between 17 and 26 March, last year’s event having attracted more than 300 industry delegates and 50,000 visitors. This year, the first day is shaping up to be particularly memorable thanks to the three films chosen to open the festival: Life Beyond Me [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by Olivier Peyon, a co-production between France and Uruguay (on general release in France from next Wednesday, distributed by Haut et Court); The Idea of a Lake [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milagros Mumenthaler
film profile], directed by Milagros Mumenthaler, a co-production between Argentina, Switzerland and Qatar, which featured in competition at Locarno; and X500, by Juan Andrés Arango, a co-production between Colombia, Canada and Mexico.

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The Fiction section will see 12 films competing for the top spot, six of which have been co-produced by European companies: Rey [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], from Niles Attalah (which took the special Jury Prize in Rotterdam); Christopher Murray’s The Blind Jesus [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a contender at last year’s Venice Biennale; the powerful Jesus [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by Fernando Guzzoni (screened in competition in San Sebastián); Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl! [+see also:
trailer
film profile], by Felipe Bragança (featured in the official competition at the Sundance festival and later screened in the Generation section in Berlin); La Caja Vacía [+see also:
trailer
film profile], by Claudia Sainte-Luce (which premiered in Toronto); Santa & Andrés [+see also:
trailer
film profile], by Carlos Lechuga; and The Cambridge Squatter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by Eliane Caffé. If we take into account the 15 films set to feature in the Découvertes section, this year’s fiction line-up boasts a total of 17 films being shown for the first time in France, as well as two European premieres. Out of 27 films, eight will appear as part of the joint Franco-Spanish initiative between Toulouse and San Sebastián, Cinéma en Construction.

Held on 23 and 24 March, this increasingly prestigious event has proven to be an effective launch pad for films currently in the post-production stage. A record number of films entered this year’s contest, with 198 candidates from 17 Latin American countries. The 2017 selection features a number of new directors, with five debut films. It is also worth noting that four out of the six shortlisted films were directed by women, including Los Perros [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a co-production between Chile, France, Argentina, Portugal and Germany and the second full-length effort from Marcela Said, following her breakthrough at the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes in 2013 with The Summer of Flying Fish [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The other films in post-production chosen for the event are: Jazmines en Lídice, by Rubén Sierra Salles (Venezuela, Mexico); La Novia del Desierto, by Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato (Argentina, Chile); Marilyn, by Martín Rodríguez Redondo (Argentina, Chile), Meio Irmão, by Eliane Coster (Brazil); and Temporada de Caza, by Natalia Garagiola (Argentina).

(Translated from French)