25/03/2024 - The second feature by Colombia’s César Augusto Acevedo and the first feature by Brazilians Carlos Papá Guarani and Augusto Canani are joint winners of Toulouse’s Work-in-Progress Grand Prize

Horizon by César Augusto Acevedo (left) and Jepotá by Carlos Papá Guarani and Augusto Canani

The films featured in the Films in Progress line-up - organised within the Cinélatino – Toulouse Film Meetings - are always worth watching very closely, as demonstrated by Lillah Halla’s Power Alley [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lillah Halla
film profile] last year (which will make its way to Cannes’ Critics’ Week showcase next month), by Manuela Martelli’s 1976 in 2022 and by Andrés Ramírez Pulido’s La Jauria [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (both of which also world premiered in Cannes a few weeks later, in the Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week respectively), and by Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s Utama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Loayza
film profile] in 2021 (which was later crowned the winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic competition).

In this 2024 edition, out of the six selected films (chosen from among a total 301 candidates), the jury decided to jointly award the Grand Films in Progress Prize to two titles: Horizon by Colombia’s César Augusto Acevedo and Jepotá by Brazilians Carlos Papá Guarani and Augusto Canani.

César Augusto Acevedo’s second feature film after Land and Shade [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (which scooped the Golden Camera and Revelation Prizes in Cannes’ Critics’ Week in 2015), Horizon (read our article) is produced by Colombian firm Inercia Películas and France’s Ciné-Sud Promotion, in co-production with Luxembourg’s Tarantula, French outfit In Vivo Films, Chile’s Quijote Films and Germany’s unafilm.

Jepotá, Carlos Papá Guarani and Augusto Canani’s first feature film, catapults viewers into a region where indigenous life collides with urbanisation. Iraí is a young indigenous man who learns that Jerá, the mysterious girl he is deeply in love with, could be suffering from a deadly condition known by his community as "Jepotá". When Jerá suddenly disappears, Iraí seeks the help of Caburé, a woman who has withdrawn into the wilderness. In a vast industrial district, Iraí finds himself and discovers the intricate interconnections of reality which go far beyond what he could ever have imagined… Jepotá (which scooped three Films in Progress titles overall) is produced by Brazil’s Prana Filmes, in co-production with Parisian firm Decia Films.

Last but not least, in the 19th edition of Films in Development, resounding victory was enjoyed by the project Mapurbe, directed by Chile’s Claudia Huaiquimilla (who previously turned heads with Mala junta and Mis hermanos), who also wrote the screenplay for her movie in league with Pablo Greene, offering up an intriguing story unfolding in Santiago in 1992, which follows in the wake of a young Mapuche teen who reaches a decisive turning point in his social and personal world.

The winners are as follows:

Grand Films in Progress Prize (tie)
Horizon - César Augusto Acevedo (Colombia/France/Luxembourg/Chile/Germany)
Jepotá - Carlos Papá Guarani and Augusto Canani (Brazil/France)

 Ciné+ in Progress Special Prize
Jepotá

European Distributors and Cinema Operators Prize (Europe Distribution and CICAE)
Querido Trópico - Ana Endara (Panama/Colombia)

WIP Paradiso Prize
Jepotá

French Film Prize (tie)
Vainilla – Mayra Hermosillo (Mexico)
Isla Negra - Jorge Riquelme Serrano (Chile)

Films in Development Prize

BRLab Prize
Mapurbe - Claudia Huaiquimilla (Chile)

Apifa - Le Lokal Prize
Mapurbe

(Translated from French)