30/03/2015 - Pablo Agüero’s film, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, has walked away from Toulouse with an award that provides funds to enable post-production to be completed

Co-produced by Argentina, Spain and France (Jacques Bidou and Marianne Dumoulin for JBA Production), Eva Doesn't Sleep [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Pablo Agüero has won the Films in Progress Award handed out at Toulouse as part of the 27th Cinelatino Meetings. Given out at this double gathering organised annually by the Toulouse and San Sebastián Festivals, the accolade is intended to assist with the completion, distribution and promotion of Latin American films that are encountering difficulties at the post-production stage. Interestingly, Eva no duerme also won the Ciné+ in Progress special award, which provides the film with a guarantee that it will be purchased by the channel. Distribution in French theatres and international sales have been acquired by Pyramide.

Having turned heads at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2008 with Salamandra [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Pablo Agüero has built up his new movie (which has already been busy amassing accolades as its development has progressed – read the news) around a well-known name: Eva Perón. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Denis Lavant, Daniel Fanego and Imanol Arias, the feature kicks off just after Eva’s death. She is the most-loved and most-despised political figure in Argentina. A specialist is tasked with embalming her body. It takes years of hard graft, but it turns out to be a complete success. Except that coups d’état keep taking place and some dictators even wish to destroy any trace of Evita in people’s collective memory. For the powers that come face to face with each other over the subsequent 25 years, her body will be at stake. During this quarter of a century, Evita had more political power than any living person...

It is worth noting that an exceptional award was given to Desde allá by Lorenzo Vigas (Venezuela), which also snagged the European Distributors and Exhibitors Award (Europa Distribution and CICAE).

In terms of the festival itself, the top prize, the so-called “Grand Prix Coup de Coeur”, went to Absence [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Chico Teixeira (Brazil, Chile, France), while the Audience Award was bestowed upon Ixcanul Volcano [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jayro Bustamante
film profile] by Jayro Bustamante (winner of the Alfred Bauer Prize in competition at Berlin – read the review and watch the video interview).

(Translated from French)