Estrella Araiza: Last News

As the 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival comes to a close, the winning films have been chosen.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent SANTIAGO, Chile — This is the age of turbulence and film festivals are not immune. Decimated in many cases by public-sector cuts or COVID-19, they haven’t stopped evolving after the pandemic as they hone new priorities, react to both a sometimes volatile political context and the state of cinemagoing worldwide if a round table at Chile’s Sanfic Industria last week, titled Film Festivals’ Present and Future, was anything to go by. Panel speakers took in honchos at three top Latin American events – Sanfic artistic director Carlos Nuñez, Rio de Janeiro Film Festival director Ilda Santiago and Estrella Araiza, managing director of Mexico’s Guadalajara Festival.

CinemaChile announced in January. One month later, CinemaChile, the national promotion board, is turning 15 at Berlin. The consequence of longterm uninterrupted promotion of an industry must not be underestimated.

Guillermo del Toro was given a rock star welcome at the Annecy International Animation Festival on Tuesday as he took to the stage to discuss his life long obsession with animation.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” fresh from its triumphant world premiere at the Cannes fest, opens the 38th Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG) which touts new sections this year, including a branded series showcase and midnight screenings of Italian fright maestro Dario Argento’s horror films. Eva Longoria’s feature directorial debut, “Flamin’ Hot,” which had its West Coast premiere at the LA Latino Film Festival (LALIFF) May 31, marks its Mexican debut at the fest. The Series Showcase includes Patricia Martinez’s fact-based “La Narcosatánica,” which will stream on the rebranded Max, and Maite Alberdi’s “Libre de reir,” a Gato Grande production, which centers on inmates in a Mexican prison who enroll in a stand-up comedy workshop. Alberdi’s Sundance-winning docu “The Eternal Memory” also vies for a prize in the festival’s documentary sidebar.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Claudia Sainte-Luce’s “El reino de Dios” (“The Realm of God”) and “Carajita” by Silvina Schnicer and Ulises Porra took home the bulk of the prizes in their respective categories, the Mayahuel for best Mexican film and best Ibero-American film at the 37th Guadalajara Int’l Film Fest (FICG), which wrapped June 18.Festival highlights included a conversation, albeit by remote, between festival director Estrella Araiza and Guadalajara native Guillermo del Toro who talked about the making of his upcoming stop-motion animation feature, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.” The film, set to bow on Netflix in December, was filmed with 20 animators in more than 60 sets in Canada and Guadalajara, Del Toro revealed. Sainte-Luce’s coming-of-age drama about a young boy’s struggle with his faith as he’s about to take his first communion, which world premiered at the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar, also won FICG’s Mezcal awards for best cinematography, actor and director as well as the Mezcal Youth Jury award for best film.In her acceptance speech, Sainte-Luce dedicated her multiple recognitions to her grandmother who had recently died.Dominican Republic drama “Carajita,” by Silvina Schnicer and Ulises Porra, adds another clutch of prizes which includes the HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Award it won at the 39th Miami film fest in March.Co-produced by Wooden Boat Productions (Dominican Republic) and Pucará Cine (Argentina), the drama turns on the relationship between a young girl and her nanny that transcends race and class.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” described by Variety as “a fizzy, delirious, impishly energized, compulsively watchable 2-hour-and-39-minute fever dream,” is set to open the 37th Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (FICG) on June 10.The biopic starring Austin Butler as Elvis opposite Tom Hanks as his controversial manager, received a rousing 12-minute standing ovation at Cannes, the longest at this year’s edition.The Festival closes June 18 with Mexico’s own musical icons, Los Tigres del Norte, in the documentary “Los Tigres del Norte: Historias que contar,” by Carlos Pérez Osorio (“Las Cronicas del Taco”), with its band members descending on Guadalajara to present it. The documentary debuts on Prime Video the day before but it’s all about bringing back the in-person theatrical experience, said festival director Estrella Araiza.FICG has managed to push through the pandemic and the current government’s indifference to culture and subsequent budget cuts.