[NYTr] Mexican Director's "Silent Light" Takes Top Award at Havana Film Festival

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Granma Daily - Dec 15, 2007
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/news/art01.html



"Silent Light" Wins at Havana Film Festival

The awards ceremony took place Friday evening at the Karl Marx Theater

By MICHEL HERNANDEZ

The film "Luz silenciosa" ("Silent Light") by Mexican director Carlos
Reygadas was the big winner at the 29th New Latin American Cinema
Festival, which came to a close Friday evening with the awards ceremony
at the Karl Marx Theater.

Besides winning for the best full-length fiction film, Reygadas also
won awards for the best soundtrack and photography.

Second prize for fiction went to Brazilian director Cao Hamburger for
"El ano en que mis padres salieron de vacaciones" ("The year my parents
went on vacation") and third prize went to Ariel Rotter of Argentina for
"El otro" ("The Other").

The jury -- Carlos Sorin (Argentina), Faride Zeran Chelech
(Chile), Manuel Perez Estremera (Spain) and Enrique Pineda Barnet
(Cuba) -- gave a special award to "Madrigal" by Cuban director Fernando
Perez, also awarded best art direction by Erick Grass. Special mention
went to the film "Fiestapatria" by Chilean Luis R. Vera.

The prize for editing went to the Mexican quartet of Carlos Macias,
Mauricio Santos, Valentina Leduc and Natalia Bruschtein for the film
"Cobrador: In God we trust." The best screenplay went to Uruguayans
Pablo Vierzi, Daniel Henriquez and Alejandra Marino for "Matar a todos"
("Kill them all").

The best actor award went to Julio Chavez in "El otro" and best actress
to Uruguayan Roxanna Blanco in "Matar a todos."

"La casa de Alice" ("Alice’s House"), by Brazilian Chico Teixeira, won
the best opera prima award while the Mexican film "Ver Llover" 
("Watching it rain") by Elisa Miller won for the best short film.

"El Telon de Azucar" ("The sugar curtain"), by Chilean Camila Guzman,
took the prize for the best documentary, while the best unedited
screenplay went to Argentines Pablo Giorgelli and Salvador Roselli
for "Las acacias."

The category of best film about Latin American by a non-Latin American
director was shared by Vivien Lesnick Weisman for "The Man of Two
Havanas" and Estela Bravo for" Quien soy yo?" ("Who am I?").

"Vida Maria" by Brazilian Marcio Ramos won for the best animated film
and Cubans Giselle Monzon and Michele Miyares took the best movie
poster prize.

The audience award went to "El clavel negro," ("The black pimpernel") a
co-production from Sweden, Denmark and Mexico directed by Ulf Hultberg.