Fernando Eimbcke’s “Flies” (“Moscas”), a tender black & white drama that world premiered at the Berlinale, is set to open the 41st Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG). Having moved to a Spring date to avoid clashing with World Cup soccer games, FICG runs April 17- 25 this year.
Mexico’s most prominent film fest will see a bevy of international stars descending on its second biggest city, with such luminaries as Darren Aronofsky, Edgar Ramirez and Almodovar regular Lola Dueñas, all of whom are being honored.
Chile, as the guest country of honor, will be sending its big guns with Pablo Larrain, Sebastián Lelio and Maite Alberdi leading a contingent.
Homages to Chile’s formidable troika are among the record 10 the festival has planned for this edition, said festival director Estrella Araiza.
Some of the best and brightest Mexican filmmakers are competing across the various sections of the fest, among them Gerardo Naranjo González (“Miss Bala”) with “The Son-in-Law” and Kenya Márquez (“Asphyxia”) with her latest, “Missing,” both competing for the Premio Mezcal.
Reflecting on the entries this year, Araiza observed: “I see a stronger, more unapologetic focus on social cinema than in previous years.”
Ibero-American pics in competition include “The Condor Daughter” (“La hija condor”) by Álvaro Olmos Torrico, a Bendita Film Sales pickup ahead of its Toronto bow and Juan Pablo Sallato’s “Red Hangar” (“Hangar rojo”), acquired for worldwide sales by Premium Films prior to its Berlinale Perspectives premiere. Both were winners at the Malaga Festival last March. Among the Premio Mezcal standouts are Kenya Marquez’s ‘Missing’ and Karla Badillo’s ‘Oca.’
Araiza also noted a stronger international animation section, with two feature-length films from South Korea, “The Square” by Kim Bo-sol and “Your Letter” by Kim Yong-hwan.
Meanwhile, FICG’s Industria section, run by Ximena Urrutia, officially launches a new strand called FICG Generation, which will bring aspiring film students through a guided immersion in the festival and industry programs.
After an initial pilot last year that helped define its direction, the program has now been formalized with a clear identity, said Urrutia. “Its main goal is to equip students with practical tools. In parallel, it brings together heads of film schools to foster dialogue and encourage inter-school co-productions – an ambitious but important effort supported through conversations with institutions that can help provide funding,” she said adding that the program combines a didactic structure with the aim of producing tangible outcomes. Each participating school, local and international, selects five students to take part.
“We have a very important track record of films that were forged in the festival’s industry section and that later return to premiere at the festival,” said Urrutia, pointing out that FICG Industria doles out approximately $2 million in awards, both in kind and in cash.
Among the panels, masterclasses and presentations, honorees Aronofsky, Alberdi, Larrain, Dueñas, Ramirez, Lelio and Ibermedia head Elena Vilardell will also hold masterclasses.
Larrain will lead a Masterclass discussing the international trajectory of Fabula, the company he runs with his brother Juan de Dios Larrain. Francisco Ramos, Netflix’s VP of Latin American Content, will moderate the talk.
Ibero-American Fiction Films Competition
“Barrio triste,” Stillz (Colombia, U.S.)
“The Black Snake” (“La couleuvre noire”) Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux (France, Colombia, Brazil)
“The Condor Daughter” (“La hija condor”) Álvaro Olmos Torrico (Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay)
“Fuse” (“Precisamos falar”) Rebeca Diniz and Pedro Waddington (Brazil)
“He Who Returns” (“El regresado”) Armando Capo (Cuba, Colombia)
“Nunkui,” Verenice Benitez (Ecuador, Chile, Germany)
“Pioneers” (“Pioneras”) Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz (Spain)
“Red Hangar” (“Hangar rojo”) Juan Pablo Sallato (Chile, Argentina, Italy)
“The Reborn” (“Los renacidos”) Santiago Esteves (Argentina, Spain, Chile)
“18 Holes to Paradise” (“18 buracos para o paraíso de João Nuno Pinto”), Portugal, Italy, Argentina
Ibero-American Documentaries in Competition
“Amílcar,” Miguel Eek (Spain, Portugal, France, Sweden, Cape Verde)
“Calle Cuba,” Vanessa Batista (Chile, Cuba, Mexico)
“Flowers for Antonio” (“Flores para Antonio”) Elena Molina and Isaki Lacuesta (Spain)
“Here Silence Is Heard” (“Aquí se escucha el silencio”) Gabriela Pena and Picho García (Chile, Spain)
“LS83,” Herman Szwarcbart (Argentina, Germany)
“Mailin,” María Silvia Esteve (Argentina, France, Romania)
“Scarlet Girls” (“Niñas escarlata”) Paula Cury (Dominican Republic, Mexico, Germany)
“The Fabulous Time Machine” (“A fabulosa máquina do tempo”) Eliza Capai (Brazil)
Premio Mezcal, Mexican Films in Competition
Fiction
“Celestino,” Hans Bryssinck (Belgium, Mexico)
“City of the Dead” (“Ciudad de muertos”) J. M. Cravioto (Mexico)
“I Am Mario” (“Soy Mario”) Sharon Kleinberg (Mexico)
“Missing” (“Se busca”) Kenya Márquez (Mexico)
“Oca,” Karla Badillo (Mexico, Argentina)
“The Rest Is Memory” (“Lo que nos van dejando”) Issa García Ascot (Mexico)
“The Son‑In‑Law” (“El yerno”) Gerardo Naranjo González (Mexico)
Documentaries
“Dear Fátima” (“Querida Fátima”) Lorena Gutiérrez Rangel, Su Kim, Jesús Quintana Vega, Rodrigo Reyes and Dawn Valadez (Mexico, U.S.)
“Mickey,” Dano García (Mexico)
“My Own Blood” (“La misma sangre”) Ángel Ricardo Linares Colmenares (Mexico)
“Our Body Is a Star That Expands” (“Nuestro cuerpo es una estrella que se expande”) Semillites Hernández Velasco and Tania Hernández Velasco (Mexico)
‘Flies’ Courtesy of FICG
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