Bruno Santamaría Razo’s first fiction, “Six Months in the Pink and Blue Building”, was awarded the 24th Ojo award.This Morelia Film Festival (FICM) ends October 25.
hailed by Diversity As “a sumptuous, poetic film based on memories,” it became the first Mexican film to compete at Cannes Critics’ Week in 20 years.
Morelia’s international jury, led by JA Bayona (“Snow Society”), praised the coming-of-age film for “boldly exploring the past, embracing pain and transforming it into an expression of pure, boundless beauty.”
Drawing on the filmmaker’s own experiences, the drama traces back to a defining moment in his childhood: the year he turned eleven and his father was diagnosed with HIV.
“Six Months…” also won the Audience Award for fiction film; This is a strong indicator of box office potential.
Alejandro Ramírez, CEO of Cinépolis and president of FICM, welcomes the festival’s 24th edition to Mexico in particular, as it hosts some of Mexico’s best filmmakers and actors, including Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Carlos Reygadas, Jonás Cuarón, Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Demián Bichir, Diego Boneta and Luis Gerardo Méndez. He described it as a celebration.
He noted that the festival had a remarkable performance, with James Gray in town to present the crime drama “Paper Tiger” and JA Bayona presiding over the jury. Bayona also presented “Beyond Society,” a three-part documentary about the making of “Snow Society.”
“I think this year’s films represent the broad diversity of Mexican cinema’s imagination,” said festival director Daniel Michel.
“There are many different and fascinating stories with broad experiences that we hope will find a home in cinemas as well as a wide audience in our country. We are also very proud to represent very different regions; Mexico is not a country that can be easily summarized, but rather a vast region with many differences, and I believe our official selection tries to bring it together in one place.”
Meanwhile, Joaquin del Paso’s “The Garden We Dreamed of,” about a Haitian family traveling north in search of a better future, won two awards: Special Mention for Cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki and Best Cinematography.
The film that made a splash at the festival, “Sad Girlz”, was recognized as the best first fiction film with the Casa Wabis-Escine award and was praised by the jury for its “real performances” and “flawless exploration of the life of a young modern teenager with all its complexities and contradictions”.
The rest of the rewards were distributed fairly evenly. Competing among short films with “Black Shine”, Santiago Maza won the ECAM award, a graduate scholarship in distribution from the prestigious Madrid Film School (ECAM).
Nicolas Pereda received the Best Director award for his absurd comedy “Everything Else Is Noise”; This award also earned lead actress Teresa Sanchez (“Flies”) the Best Actress Ojo award for her performance as cello musician-composer Tere, whose colleague Rosa holds her first television interview in her apartment.
Sam Louwyck won Best Actor for his portrayal of a gay hairstylist in Nathalia Acevedo’s “Beauty Parlour,” where his salon serves as a haven for outcasts.
Michel noted: “We are also very pleased that there are directors with very different backgrounds and identities who bring their own perspectives and very original ideas about filmmaking to our festival.”
Next year the festival’s dates will be moved to the last week before the Day of the Dead. FICM is already gearing up for its 25th anniversary and promises a groundbreaking edition with notable guests, daring retrospectives and a stellar line-up.
Highlights of the 10-day festival:
“I”
Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s documentary “Naza,” which stands for collateral damage, played to a packed house at Teatro Matamoros and, unsurprisingly, won the audience award. Unlike its reception at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize and received a record standing ovation, it was met with stunned silence as the credits rolled.
Presenting the documentary in advance, festival vice president Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel underlined the importance of the screening in helping viewers understand such a complex conflict. He noted that the Israeli filmmakers have been unable to return to their country after being accused of treason, adding that such accusations by a “criminal government” are a source of pride for those working towards peaceful solutions.
He reiterated the festival’s commitment to peace, dialogue and an end to violence worldwide and called for an end to the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Film critic Alonso Díaz de la Vega also spoke, describing Naza as a “deeply affecting” film that reveals not only the genocide in Gaza but also the global consequences of military technology, artificial intelligence and surveillance.
Díaz de la Vega concluded: “The most important thing that this screening can inspire is not silence, but the words ‘Free Palestine’.” The film will be released in select cinemas in Mexico on October 22.
Guillermo del Toro Regulations
At the festival, which presented a 3D re-screening of the much-lauded “Pan’s Labyrinth,” the anti-authoritarian theme of the Oscar-winning tale hit even harder this time, given the rise of right-wing governments in the region and around the world in general.
Speaking to crowds of mostly young fans at the Masterclass and later at a press conference and in numerous one-on-one interviews, the tireless filmmaker assessed the current situation in the world.
He became emotional during the presser, saying: “The current state of our species and society is far beyond what we could have imagined at the time. But I know the same sadness and despair. It saddens me deeply to see the subsequent failure of one, two or three generations. We are leaving in ruins a world torn apart morally, socially and spiritually, torn apart by the fabric that once allowed us to tell tales and parables.”
Franco-Mexican Alliance
As part of the partnership established between FICM and Cannes Critics’ Week in 2003, this year’s edition presented a selection of eight films and one short film, which were screened in the sidebar last May. The screenings, directed by artistic director Ava Cahen of the parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, included Aina Clotet’s “Viva”, Alexander Murphy’s “Tin Castle” and Zou Jing’s “A Girl Unknown”.
Celebrating 200 years of diplomatic relations between Mexico and France this year, French Ambassador to Mexico Delphine Borione awarded Alfonso Cuarón the Order of the Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters during the festival in honor of his “outstanding contribution to contemporary cinema, his unique vision, his artistic reinvention and his role in bringing Mexican culture to global audiences.”
Calling Cuarón “one of the greatest filmmakers of our time,” he praised his universal vision and the cultural ties his work forges between Mexico and France. “To speak to the world, one must never stop being oneself,” he said, reflecting on his films, from “Y Tu Mamá También” to “Roma.”
Reflecting on France’s profound influence on his own filmmaking, Cuaron described cinema as “not a narrative art, but a musical art”; a rhythmic, organic creation with its own heartbeat and direct image of time.
He concluded his speech by touching on France’s current political turmoil and expressing his hope that young people’s calls for change will be heard rather than embraced by opportunism. Quoting the French writer Pascal Quignard, he concluded: “I do not believe that art can ever be negative. Because it ignores time, it also ignores negation.”
24This Morelia Film Festival ‘Ojo’ Winners:
Best Feature Film
Bruno Santamaria Razo “Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building”
Special Mention
Joaquin del Paso “The Garden We Dreamed of”
Premio Casa Wabis – Escine’s Best First Feature
“Sad Girl” by Fernanda Tovar
Best Director
Nicolás Pereda, “Everything Else Is Noise”
Best Screenplay
Joaquín Ruano, “We”
Best Cinematography
Gökhan Tiryaki, “The Garden We Dreamed”
Best Actress
Teresa Sánchez, “Everything Else Is Noise”
Best Actor
Sam Louwyck, “Beauty Parlour”
Best Documentary
“Forensita” Pablo Vaca
Special Mention
“Lost Mariachis,” Francis Ohem
Best Short Fiction
“Manual Winding,” Gustavo Obregon
Special Mention, Editing
“Albatross” Amandine Thomas
Best Short Documentary
“Voices in the Forest,” Teresa Camous Guerrero, Arturo López Pio
Special Mention, Documentary
Andrés Pulido Esteva “Nobody remembers this movie”
Best Animated Short
Emilia Schettino Bustamante “Cradle of the Wolves”
Special Mention, Animated Short
Adriana Monteforte Lahera “Letters to the Lost”
International Audience Award
“Naza,” Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
National Audience Award
Bruno Santamaria Razo “Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building”
Documentary Film Audience Award
“Fast” by Alejandro Rugama
ECAM Award
Santiago Maza (“Black Flash”)