Winners of 9th FICM

  • Michoacán Competition for Best Short Film Screenplay

    For its cinematographic qualities and its ability of synthesis, the award for Best Short Film Screenplay goes to Sísifo, written by Iván Martínz Pérez.

    Awards

    The prize for the Michoacán Short Film Screenplay Competition consists of a certificate, 12,000 pesos and a place in the international workshop on screenwriting Cine Qua Non Lab, which will take place in August 2012.

  • Michoacán Section

    Jury

    • Sergio Arau, Felipe Fernández del Paso y Gregorio Rocha.

    For presenting an original, risky, unpretentious and promising narrative, the iSAT Special Award goes to Bosquejos, by Diego Flores Contreras.

    For presenting an issue from multiple perspectives in a blunt and moving way, the prize for Best Work in the Michoacán section goes to Cuanajillo, la historia sin agua, de Stefan Guzmán Sotelo.

    Awards

    • The iSAT Special Award consists of a computer and editing program.

    • The recognition includes a certificate; an Eye sculpture designed especially for the festival by the Michoacano artist Javier Marín; 2,000 feet of film donated by Kodak; a postproduction package for image and sound donated by New Art, and 60,000 pesos given by the government of Morelia.

  • Mexican Short Film Section

    Jury

    • Rémi Bonhomme, Beth Sá Freire y Alissa Simon.

    Honorable Mention goes to El pescador by Samantha Pineda Sierra.

    For the promising career she has demonstrated as a director, the Special May 5th Studio Award goes to Ojos que no ven by Regina García Solórzano.

    The Best Animated Short Film goes to both Black Doll (Prita Noire) by Sofía Carrillo and Once Upon a time (Érase una vez) by Alejandro Ríos.Even if the technique differs, the essence of these two works is about the same theme: the existential conflict of life.

    The Best Short Documentary goes to Requiem for Eternity (Réquiem para la eternidad) by Alberto Reséndiz Gómez, because the movie uses the short film form in a masterly and cinematic way that communicates an intimate experience

    Best Short Fiction goes to Mari Pepa by Samuel Isamu Kishi Leopo, For knowing how to show the confrontation between two worlds and periods of life through fresh acting and unquestionable energy.

    Awards

    • The prize for Best Animated Short Film includes a certificate; an Eye sculpture designed especially for the festival by the Michoacano artist Javier Marín; 2,000 feet of film donated by Kodak; a postproduction package for image and sound donated by New Art; and 120,000 pesos.

    • Both the Best Short Fiction and the Best Short Documentary prizes include a certificate; an Eye sculpture designed by the Michoacano artist Javier Marín; 2,000 feet of film donated by Kodak; a postproduction package for image and sound donated by New Art; a director’s viewfinder donated by the channel I.SAT; and 120,000 pesos.

    • The Animated category prize is sponsored by XX Lager, and the category of Fiction is sponsored by Coca Cola Light.

    • El Premio Especial Studio 5 de Mayo consiste en un paquete para tres días de filmación en 35mm o 16mm o captura digital, con regrabación 5.1, incluye el personal de cámara, móvil y planta, así como el seguro, y en el caso del audio, 8 horas de regrabación y la licencia Dolby.

    • Because the Morelia International Film Festival is officially recognized by the U.S. Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, the winning short films in the categories of Fiction and Animation can be considered to compete for an Oscar®.

  • Mexican Documentary Film Section

    Mexico gave the Muse and the Kodak Award for Best Digital Documentary by a Woman to The Tiniest Place by Tatiana Huezo, for achieving an unequaled combination of drama, narration and poetic quality.

    Jury

    • Catherine Bloch, Lillian Liberman y José Antonio Valdés Peña.

    For touching the deepest emotions with an admirable cinematographic sense, each one in their own way, the jury in this section gave Special Mention to The Tiniest Place (El lugar más pequeño) by Tatiana Huezo and Lessons for a War (Lecciones para una guerra) by Juan Manuel Sepúlveda.

    The award for Best Mexican Documentary is for a film that, like the protagonist, utilizes simple elements to weave together something that is strong and beautiful at the same time. It has the ability to create the necessary space so that the viewer can experience a universal story through details that it observes with sensitivity and with great humility and respect toward the people it portrays. The winner is Silvestre Pantaleón by Roberto Olivares Ruiz y Jonathan D. Amith.and Jonathan D. Amith.

     

    Jury

    • Shannon Kelly, Gideon Lichfield y Javier Packer.

    Premios

    • The Award for Best Digital Documentary by a Woman given by the Women in Film and Television, consists of a certificate, the Muse sculpture created by Mexican artist Elena Somonte and 5,000 feet of 35mm film by Kodak.

    • The prize for Best Mexican Documentary consists of a certificate, the Eye sculpture designed especially for the festival by Michoacán artist Javier Marín, 2,000 feet of film donated by Kodak, a Sony NXcam HXR-NXSN camera donated by Amoelcine.com, 120,000 pesos donated by Fundación Televisa, the "“CANANA/AMBULANTE Digital Distribution" that consists of supporting the winning film in its digital distribution throughout Mexico, and also will be a part of the seventh edition of Ambulante Documentary Film Festival 2012.

  • Mexican Feature Film

    Jury

    • Mark Cousins, François Dupeyron y Michael Wood.

    The Audience Award is given to a film in the Mexican Feature Film competition. The audience vote is taken through the tickets that were distributed to the viewing public throughout the week.

    The winning feature film of the Audience Award is Expiration Date (Fecha de caducidad) by Kenya Márquez.

    The jury noted that the excellent level of photography of the films in competition. Gabriel Figueroa, one of the great directors of Mexico's Golden Age of cinema, would be proud to see how in the digital era, Mexico continues to shine in this area.

    The jury highlighted the exceptional quality of the films presented, giving an Honorable Mention to the following three works:

    • El sueño de Lu, dirigida por Hari Sama.

    • Fecha de caducidad, dirigida por Kenya Márquez.

    • Malaventura, dirigida por Michel Lipkes.

    For being a moving study about an imaginative and happy young girl that is trapped between the political isolation of her mother and the social-but-conservative world at school; and the coastal landscape, with its winds and loneliness, become both a mirror and her playground. Best Mexican Feature Film goes to the film The Prize El Premio, by director Paula Markovitch.

    Awards

    • The prize for Best Mexican Feature Film includes a certificate; an Eye sculpture designed especially for the festival by the Michoacano artist Javier Marín; 2,000 feet of film donated by Kodak; a 30% discount in New Art services; the Canal Plus Prize includes the purchase of distribution rights in France for 15,000 euros, the professional editing program "Avid Media Composer" donated by EnFilme.com; a director's viewfinder donated by the I.SAT channel; a Hermés director chair given by the Hermés Foundation to support Mexican directors (which is being given at the festival for a second time); the prize "CANANA/AMBULANTE Digital Distribution," with which the organization supports the winner through the movie's digital distribution in Mexico; and 120,000 pesos donated by Cinépolis.

  • Morelia Lab

    This year, the Morelia Lab dedicated its workshops to the professional training of 27 Latin American producers from eight different countries who have already produced a film and are currently in the process of making a second feature.

    The jury, made up of Martha Orozco, Laura Imperiale, Jessica Villegas and Víctor Ugalde decided to divide up the workshop awards in the following way:

    IMCINE Prize for project development, which consists of 50,000 pesos for the best presentation by a Mexican, goes to Nicolás Celis for his project Temporada Baja.

    The Cinépolis Prize for project development, which consists of 50,000 pesos for the best presentation by a Latin American, goes to Daniel Andrés Wernes for his project La Turista.

    In addition, the jury decided to give five honorable mentions to the following projects: Vacías casas by Hatuey Lavielle (Mexico), Uncut by Laura Pino (Mexico), Primate by Cynthia Gabrenja (Argentina) , La noche de Franco by April Shannon (Mexico) and Esperando a los bárbaros by Alejandro Prieto (Colombia).

    Argos Cine has promised co-production support (worth up to 3 million pesos) to the Mexican project: Haz por venir by Socorro Méndez.

 

Some of the winners of the 9th Morelia International Film Festival will have their films shown at Cannes after being chosen by the Selection Committee of the Cannes Critics' Week.