01/04/2019 - Co-produced by Spain, the first feature film by Uruguay director Lucía Garibaldi is awarded the Grand Prize, while Algunas bestias flies high in the Films in Progress competition

Running 22 to 31 March, the 31st edition of Cinélatino – Rencontres de Toulouse ended with the triumph of Lucia Garibaldi’s first feature film, The Sharks [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in the international competition. It was awarded the Grand Prix Coup de Cœur by a jury comprising the Cuban producer Claudia Calviño, the Argentine filmmaker Mariano Llinás and former Directors’ Fortnight film selector, Édouard Waintrop. Produced by Uruguay, Argentina and Spain, the feature won the Best Direction award at the beginning of the year during the Sundance Film Festival and is sold by Visit Films.

The Audience Award, meanwhile, went to Tremors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jayro Bustamante
film profile] by Jayro Bustamente, a production involving Guatemala, France and Luxembourg which was well-received in the Panorama section of the Berlinale. Sold by Film Factory Entertainment, the film will be released in French cinemas from 1 May, courtesy of Memento Films Distribution. 

The professional segment of the Cinélatino event (which is always watched with interest in the lead up to the big festivals) saw Chilean productions tower over the competition. Indeed, other titles in the Films in Progress section, Cinéma en Construction (co-piloted by the Toulouse team in league with the San Sebastian Festival), were blown out of the water by Jorge Riquelme Serrano’s Algunas bestias, which won three of the four trophies up for grabs (including the main prize), while La misteriosa mirada del flamenco by Diego Céspedes was singled out from other projects in the Films in Development section, Cinéma en développement.

The full list of winners is as follows:

International Competition

Grand Prix Coup de coeur
The Sharks [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Lucía Garibaldi (Uruguay/Argentina/Spain)

Special Jury Award
The Good Girls - Alejandra Márquez Abella (Mexico)

Special Mention Award – Best Actor
Steevens Benjamin - Perro bomba (Chile/France)

Audience Award
Tremors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jayro Bustamante
film profile] – Jayro Bustamente (Guatemala/France/Luxembourg)

FIPRESCI Award
Todos somos marineros – Miguel Ángel Moulet (Peru/Dominican Republic)

SFCC Critics’ Award
Miriam Lies [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Oriol Estrada, Dulce Rodríg…
film profile] – Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada (Dominican Republic/Spain)

CCAS Fiction Award
Monos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Alejandro Landes (Colombia/Netherlands /Argentina/GermanyAllemagne/Denmark/Sweden/Uruguay/Suisse)

Rail d’Oc Prize
Tremors – Jayro Bustamente

Full-length Documentary Competition

Documentary Award
Cuando cierro los ojos - Michelle Ibaven, Sergio Blanco (Mexico)

Documentary Audience Award
The Smiling Lombana – Daniela Abad Lombana (Colombia)

Signis Documentary Award
Cuando cierro los ojos - Michelle Ibaven, Sergio Blanco 

Short Film Competition

Revelation Award
Arcángel – Ángeles Cruz (Mexico)
Special Mention
Susurro bajo la tierra – Lilia Alcalá (Venezuela)

Courtoujours Award
En la carretera – Miguel Antonio Zanguña (Colombia)
Special Mention
Susurro bajo la tierra – Lilia Alcalá

Short Film Audience Award
Casi famoso – Gonzalo Díaz (Chile)

Short Film Signis Award
Dulce – Guille Isa, Angello Faccini (US/Colombia)

CCAS Short Film Award
En la piel de Lucía – Ángel de Guillermo, Mayra Hermosillo (Mexico)

Professional Segments

Films in Progress 35

Films in Progress Award
Algunas bestias - Jorge Riquelme Serrano (Chile)

Films in Progress Mactori Award
The Land of Ashes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Sofía Quirós Ubeda (Costa Rica/Chile/Argentina/France)

Ciné+ en Construction Award
Algunas bestias - Jorge Riquelme Serrano

European Distributors’ and Operators’ Award
Algunas bestias - Jorge Riquelme Serrano

Films in Development 14

BrLab Award
La misteriosa mirada del flamenco - Diego Céspedes (Chile)

French Kiss Studio Award - First Prize
Somos Muchas más - Julia Heimann & Natalia Laclau
Produced by ACA (Argentina) and C-P Productions (France)

French Kiss Studio Award – Second Prize
A voix basse- Patricia Pérez and Heidi Hassan
Produced by Perspective Films (France), Matriuska Producciones (Spain), PCT Cinéma & Télévision (Switzerland), Producciones de la 5ta Avenida (Cuba)

(Translated from French)