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Welcoming foreign shoots while the rest of Latin America was in Covid lockdown, Uruguay has benefited from a growing influx of international productions, with local talent and crew gaining invaluable on-set experience.

National production has increased to nearly pre-pandemic levels, 33 features in 2023, on a par with 2019, and 30 features in 2024, way up on 2016’s 11 features produced.

Uruguay’s film industry has also grown in diversity in terms of genres and co-productions. Last year also saw 32 local theatrical releases, with documentaries making up the bulk but also featuring Montelona co-produced “A Blue Bird,” the latest from “Las Acacias” director Ariel Rotter, and the 2024 Cannes Critics’ Week winner “Simon of the Mountain” by Federico Luis.

Driving growth are powerhouse companies led by Cimarrón, a Mediapro company, which provided production services to J.A. Bayona’s Oscar-nominated “Society of the Snow” and Daniel Burman’s Rose d’Or Latino winner “Yosi, the Regretful Spy.” Cimarrón,...

Mubi's retrospective New Argentine Cinema is playing from August 7 - September 28, 2017 in most countries around the world. La CiénagaBeginning in the mid-1990s, young directors, the majority of whom had graduated from one of many film schools in Argentina, began producing low-budget, independent films in a style that earned this group the classification of the New Independent Argentine Cinema.Part of this upsurge had to do with a small grants program that was initiated by the National Film Institute (Incaa) in the mid-1990s. These recent graduates have made short films (cortometrajes), and then have gone on to raise funds through co-production funding (Hubert Bals Fund at the Rotterdam film festival, the Visions Sud Est program from Switzerland, among others). They have relied on their own networks of like-minded young people rather than depend on the traditional film sector structure (the film union, established director’s associations, and the few...

Pablo Giorgelli’s abortion drama Invisible, his highly anticipated follow-up to his much-acclaimed, multiple award-winning debut Las Acacias, does not disappoint. A stylistic follow-up from its predecessor, Invisible tells the stripped-back tale of a doubt-wracked pregnant teenager via long takes, forensic close-ups and unmitigated intensity — but it’s her intriguing inner narrative that the film is really about. It's a quiet heartbreaker of a story that Mora Arenillas powerfully and affectingly brings to life. Festivals and art house audiences should respond warmly to a film of rare purity and purpose in which all the non-essentials have been excised at the service...

Here at the Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), Verónica Cura is presenting her latest film, "Death in Buenos Aires" ("Muerte en Buenos Aires"), an Argentine policier. She is also meeting with her international sales agent, Film Factory, the Mexican distributor and the director, first-timer Natalia Meta. The film stars Demian Bichir, Chino Darin , Monica Antonopulos , Carlos Casella , Hugo Arana, Jorgelina Aruzzi , Emilio Disi, Fabián Arenillas, Humberto Tortonese, Gino Renni , Wullich Martin and Luisa Kuliok.

After one month in release in Argentina, it has racked up admissions which is astonishing for a first feature with no TV backing. Its returns were greater than 2014 and first semester 2015’s hit by Daniel Burman, " The Mystery of Happiness" ("El misterio de la felicidad”) .

One of Argentina’s top producers, Verónica Cura ’s opinions on the business and on the importance of education are crucial to understanding what is happening in Latin American production today. Not only does she teach about film production from an artistic and organizational perspective, starting from the moment the idea takes hold, to project development, to shooting and all the way to theatrical exhibition, but her productions are seminal to the cinema of Argentina.

Vero started working in 1992 as a director and head of production. In 2001 she began producing her own films. From 2007 to 2009 she was President of the Association of Independent Producers and Vice President of the Chamber of Film Producers from 2009 to 2011. Veronica has been Vice President of the Argentina Productions Companies Union from 2011 to 2013 .

She was the line producer on 2009’s U.S.- Spain coproduction "There Be Dragons" directed by Roland Joffe. Her credits go as far back as the 1995 film “Moebius" and the 1993 documentary "Radio Olmos," both directed by Gustavo Mosquera. She has been involved in films such as "The Headless Woman" ("La Mujer Sin Cabeza") by Lucrecia Martel (Cannes Competition), "The Other" by Ariel Rotter (Berlinale winner of two Silver Bears and the Jury Grand Prize).

She was executive producer on "Las Acacias" by Pablo Giogelli (Camera D’Or, Cannes 2011), an Argentina–Spain coproduction, as well as "Whisky Romeo Zulu" … and many many more including "One Love" ("Un Amor") by Paula Hernandez in 2011, "In the Eyes Abides the Heart" by Mary Sweeney, a short for Turner Classics Channel, all directed by women, which is something of importance in today’s world. She also produced "Live-in Maid" by Jorge Gaggero (Sundance Special Jury Prize), "Torrent 3" by Santiago Segura, "The Dead and Being Happy" by Javier Rebolla and "The Game Maker" by John Paul Buscarini, among others.

She was the Academic Coordinator for Production at Enerc and teaches in different labs and schools throughout Latin America. She is also a former student of La Fuc. Most recently she spent 1 1/2 weeks in Cuba at the International Film School (Eictv) giving a week's seminar and working with a director and two writers on scripts as part of a new Doctorate program for screenwriters.

"Regarding The film business today, as in every part of the world, cinema in Argentina is facing new challenges. Only about 20% of the theaters remain Un-digitized. Producers must be thinking about budgets, distribution and new forms of exhibition."...

What pleasures await in Panama! As part of the invited press corps, I attended the first ever Premios Platino del Cine Iberoamericano where I met numerous journalists from all over the world, though most particularly from Latin America.

As part of the expanded International Film Festival of Panama, running April 3 to 9, 2014, the Platinum Awards Ceremony was held in the huge Convention Center Theater just across from the Sheraton where we were given four days.

Watch this compendium of Iberoamerican cinema on You Tube: http://youtu.be/VXxgtudHzz0 (or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXxgtudHzz0)

The old city of Panama is undergoing extensive modernization and gentrification. When finished, it may look a beautiful as Cartagena…both are Colonial styles, but there is unbearable traffic in the Panama streets which was not the case in Cartagena. The city not only reveals layers and layers of history, from the indigenous days to the Spanish days of conquest and colonialism where it was the starting point of the quest to conquer the Incas, to the days when all the gold and silver of Latin America passed through the isthmus here on its way to Spain, to the first 80 years of independence from Spain as a part of Colombia, from its independence from Colombia with the aid of the U.S., to the days when the French attempted to build the Panama Canal followed by the early 20th Century when U.S. succeeded, to those days of Noriega which U.S. terminated by invading Panama in Operation Just Cause under Commander in Chief George W. Bush in 1989, to today when you can see the capital of the world pouring into the economy, building massive sky scrapers and restoring the old town to its colonial and later French splendor.

What struck me most after the horrible traffic, were the fabulous artisanal goods, of embroidery, straw weaving, bone carvings, gourds, panama hats! This picture of a Guna woman is an example of one of many selling their wares in rich markets. I could spend a lot of money here if and when I return!

The Panamanian economy has been among the fastest growing and best managed in Latin America. Latin Business Chronicle had previously predicted that Panama would be the fastest growing economy in Latin America in the five-year period of 2010–14, matching Brazil's 10% rate. This was obvious from our tour. The expansion project of the Panama Canal, combined with the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the United States, is expected to boost and extend economic expansion for some time.

The Panama Canal during an empty moment, as shot by me from the terrace. We saw ships going through as well. In 2014, 100 years after its establishment, a new canal will allow larger container ships to transport goods between the two largest oceans in the world. This literally positions Panama as the trade crossroads of the world and it is experiencing an investment surge which astounds the first time visitor (like me!)

After our tour of Panama City and the night we were feted after taking another tour of the Panama Canal, we had dinner and a Festival party on the terrace overlooking it.

Panama’s film history is null, but it is quickly being rectified by Jose Pacheco, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and also the President of the Panama Film Commission, along with his one-woman band, Arianne Marie Benedetti who has taken maternity leave for the moment.

They are responsible for instigating the new film law, for the four year old film festival, coproduction meetings, and hiring Toronto Latina programmer Diana Sanchez to program their festival and now the first Iberoamerican Platinum Awards, and much more.

The workshops at this event are outstanding. I wish I were able to hear all they have to say!

Jonathan Jakubobiwz , the producer of the $17 million Hands of Stone (Isa: Lotus) which tells the story of the Panamanian boxer Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Durán, spoke about how this production used 15,000 extras, was shot in over 140 locations. All was filmed and produced in Panama where the producers took advantage of a 15% cash rebate and a $2.8 million advance from the Panamanian government, the latter expressly offered to make sure they lensed the story about their national hero Roberto Durán in his native land.

“They gave us full support, dozens of free locations and a level of hospitality that made everyone feel at home,” said Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express). With 15,000 extras and a stellar international cast led by Robert De Niro, Édgar Ramírez, Ellen Barkin, John Turturro and Usher Raymond, Hands of Stone recreated four cities and four decades in Panama. “The footage is a million times better than even I expected,” Jakubowicz said.

Another workshop was given by one of Argentina’s top producers, Verónica Cura. Thirty-five filmmakers, mostly from Panama took part. Vero spoke about film production from an artistic and organizational perspective, starting from the moment the idea takes hold, to project development ,to shooting and all the way to theatrical exhibition. Vero started working in 1992 as a director and head of production. In 2001 she began producing her own films. From 2007 to 2009 she was President of the Association of Independent Producers and Vice President of the Chamber of Film Producers from 2009 to 2011. She has been involved in films such as The Headless Woman by Lucrecia Martel (Cannes Competition), The Other by Ariel Rotter (Berlinale, 2 Silver Bears and the Jury Grand Prize), Las Acacias by Pablo Giogelli (Camera d’or, Cannes 2011), Live-in Maid by Jorge Gaggero (Sundance Special Jury Prize), There Be Dragons by Roland Joffe, Torrente 3 by Santiago Segura, The Dead and Being Happy by Javier Rebolla, One Love by Paula Hernandez and The Game Maker by John Paul Buscarini, among others.

Panel – Producing in Central America

The panel that reads like a Who’s Who of Central America discussed producing in Latin America. These active figures in current Central American production, shared their experiences on film production in the region. Moderated by Pituka Ortega (Iff -Panamá), the speakers included

Pablo Schverdfinger (Argentina )

After his film studies in Argentina, in Avellaneda Film School and then at the Universidad del Cine, Pablo began working with the filming of Highlander II and from there he developed his career as director of photography . In 2010 he founded Dragon Films and began directing commercials and documentaries for the local market in Panama. The 2012 he started Mangrove Films, a more ambitious bid to expand its services to the local Panamanian market with prestigious directors representation opening the doors to international markets by adding the alliance with Argentina Concrete Films.

Ileana Novas (Argentina)

Ileana Nova studied Social Communication at the Universidad del Salvador in Argentina . She worked many years in production at Flehner Films and Sorin Cine, for many local productions and especially in the international department providing production services abroad. Post Production Coordinator : The Other ( Ariel Rotter - Silver Bear at Berlin Intl Film Festival 2007 ) , Hide ( Canadian Production of KCBascombe - 2007), The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, co-produced by France, Italy, Spain and nominated in the Cannes Film Festival 2008 ). Then , while working on The Acacias (Pablo Giorgelli won three awards at Cannes Film Festival 2011) , the idea arose to establish herself in Panama . Her previous work experience in Panama in 1999 encouraged her to decide to move there in 2010 where she set up Mangrove Films.

Rafael González (Guatemala )

Rafael worked on The Wagon (TV) and The Comal House in Guatemala as a producer and screenwriter. He has been looking back on the history of his country for the last 15 years, and he created Back to Home in which he addresses the issue of Guatemalan refugees in Mexico. He was a sound technician and producer on the documentary La Camioneta selected for the Festival of Guadalajara 2013. Currently he is directing and producing the documentary Flight of Azacuán , a coproduction with Doctv Latin America.

Neto Villalobos (Costa Rica )

Neto graduated with a BA in Sociology from the University of Costa Rica and later graduated in film direction at the Centre d 'Estudis Cinema de Catalunya in Barcelona. His first feature film All About the Feathers was selected for the International Film Festival in Toronto and then in the International Film Festival of San Sebastian. All About the Feathers was also at other international festivals such as Rotterdam, Miami , Buenos Aires, Toulouse, Vancouver, Stockholm, Havana, Prague, Geneva, Kerala, Cleveland and won Best American Film and Best Director at the Icarus Film Festival of Guatemala. Neto is working on his second feature film called Majijo

Luis Rafael Gonzalez (Santo Domingo )

With extensive experience in various branches of the film industry, founding member of the International Film Festival of Santo Domingo, Deputy Director of Programming and Broadcasting (2004-2006) and CEO (2007-2011) of the Dominican Cinematheque, Representative of the Dominican Republic in the Congress of the International Federation of Film Archives (Fiaf) , the International Federation of Film Clubs ( Ficc ) and the First Latin American Congress of Culture dedicated to Cinema and Audiovisual, Luis Rafael has also participated in developing the law on the Promotion of Film Activity in the Dominican Republic. He won the top prize for a script at Les Films de L' Astre, 2011 with his Gods without Twilight. He is also part of the Dominican Film Selection Committee to select the Dominican film for Oscars and other international awards. He serves as Vice President of Acquisitions and Distribution for Palmera International, a distributor which operates in the territories of the United States, Central America and the Caribbean.

María Lourdes Cortés (Costa Rica )

Costa Rican and Central American historian, professor at the University of Costa Rica, a researcher at the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema and director at Cinergia, Maria Lourdes was also director of the first School of Cinema and Television founded in Costa Rica (Universidad Veritas) and the Costa Rican Film Production Center. She has won the Joaquín García Monge Prize in cultural diffusion and twice the Essay Prize Achilles J. Echeverría for the books Love and Treachery, Film and Literature in Latin America (1999), and The Broken Screen. One Hundred Years of Cinema in Central America (2005). For this last book, she received the honorary award Ezequiel Martínez Estrada by the Casa de las Americas (Cuba ) for the best essay published in that year (2005). She is currently preparing research on Gabriel García Márquez and film and on the textual work of Silvio Rodriguez. She has been jury in film festivals in France, Holland, Cuba and Mexico where she has also given talks and workshops. The Government of the Republic of France awarded her with the rank of Knight of the Order with the Merit of Honor (2005).

Another workshop featured Cameron Bailey, the Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most important festivals in the world and one of the largest in North America, discussed how Tiff’s position has been achieved and the importance for the Latin American industry of participating in this event. Cameron is also part of the School Advisory Council at the University of Western Arts and Humanities and the School of Cinema Institute of Haiti. He lectures on programming and preservation at the University of Toronto and is also a member of the Board of Tourism Toronto and the former co-chair of the Working Group Arts and Culture Civic Action Toronto. Former board member of the Ontario Film Development Corporation and member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of the Royal Ontarios Museum for Contemporary Culture, in 2007 he was part of the delegation accompanying the General Governor of Canada, Michaelle Jean on her state visit to Brazil.

In its first year, Cannes’ Cinéfondation’s Atelier invited projects from relative filmmaker unknowns such as Gerardo Naranjo (I’m Gonna Explode), Lisandro Alonso (Liverpool) and Aida Begic (Snow). Celebrating year number 10, this year’s group of fifteen that will benefit from Croisette meetings and future coin include the likes of Quebecer Guy Édoin (Marécages), Cannes Critics’ Week winner for Aquí y allá in filmmaker Antonio Méndez Esparza, and 2011 Camera d’Or winner Pablo Giorgelli (pictured above) who broke out with Las Acacias (review).

Invisible (Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina)

Territoria (Nora Martirosyan, Armenia)

Tabija (Igor Drljača, Bosnia)

Saudade (Antonio Méndez Esparza, Brazil)

Ville-Marie (Guy Édoin, Canada)

In the Shade of the Trees (Matías Rojas Valencia, Chile)

Ce sentiment de l’été (Mikhaël Hers, France)

Aliyushka (Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Kazakhstan)

The Darkness (Daniel Castro Zimbrón, Mexico)

White Sun (Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal)

To All Naked Men (Bassam Chekhes, Netherlands/Syria)

Oil on Water (Newton I. Aduaka,...

The presence of Latin America films in Cannes has grown by 40% since 2009, when Ventana Sur was created by Incaa (Argentina’s film institute) and Marché du Film/Festival de Cannes.

This is one of the achievements of the film market that, now in its 5th edition (Dec 3-6) in Buenos Aires, has become the biggest gathering of its kind for Latin America’s titles.

“Ventana Sur has been instrumental in growing the Latin American presence in Cannes,” said Jérome Paillard, who shares the executive direction of Ventana Sur with Bernardo Bergeret.

“Pablo Giorgelli’s Las Acacias and Michael Rowe’s Año Bisiesto, which started their careers in Buenos Aires, won the Cannes Camera d’Or in 2011 and 2010, respectively.”

Bergeret added: “Other examples of films that had international recognition and started here are Paraisos Artificiales (Mexico), El Tunel de los Huesos (Argentina), Jardín de Amapolas (Colombia), De Martes a Martes (Argentina), Solo (Uruguay), Ausente (Argentina), Los insolitos peces gato...

A look back at 2012 reveals an undeniable fact, it has been a great year for Latino film. Sundance started the year off strong with films like Aurora Guerrero’s sweet and tender Mosquita y Mari and Marialy Rivas’ rambunctious Joven y Alocada (Young & Wild). Gina Rodriguez broke out in Filly Brown, as a rapper who needs to make it big so she can raise money to get her mom out of jail. In the film, Jenni Rivera played the part of Filly’s mom in her first, and sadly last, movie role.

There was also a strong Latin American presence at Cannes this past summer, boasting films from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It might as well have been called Mexi-Cannes, with Mexican films winning awards across all main sections of the festival. Carlos Reygadas was honored as the Best Director for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux, despite having received boos at its premiere screening. The prize for the Critics’ Week section went to Aquí y Allá (Here and There) and Después de Lucía (After Lucia) won the top prize for Un Certain Regard.

It’s been an especially favorable year for Chilean cinema. The New York Film Festival, in its 50th edition this past Fall, included three highly anticipated films by Pablo Larraín, Valeria Sarmiento, and the late Raúl Ruiz. And Chile continued to outshine the rest of the region by winning two top spots at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino de La Habana (the Havana Film Festival) just a few days ago. Pablo Larraín’s No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, won the First Coral Prize. It’s a brilliant take on the real life story of an advertising campaign that ousted General Pinochet from power during a shining moment in Chilean politics. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went To Heaven), a biopic about internationally famous Violeta de la Parra, a Chilean singer, songwriter, and poet won the Second Prize.

Whether it was at Cannes, Sundance, or countless other festivals, Latino films were winning award after award this year and even getting distribution (albeit usually in limited release). With the flurry of activity surrounding the region’s filmmaking, it can be hard to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, “What’s your top 5 Latino films of 2012?”

Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Director of Cinema Tropical

In no particular order, a list of five Latin American films that made it to Us screens in the past year (some of them are a couple of years old), which I highly recommend.

De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Director: Dominga Sotomayor, Chile

O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil

El Estudiante, Director: Santiago Mitre, Argentina

El Velador, Director: Natalia Almada, Mexico

El Lugar Más Pequeño (The Tiniest Place), Director: Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/El Salvador

Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival

Mosquita y Mari is a gorgeous film full of heart. Marialy Rivas (Director of Joven y Alocada) is an incredibly exciting new voice in Latin American cinema. She's fearless and full of love. I'm a huge fan of Lucy Mulloy (Director of Una Noche). She draws these wonderful performances from non-professional actors. A natural at using the lens to tell a story. In Las Malas Intenciones Fatima Buntinx plays the lead perfectly. Andres Wood made a beautiful film called 'Machuca', that captured the soul of Chile in the 70's and he does the same with a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who was a part of 'La Nueva Canción Chilena'.

Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA

Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Director: Marialy Rivas, Chile

Una Noche, Director: Lucy Mulloy, Cuba

Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile

Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Director: Rosario García-Montero, Perú

Christine Davila, Programming Associate at Sundance Film Festival

There are way too many Latino films and not enough coverage on American Latino films so with that -- mine are going to be strictly American Latino films.

Los Chidos, Director: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, USA/Mexico

Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA

Elliot Loves, Director: Terracino, USA

Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico

Love, Concord, Director: Gustavo Guardado, USA

Lisa Franek, Artistic Director at the San Diego Latino Film Festival

Just 5?? That's tough! In Filly Brown, Gina Rodriguez turns in a great performance, and I expect to see more great things from her very soon. No, I saw at Cannes, and it was fascinating, especially in contrast to Larraín's previous (amazing) films. La Hora Cero has unforgettable scenes and characters! La Mujer de Ivan has amazing acting, and I believe Maria de Los Angeles Garcia is definitely a talent to watch. Reportero is also fantastic.

La Mujer de Iván, Director: Francisca Silva, Chile

No, Director: Pablo Larraín, Chile/France/USA

La Hora Cero, Director: Diego Velasco, Venezuela

Reportero, Director: Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico

Filly Brown, Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, USA

Marcela Goglio, Programmer for Latinbeat at The Film Society of Lincoln Center

Las Acacias, Director: Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina

As Cançoes (Songs), Director: Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil

Unfinished Spaces, Directors: Alyssa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray, USA

O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil

Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico

Pepe Vargas, Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center and Chicago Latino Film Festival

Not an easy task to come up with 5 titles - there are so many good movies.

La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)

Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

Salvando al Soldado Pérez, (Saving Private Perez)

Director: Beto Gómez, Mexico

Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out)

Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain

Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves)

Director: Juan Martínez Moreno, Spain

Mariachi Gringo

Director: Tom Gustafson, USA/Mexico

Amalia Cordova, Coordinator of the Latin American Program at the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

Granito, Director: Pamela Yates, USA/Guatemala/Spain

Desterro Guarani, Directors: Patricia Ferreira y Ariel Duarte Ortega, Brazil

Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile

5 x Favela – Agora por nós Mesmos (5 x Favela, Now by Ourselves), Directors: Manaíra Carneiro, Wagner Novais, Cacau Amaral, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos, and Luciana Bezerra, Brazil

Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out), Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain

Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.

Buenos Aires – Clandestine Childhood, Argentina’s Oscar bid for the 2013 Foreign Oscars, was the big winner this week at the Sur Awards, the local Oscars given by the Argentine Film Academy. Armando Bo’s Sundance entry The Last Elvis came in a distant second with six statues, while Pablo Giorgelli’s festival hit and Camera D’Or winner Las Acacias, picked up only two. Benjamin Avila’s coming of age story won 10 of its 16 nominations, sweeping the main awards and leaving no chances for Pablo Trapero’s White Elephant, the other big nominee that went home empty-handed, together with Ana Piterbarg’s

read more...

Day five of the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival promises a smorgasbord of great films and there are still 6 days to go!

Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il

The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.

http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012

Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Monday, November 12th

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Doc Shorts – Longevity plays at 5:00pm at the Tivoli Theatre

A quintet of shorts exploring issues of aging and persistence.

Free To Attendees 50 And Older

Bo (Kelly McCoy & Dave Schwep, U.S., 2012, 22 min.): When attorney and Playboy photographer Bo Hitchcock is diagnosed with cancer, he decides to forgo chemo and Western...

Last night was the kick-off with just one film, Silver Linings Playbook, but today the real meat of the fest is served with films screening all day and all evening. Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il

The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.

http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012

Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Friday, November 9th

Chained plays 7:00pm at the Tivoli Theatre with director Jennifer Lynch in attendance (read the Wamg interview with Ms Lynch Here

At the end of an afternoon excursion, Sarah Fiddler and her young son step into a taxi to head home. They never get there. The cab...

Title: Las Acacias Directed by: Pablo Giorgelli Starring: German de Silva Las Acacias is an intimate portrayal of a man’s evolution; though small and unconcerned about larger issues at hand, it’s very focused on a man’s growth as a human being. Shot almost entirely inside of a lumber-hauling truck, it feels even smaller and uncomfortably claustrophobic. Ruben (German de Silva), a lumberjack and truck driver, is soft-spoken, reserved and he mostly keeps to himself. Strangely, director Pablo Giorgelli averts the archetypes that often plague films of this ilk; where they’re saccharine, over-the-top and usually provide us with an ending that tells us virtually all we will ever need to know about the [ Read More ]...

If There Be Thorns: A Road Trip to an Almost Imperceptible Romance in Graceful Debut

For his feature film debut, Pablo Giorgelli has created a slow burn road trip film set almost entirely within the confines of a truck cab. With limited characters and settings, and absolutely no music, Las Acacias is nearly a silent film with large chunks of time passing and nary a word uttered. But despite these absences, a deliberate and painstaking portrait of longing and love threads itself quietly between its two main characters, to realistic and moving effect.

Rubén (Germán de Silva), a lonesome truck driver is about to haul lumber from somewhere in the Paraguayan countryside to Buenos Aires. We learn he has been asked by his employer to provide passage for a woman, Jacinta (Hebe Duarte) and her daughter on this haul. With smoke rising from the scorched earth matching the fumes of Rubén’s cigarette smoke,...

I can't remember a time I went to the Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) press launch and looked over the list of films and saw so many I was interested in seeing. The claim to fame for over the years is to call it the largest and most-highly attended festival in the United States. This is a fact I've often taken issue with as I don't equate quantity with quality. Granted, there has been a large number of quality features to play the fest over the years, including Golden Space Needle (Best Film) winners such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), My Life as a Dog (1987), Trainspotting (1996), Run Lola Run (1999), Whale Rider (2003) and even recent Best Director winner, Michel Hazanavicius's Oss 117: Nest of Spies in 2006. That said, looking over this year's crop of films I see a lot of films I will be doing my absolute best to see.

Las Acacias; Another Earth; Switch; The Big Year; Breaking Wind Part 1

No matter how spectacular, expensive or star-studded Hollywood blockbusters may be, there will always be vibrant, inventive, international gems that consistently prove that less is more. Very little happens in Pablo Giorgelli's debut feature Las Acacias (2011, Verve, 12), a pitch-perfect, low-key road movie about a long-distance lorry driver (Germán de Silva) who agrees to transport a young woman (Hebe Duarte) from Paraguay to Buenos Aires, only to discover that she has a five-month-old child in tow.

Initially dismayed by the prospect of the overcrowded journey ahead, loner Rubén gradually warms to his charges, and a hesitant relationship emerges between him and Jacinta. Casting an established actor (De Silva) opposite a talented newcomer (Duarte), Giorgelli conjures an extraordinary balance between an air of unaffected naturalism and a precisely defined, acutely observed dissection of human interaction. The result is an absolutely...

First, indieWIRE's Eric Kohn hosted a "Meet the New Directors" panel at the Film Society of Lincoln Center earlier this week and you can watch it here. It runs 63'12" and the guests are Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin (Now, Forager); Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi (5 Broken Cameras); Adam Leon (Gimme the Loot); Kleber Mendonça Filho (Neighboring Sounds); Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty); Joann Sfar (The Rabbi's Cat); Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st); and Clarissa Knoll (Street Vendor Cinema).

And the Fslc has posted separate Q&A sessions with Leon (Gimme), Pablo Giorgelli (Las Acacias) and Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption), all on one page.

Meantime, we've entered the home stretch. New Directors/New Films rolls on through the weekend and closes on Sunday night with a surprise — whatever it may be, it'll probably rank a roundup of its own. That aside, here's where we wrap it up.

Family and little miracles

The external trip in Las Acacias takes us 900 miles from Asunción in Paraguay to Buenos Aires on board a lumber truck, driven by a reserved Rubén (Germán de Silva), with a mother (serene non-actress Hebe Duarte) and child as arranged passengers. The internal trip is about human connections.

Walking out into MoMA's Sculpture Garden with the film's director Pablo Giorgelli, together with New York Film Festival director and New Directors/New Films selection committee member Richard Peña, Giorgelli told...

New Directors/New Films - 2012 programme highlights

New York's New Directors/New Films showcase, presented by the Museum of Modern Art, features 29 features and 12 shorts from 28 countries in just 12 days.

Here are six stand-outs from this year's programme - on the wars outside and the wars within.

Las Acacias

Director Pablo Giorgelli embraces time and he gives his audience the perfect amount of room. A road movie like no other, the 900 miles from Asunción in Paraguay to Buenos...

"Forty-one years young, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art's annual New Directors/New Films festival is committed to compiling a slate of artistically diverse films from every corner of the world," writes Ed Gonzalez, introducing Slant's collection of reviews. "Twenty-eight countries represent the 29 feature films (24 narrative, five documentary) and 12 shorts that make up this year's program, which kicks off on March 21 with a screening of Where Do We Go Now?, Nadine Lakaki's follow-up to Caramel, and closes with a special surprise screening that won't be revealed to the audience until it screens at Film Society on Sunday, April 1. Any guesses?"

Not from this corner, though the wish-list runs pretty long. "We weren't planning to do a surprise for New Directors," Richard Peña tells the Fslc's Jonathan Robbins, "but there is a unique situation with this film." As for Nd/Nf as a whole, Peña...

The 41st edition of New Directors/New Films kicks off tonight at MoMA and continues through April 1. Presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and MoMA, the event will offer 29 features and 12 short films from around the world -- all of which are first or second features. Indiewire's team has 10 suggestions for what to take in at the festival below. For more information, check out the New Directors/New Films website. "Las Acacias" Winner of the Camera d'Or for a debut film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and secured by Outsider Pictures for Us distribution, "Las Acacias" already has a lot of good things going for it. It's also garnered stellar reviews in the UK since opening in London last December. The film, from first-time feature director Pablo Giorgelli, centers on Ruben (German de Silva), a truck driver who regularly hauls lumber from Paraguay to Buenos Aires. His frequented...

Outsider Pictures, which specializes in Spanish-language releases, has secured the Us distribution rights to Pablo Giorgelli's "Las Acacias." The film was screening at the Miami International Film Festival, where it was competing in the Lexus Ibero-American Opera-Prima Competition, when Outsider made the deal. Prior to that the film had already had success at other festivals, including Cannes, where it won the Camera d’Or prize for Best First Film. Full press release below: Outsider Pictures today announced the acquisition of Pablo Giorgelli’s Las Acacias from French-based international film sales and distribution company Urban Distribution International,for Us theatrical distribution in the United States. The deal was announced via the Industry Office of the 29th annual Miami International Film Festival (Miff), produced and presented by Miami Dade College (Mdc). Las Acacias was screened as part of...

"The agony and perverse ecstasy of unrequited love permeate Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea," writes Graham Fuller at the top of his interview with the director. Also in the new March/April 2012 issue of Film Comment: Jonathan Rosenbaum remembers Gilbert Adair (plus a few online exclusives: Adair on Mae West and his "Cliché Expert's Guide to the Cinema"), Anton Dolin examines "The Strange Case of Russian Maverick Aleksei German" (see, too, J Hoberman's 1990 piece for Fc on German) and Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life tops the Reader's "20 Best Films of 2011" Poll — plus comments.

Then there are the shorter bits from the issue online: Nicolas Rapold on Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias and Athina Rachel Tsangari's Attenberg (more from Eric Hynes [Time Out New York, 4/5], Eric Kohn [indieWIRE], Anthony Lane [New Yorker], Dennis Lim [New York Times], Karina Longworth [Voice], Henry Stewart [L] and Michael Tully [Hammer to Nail]), Phillip Lopate on Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb's This Is Not a Film...

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art have announced the first seven film selections for the 41st edition of New/Directors/New Films. The selections include Karl Markovic's "Breathing," Anca Damian's "Crulic: The Path to Beyond," Julia Murat's "Found Memories," Pablo Giorgelli's "Las Acacias," Joachim Trier's "Oslo, August 31st," Alejandro Landes's "Porfirio," and Angelina Nikonova's "Twilight Portrait." "Oslo, August 31st" will premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. “Even with the lion's share of films still to be selected, the year's first crop for Nd/Nf introduces a group of filmmakers both exceptionally accomplished in their storytelling as well as adventurous in their approach to filmmaking," said Film Society of Lincoln Center Program Director Richard Pena. Full press release below: The Film Society...

The 29th Miami International Film Festival will run March 2-11 and will include a new competitive category, the Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition, featuring six Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American films by first-time feature filmmakers. The films included are (descriptions courtesy of the festival): Las Acacias (Argentina/Spain, directed by Pablo Giorgelli): Already a winner of major prizes at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (Camera d’Or for Best First Film) and the Latin Horizons prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Giorgelli’s road movie unfolds along the highway linking Asunción...

A truck driver agrees to transport a woman and her baby, not anticipating the change it may bring to his quiet life.

Hauling timber from Paraguay to Buenos Aires, truck driver Rubén (Germán de Silva) is lumbered with two passengers. Rubén is the sort of person who shies from human contact. He doesn't want to interact with Jacinta (Hebe Duarte) and her baby Anahí (Nayra Calle Mamani). Over the course of the film Anahí brings him out of his shell, just a little.

Las Acacias is a slow subtle film which focuses on the interaction of the three main characters within the bubble...

Hugo (U)

(Martin Scorsese, 2011, Us) Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen. 126 mins.

Eyebrows were raised and expectations lowered at the prospect of a Scorsese-made 3D family movie – but now it all makes sense. This is less a kids' romp than a hymn to early cinema – sugar-coated with a junior steampunk adventure revolving around an Parisian orphan and his mystery automaton. It's a satisfyingly lavish affair technically, with a story that's intelligent and heartfelt.

We Have A Pope (PG)

(Nanni Moretti, 2011, Ita/Fra) Nanni Moretti, Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr. 105 mins.

Moretti's Vatican satire is wry rather than scathing, which will disappoint many. But there's fun to be had as Piccoli's panicked new pope seeks therapy from Moretti's secular psychoanalyst.

Surviving Life (15)

(Jan Svankmajer, 2010, Cze) Václav Helsus, Klára Issová, Zuzana Krónerová. 109 mins.

More light-hearted Freudian comedy, with Monty Python-style cut-out animation, as a middle-aged man prefers his dream world to reality,...

★★★★☆ Camera d'Or winner Las Acacias (2011), directed by Argentinian filmmaker Pablo Giorgelli and starring Germán de Silva and Hebe Duarte, is a potent film of subtlety, silence and charm. This is a road movie with a difference following single mother Jancita (Duarte) and baby Anahí (Nayra Calle Mamani) as they travel to Buenos Aires to visit Jancita's cousin. This simple premise is treated with deft skill and tenderness as it explores the themes of isolation, loss and loneliness.

Read more »...

A genre-straddling gem from south America which leaves you breathless despite being almost wordless

A relationship movie, a road movie, a silent movie: Las Acacias is all these. Pablo Giorgelli has made a film that unfolds almost wordlessly, but very eloquently, and the unforced performances of its two leads make it absolutely beguiling. German de Silva plays Ruben, a middle-aged truck driver who has the regular task of hauling lumber from Paraguay to Buenos Aires. Yet this time he has a passenger, a young woman called Jacinta, played by Hebe Duarte, whom he is taking as a favour for a friend. To Ruben's very obvious dismay, however, Jacinta is bringing along her five-month-old baby. This was not part of the deal. With tremendous skill and easy charm, De Silva and Duarte show how the relationship between the two gradually changes. We appear to be living with Ruben and Jacinta in...

Lynne Ramsay's drama starring Tilda Swinton fights off opposition from a strong shortlist to win best film at ceremony

• Lff awards: in pictures

Lynne Ramsay's bold and memorable adaptation of Lionel Shriver's novel We Need to Talk About Kevin was named best film at the BFI London film festival awards on Wednesday.

The film is Ramsay's first in nearly 10 years and only her third since her breakthrough, Ratcatcher. At a ceremony in London her new film, which came out on general release last Friday, was named best film from a strong shortlist including Steve McQueen's Shame and Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea.

The director John Madden, who chaired the category's jury, said they had been struck by the "sheer panache" of a shortlist with "great storytellers".

He added: "In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film – a sublime, uncompromising tale of...

Tilda Swinton's harrowing new movie We Need To Talk About Kevin has won the top prize at the London Film Festival (Lff).

The Oscar-winning actress stars as a mother coming to terms with the fact her son, Kevin, has committed mass murder at his high school.

The film, based on Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel of the same name, saw off competition from George Clooney's latest offering, The Descendants, to win the coveted Best Picture at the British Film Institute's (BFI) movie event on Wednesday night.

Judging panel chairman John Madden says, "In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film - a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need To Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema."

Actress Candese Reid won the British Newcomer award for her movie debut in Junkhearts, while Argentinian director Pablo Giorgelli scooped The Sutherland Award for Las Acacias.

Canadian director David Cronenberg and British actor Ralph Fiennes were awarded the festival's highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship.

We Need to Talk About Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay, won the Best Film at 55th BFI London Film Festival. The awards were announced Wednesday night.

On behalf of the jury, John Madden, chairperson said: “In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film, a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need to Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema”.

The award for Best British Newcomer went to actor Candese Reid for her role in Junkhearts.

The Sutherland Award went to Argentinean director Pablo Giorgelli, director of Las Acacias. This award is presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the festival.

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary went to Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life directed by Werner Herzog.

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin Lynne Ramsay's British family drama We Need to Talk About Kevin, which stars Tilda Swinton as the mother of a young mass murderer, won the Best Film Award at the 2011 BFI London Film Festival (Lff). The Lff awards ceremony was held this evening in Central London; comedian Marcus Brigstocke hosted the event. Jury chair John Madden and fellow judge Gillian Anderson presented the Best Film award. The Best British Newcomer award went to actress Candese Reid for her performance in Tinge Krishnan's dark social drama Junkhearts. Edgar Wright and Minnie Driver presented the award. Pablo Giorgelli was given the Sutherland Award Winner for the Argentinean drama Las Acacias, described as "a slow-burning, uplifting and enchanting story of a truck driver and his passengers." The Sutherland Award, this year presented by Terry Gilliam, is given to the director "of the most...

Best Film: We Need To Talk About Kevin – dir. Lynne Ramsay Best British Newcomer: Candese Reid, actress, Junkhearts Sutherland Award Winner: Pablo Giorgelli, dir. Las Acacias Grierson Award for Best...

We’ve just been sent the winners list for The BFI London Film Festival 2011 and massive congrats to We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay and all her cast and crew for winning the award. I’ll just make this post about the winners but I’m sure we’ll do a reaction post imminently. So watch this space. See see our review of We Need to Talk About Kevin, click here or here for all our Lff 2011 coverage.

Winners in a nutshell

Best Film: We Need to Talk ABout Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay Best British Newcomer: Candese Reid, actress, Junkhearts Sutherland Award Winner: Pablo Giorgelli, director of Las Acacias Grierson Award for Best Documentary: In the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life directed by Werner Herzog BFI Fellowship: Ralph Fiennes and David Cronenberg (as previously announced)

BFI London Film Festival Announces 2011 Award Winners

London – 10.30pm,...

The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas. The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film Dolphin's Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at 'Sun n Sand' hosted by actress Essha Koppikhar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers. The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar. In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of Us $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French...

The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas. The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film Dolphin's Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at 'Sun n Sand' hosted by actress Essha Koppikhar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers. The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar. In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of Us $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French...

The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of Us $ 100,000 for The Best Film at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival was presented to French film My Little Princess directed by Eva Ionesco.

The festival came to an end with the closing film Dolphin’s Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at ‘Sun n Sand’ hosted by actress Isha Koppikar.

The Silver Gateway Award for Jury Grand Prize and cash prize of Us $ 50,000 was presented to Canadian film The Salesman (Le Vendeur) directed by Sebastien Pilote.

The Silver Gateway Award for Best Director was presented to Eva Ionesco for My Little Princess. The Silver Gateway Award for Best Actress was presented to Isabelle Huppert and Anamaria Vartolomei for their performance in the same film.

The Silver Gateway Award for Best Actor was presented to Gilbert Sicotte...

★★★☆☆ You know those long awkward car journeys you use to have as a kid in a foreigner's car, crossing the border from Paraguay to Argentina? Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias (2011) - which receives its UK premiere tonight at the 55th BFI London Film Festival - is one of those. At 90 minutes, it's a slow-paced road trip, but one that soon finds it own charming gear.

Jacinta (Hebe Duarte) is heading to Buenos Aires to see her family. Reluctantly, Rubén (Germán de Silva) agrees to give her a lift as a favour to his boss - and consequently finds out that she has a baby too.

As Las Acacias bumps along, the two inevitably become close, but this is far from the romanticised road trips of Hollywood. They barely even talk to each other. What dialogue there is (about 10 minutes of the total runtime) is short and sparse, but the chemistry between the couple is tangible,...

Day 2 at the Mumbai Film Festival looked like it was going to be an exciting fare with a bouquet of much awaited films like Pablo Giorgelli’s Las Acacias, Eva Lonesco’s My Little Princess, Bela Tarr’s last film The Turin Horse and Umesh Kulkarni’s next after Vihir, Deool. But the excitement waned off pretty early in the day. First few shows of the day including The Turin Horse turned disastrous due to glitches. However, the day was not a complete disappointment. Read on…

Still from Printed Rainbow

Gitanjali Rao’s Printed Rainbow

Celebration of 50 years of Cannes Critics Week at the Mumbai Film Festival commenced with the screening of Gitanjali Rao’s Printed Rainbow. The 15-minute animation film was presented at the Cannes Critics Week in 2006. It is the story of an old woman who lives with her cat in an apartment and is stuck up in the banalities of everyday life.

First day, first show. Without a festival booklet in hand and no time beforehand to google, I was staring at five movie titles with no clue about what to start off with. Settled for the French film The Minister by Pierre Scholler. A film about a French transport minister, his tribulations, his dilemmas and even his fantasies. Ok stuff.

Up next was The Turin Horse by Bela Tarr. A dude walking in who could not find seats speculated – “It’s a Bela Tarr film. People will be walking out in half an hour and then there will be seats for the taking”. Prophetic words indeed. The multiplex screen could not accommodate the subtitles and so the projectionist began to toggle with the aspect ratio. The film hardly had any dialogues and only comprised of long B & W takes about an old cripple, his daughter and their horse going through daily chores.

The BFI London Film Festival is the biggest film festival the UK has to offer, and one of the most prestigious and well-recognised festivals across the globe. This year, the festival is celebrating its 55th run, and it has an absolutely fantastic line-up of films scheduled to play through the festival, from 12th – 27th October.

We’re now able to share with you the shortlists for the festival’s various awards, along with the juries for each of those awards. More excellent news also comes with the announcement that the BFI will be honouring both writer-director David Cronenberg, who is bringing his film A Dangerous Method to the festival this year, and actor-director Ralph Fiennes, who will be bringing his directorial debut Coriolanus to the festival, with its highest honour, in the form of the BFI Fellowship.

On receiving the award, Cronenberg has said,

“This is a monumental, in fact overwhelming,...

The Toronto International Film Festival has lined up 25 features for its Discovery program. All the descriptions that follow are from the festival. Additional notes and more are on the way.

Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias. A truck driver has been charged with transporting a woman on the long journey from Paraguay's border to the city of Buenos Aires. He is totally unprepared for the extra passenger that will accompany them, the woman's infant daughter Jacinta, whose penetrating gaze eventually disarms his gruff exterior. Subtle and poignant, Giorgelli's 2011 Camera D'Or winner is a movingly beautiful road movie highlighted by stunning performances. (See the Cannes roundup.)

Tomás Lunák's Alois Nebel. Stories from the past and present converge at a small railway in Billy Potok, a tiny village on the Czech-Polish border. The local dispatcher, Alois Nebel, is a loner who prefers old timetables to people and has hallucinations of trains passing...

A wonderful round of programming featuring the first or second features from burgeoning voices in cinema plays the Toronto International Film Festival ( Tiff). If you want to see some of tomorrows top shelf directors today, Tiff attendants would be well advised to comb over this schedule and catch some of these titles.Read on for a comprehensive list!Las Acacias Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina/Spain North American PremiereA truck driver has been charged with transporting a woman on the long journey from Paraguay's border to the city of Buenos Aires. He is totally unprepared for the extra passenger that will accompany them, the woman's infant daughter Jacinta, whose penetrating gaze eventually disarms his gruff exterior. Subtle and poignant, Giorgelli's 2011 Camera D'Or winner is a movingly beautiful...

After four separate announcements (here, here, here and here), the Toronto International Film Festival has rounded out their official line-up with the final slate. The big films from their Masters line-up includes Cannes favorites Le Havre, The Kid with the Bike, Once Upon A Time in Anatolia and Restless. We also getting the Sundance hit Pariah. Check out the last round of films below and head over here to see the entire schedule.

Masters

Almayer’s Folly (La Folie Almayer) Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France

North American Premiere

Somewhere in South-East Asia, in a little lost village on a wide and turbulent river, a European man clings to his pipe dreams out of love for his daughter. Working freely from Joseph Conrad’s debut novel, Akerman tells the story of a trader in 1950s Malaysia whose dreams of a Western life for his Malay daughter slowly lead to destruction. A quest for the absolute,...

Tiff's Discovery section is loaded with 25 features including World Premiere items in Dain Said's Bunohan, Ngoc Dang Vu's Lost in Paradise, Sebastián Brahm's Roman's Circuit, Emmanuelle Millet's Twiggy and Avalon from Swedish helmer Axel Petersén. Among the noteworthy mentions that are headed to Venice, they've got a must-see pair in Tomáš Lunák's Alois Nebel (see image above), Susan Youssef's Habibi, while I'll be keeping an eye out for Locarno preemed Ruslan Pak's Hanaan. From Cannes Directors' Fortnight section they've nabbed Karl Markovics' Breathing, Rúnar Rúnarsson's Volcano, Rebecca Daly's The Other Side of Sleep and they've got the Camera D'Or winner Las Acacias which played in the Critics' Week. An item that I thought was headed to Sundance but will instead show in Toronto is Ryan O'Nan's The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best and speaking of Sundance... Focus Features will use Tiff to showcase Dee Rees's Pariah.

Chicago – Thirty-three years after winning the Best Director Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his 1978 drama, “Days of Heaven,” maverick filmmaker Terrence Malick has received an even greater honor. His fifth feature, “The Tree of Life,” won the Palme d’Or at the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival, despite mixed reviews and a smattering of boos following its premiere screening.

“Tree of Life” stars Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain, and juxtaposes a boy’s coming-of-age during the 1950s with the evolution of Earth itself. The famously shy Malick was not present at the award ceremony, leaving producer Bill Pohlad to accept the prize. At a press conference following the awards ceremony, Jury president Robert De Niro said there wasn’t a great amount of fiery controversy among the judges. “It was a very civil experience,” De Niro said. “Most of us felt clearly that [“Tree of Life”] was the movie.

Terrence Malick's latest film, The Tree of Life, was arguably the most talked-about movie heading into this year's Cannes Film Festival with expectations sky-high for many cinephiles. Despite the mixed reactions it received at screenings, the film was awarded the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, over the weekend. Other favorites in contention for the top honor included the Tilda Swinton starring We Need to Talk About Kevin and the silent black-and-white film The Artist, which walked away with the Best Actor Award for Jean Dujardin. Ultimately, though, the jury, headed by Robert De Niro, chose the auteur's opus on life - a choice that will undoubtedly delight some and anger others who don't care for Malick's style of filmmaking. Other big winners at Cannes included Kirsten Dunst for Best Actress in Melancholia (perhaps Lars Von Trier has gotten the last laugh after all), and, in a somewhat surprising choice,...

Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" was a front-runner to make last year's Cannes Film Festival but the film wasn't finished in time. This year's Cannes jury decided it was worth the wait, as it gave "The Tree of Life" the festival's biggest prize, the Palme d'Or at the annual Cannes awards ceremony (the film opens in limited release this Friday). The jury, which included filmmakers Olivier Assayas and Johnnie To, actors Jude Law and Uma Thurman, and jury president Robert De Niro, also gave an award to controversial director Lars von Trier's film "Melancholia," though not to the director himself. Instead they bestowed Best Actress honors on his actress, Kirsten Dunst.

Other big winners were "Bronson" director Nicolas Winding Refn, who took home the Best Director prize for his new film "Drive," a crime film starring Ryan Gosling as a movie stuntman-turned-wheelman, and the Dardennes Brothers, whose "The Kid With a Bike,...

Though most of the winners at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival include a “who’s who” of art-house favorites, namely Lars Von Trier (Melancholia) and Terrence Malick (Tree of Life), there was one name that took home a prize that surprised a lot of people. Even though, we in the cult/horror film community may respect him for his excellent previous films The Pusher Trilogy, Bronson, and Valhalla Rising, many people are still left wondering who is Nicolas Winding Refn? Well, hopefully with the upcoming release from this Danish sensation, Drive will push him to another level of notoriety. Drive stars Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman that discovers a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong. Refn took home Best Director at Cannes for the film which is set for a September 16, 2011 release. Keep reading to see more winners from...

Robert De Niro and his Cannes jury team have awarded the Palme d’Or to Terrence Malick’s completely uneven Tree of Life – deeming the excessive, overly ambitious, one-note and pretentious meditative movie to be the Best Picture of the 64th edition of the festival. Of course Malick had better things to do yesterday and it was up to producers Bill Pohlad and Dede Gardner to accept the award on his behalf but they did say the director would be ‘delighted’ by the win and he would have thanked his family if he had been there.

De Niro said at the awards press conference;

“Most of us felt very clearly it was the movie, the size of it, the importance seemed to fit the prize. Other movies were good also. It’s a difficult process, and it’s never quite 100%, but most of us thought it was terrific.

There were...