21/03/2016 - Emiliano Torres’ Argentinian-French feature, currently in post-production, was singled out during the Cinélatino Festival, which crowned Siembra

At the 28th Cinélatino Festival in Toulouse, the Films in Progress event (intended to be able to contribute to the completion, distribution and promotion of Latin American films that run into difficulties at the post-production stage) handed its Grand Prix to El Invierno [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Emiliano Torres. Produced by Argentinian outfit Wanka Cinema together with its compatriots at Ajimolido Films and French firm Cité Film, this feature debut, which also won the Ciné+ Award, revolves around the old foreman of a huge property in Patagonia who is given the sack and is replaced by a younger farm worker. The change will not be easy for either of them, and each will have to find his own way to survive the impending winter...

We should also point out that Films in Progress handed out an exceptional award to Los niños by Maite Alberdi (produced by Chilean outfit Micromundo together with France’s Mandra Films and Dutch company Volya Films), and the Distributors (Europa Distribution) and European Exhibitors’ (CICAE) Award went to Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl! [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Felipe Bragança (produced by Brazilian outfit Globo Filmes together with France’s Damned Films and the Netherlands’ Revolver Amsterdam).

As for the films in competition at Cinélatino, the Grand Prix Coup de Coeur was bestowed upon Siembra [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Angela Osorio Rojas and Santiago Lozano Alvares (produced by Colombia together with Germany, via Autentika Films), and the Argentinian production Dias extraños by Juan Sebastian Quebrada was singled out with a Special Mention. Also of note on the winners’ list was the Audience Award snagged by El acompañante by Cuba’s Pavel Giroud and the FIPRESCI Award for Alba [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Ana Cristina Barragan (co-produced by Ecuador, Mexico and Greece, via Graal SA), while the documentary competition was won by El legado by Roberto Anjari Rossi (Chile/Germany) with a Special Mention going to Juanicas by Mexican director Karina Garcia Casanova.

This edition of Cinélatino also stood out thanks to the seminar helmed by the EFAD (European Film Agency Directors) and the CACI (Conferencia de Autoridades Cinematográficas de Iberoamérica), which aimed to strengthen the bonds between Europe and Latin America. At the end of the discussions, the participants decided on a variety of actions: to outline a number of common positions on the reforms proposed by the European Commission, particularly in the area of copyrights (focusing especially on the need to preserve the territoriality-of-rights principle); to mount a joint campaign to persuade the European Commission to revive an initiative similar to the former Media Mundus programme (which was halted in 2014), which fostered cooperation between the two continents; to reassert their adhesion to the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity; to defend the principle of technology neutrality, within this same context; and to intensify measures to encourage co-productions between Europe and Latin America (including via an incentive mechanism for project co-development) and their circulation across all sorts of different formats.

(Translated from French)