Morelia film fest calls it a wrap

THE NEWS/WIRE REPORTS

The latest projects of Oscar-winning film directors Quentin Tarantino and Pedro Almodóvar have made their Mexico debuts at this year's highly anticipated Morelia International Film Festival (FICM).

The festival's seventh edition wrapped up this weekend after nine days of premieres, presentations and awards in the capital city of Michoacán. Featured flicks included 45 shorts and six feature films, along with the presence of various well-renowned filmmakers.

U.S. director Tarantino kicked off the festival on Oct. 3 with a screening of his controversial-as-usual film "Inglourious Basterds" ("Bastardos sin Gloria"), the violent story of a Jewish refugee in Nazi-occupied France. The film opened last Friday in Mexico, following a U.S. release on Aug. 21.

The director in his first visit to Mexico defended his project at a FICM press conference by explaining that not all of his films "are for everyone, and those who don't want to see them don't have to watch them."

On turbulence in Mexico, he added, "The violence that you live with because of the cartels, the mafia and kidnappings...here violence is not a question of esthetics, it is something that you have to face every day. This situation also happens in the U.S., Japan and around the world; I know it and I see it. For this reason I am empathetic with what is happening in Mexico."

Tarantino said his next project would likely be a Western or a 1920s piece inspired by the 1960s gangster film "Pretty Boy Floyd."

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's "Los abrazos rotos" ("Broken Embraces") received both praise and criticism at the festival. The film also screened at this year's Cannes International Film Festival and the 47th New York Film Festival.

The film's protagonist Mateo Blanco is a writer and film director who 14 years earlier lost his sight in a brutal car accident that killed Leña, the love of his life. Before the accident, Blanco employs the pseudonym Harry Caine to sign his literary works, stories and scripts, and uses his real name to sign the films he directs. After the accident, he drops the name Blanco and lives his life as Caine.

"Abrazos," set to release in Mexico mid-November, features Almodóvar's favorite muse Penélope Cruz, as well as actors including Luis Homar, Blanca Portillo, JosAc Luid Gómez and Rubén Ochoandiano.

"It's a very literary movie in its style, as the characters talk often and there are authentic monologue sequences," the director said about his seventeenth film before its Spain premiere in March.

Back in Morelia, Mexican director Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio's opera prima "Alamar" ("To the Sea") won the best picture prize and the audience award for best Mexican feature film.

The documentary-style drama, produced by Mexican companies Mantarraya Producciones and Xcalakarma Films, follows the relationship between a young Mexican man and his half-Italian son as they travel to the coral reefs before the son's departure. The film is set to release in Mexico next year.

The prize for best documentary went to "Presuntos Culpables" ("Presumed Guilty"), an in-depth look at the Mexican judicial system during a murder case proceeding. Filmmakers Roberto Hernández, Leyda Negrete and Australia's Geoffrey Smith ("The English Surgeon") received a standing ovation for the film at its Oct. 9 presentation.

Hernández told the Mexican press that, "The happiness of a community and each one of its citizens means enjoying equality, security, ownership and liberty. The integral conservation of these rights is the main objective of governmental institutions and their political associations."

"These words will be forgotten today, but they must always be remembered in Mexico," he added.

He said that while the documentary is not necessarily looking to point fingers at certain officials, the film seeks to spread the message that the Mexican penal system is in need of change and reform to improve transparency in the judicial process for those presumed guilty.

"Culpable," along with Rigoberto Perezcano's immigration-themed dramedy "Norteado" ("Northless") were presented last month at the Toronto International Film Festival. "Norteado" had garnered much pre-festival buzz in Morelia but ultimately walked away empty handed.

Mercedes Moncada's "La sirena y el buzo" ("The Mermaid and the Diver") took home the prize for best documentary directed by a woman.

The audience award for best international feature went to "Soundtrack for a Revolution" by Dan Sturman and Bill Guttentag. The story recounts the U.S. Civil Rights movement and its freedom songs through the music of current artists and archived protest footage.

For more details, visit www.moreliafilmfest.com/en/