PALM SPRINGS – Ha sido un año impresionante para el cine latinoamericano.
The presence and quality of the movies produced in Latin America has blazed its way through the most prestigious international film festivals. This past year, Colombia was one of the countries leading the way. According to the Bogotá-based newspaper El Espectador, 2015 was one of the most successful years in Colombian cinema. The “Embrace of the Serpent,” directed by 34-year-old Ciro Guerra, currently finds itself among the shortlisted films that could potentially be nominated for a 2016 Foreign Language Oscar.
Of the 23 Colombian films submitted to the Academy Awards in this category, it’s the first one that has made it this far, said Scott Feinberg, awards analyst from The Hollywood Reporter.
La cinta de Guerra ha recibido el Art Cinema Award en Cannes, el Mejor Director en los Premios iberoamericanos de cine Fénix en la Ciudad de México y un galardón en el Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano en La Habana, Cuba. También ha ido recogiendo premios en los festivales de cine en Argentina, Costa Rica, Estados Unidos, Rusia y Ucrania.
“It is a very special moment for us because we have had 50 years of conflict and finally we are about to sign for peace,” Guerra said in a panel discussion with the other eight shortlisted filmmakers that took place in the Palm Canyon Theatre during the 27th Palm Springs International Festival (PSIFF). “Ten years ago, there was no cinema in Colombia. Now there is a glimmer of hope because the people believe in our own cinema again.”
The film narrates the story of Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman, who works with two scientists for 40 years while searching the rainforest for a sacred healing plant. Hablado en nueve lenguas diferentes, cuatro locales y cinco occidentales, “Embrace of the Serpent” comparte la historia de los indígenas de la selva amazónica—incluyendo evangelización, Guerra del Caucho y pérdida de tradiciones.
“Filming it in black in white was extremely important to me because the idea for the project was originally inspired by the pictures of explorers and warriors,” Guerra said. “Once I went into the jungle to film, I realized that we could not really capture its greenness. To give you an idea, the native people have 50 different ways for the word green. I decided to let the spectators use their imagination instead when they see the film since it would be closer to the reality that I could have portrayed in color.”
Guerra mentioned that when the people of the Amazon saw the film, they were extremely moved. “Many had never seen a movie before and were frightened. But when the lights went out they felt at ease since they were in the jungle again. Some walked for two days just to see it. At the end of the movie, there is a scene of a mountain which has mytholgical significance for them and there was shouting as loud as if we had been in a soccer game.”
A partir del 19 de febrero, “Embrace of the Serpent”, de 125 minutos de duración, llegará a cines locales.
Digna de mención, es “Viva”, de 100 minutos, del director irlandés Paddy Breathnach filmada en Cuba y protagonizada por el joven llamado Jesús, Héctor Medina, quien expresa su sexualidad en una manera que incomoda a su padre. “Viva” fue elegida entre las cintas favoritas, o ‘Best of the Fest’, del PSIFF.
Although “Viva” represents Ireland, it takes place in Havana and spoken in Spanish, with English subtitles. The Dublin-born filmmaker explained that the film came as a result of a hotel stay during a holiday in Cuba. He was moved by the expression of the emotion he saw during a drag show, particularly when the performers sang “heart-felt” songs. “One of two ladies watching the performance started to cry. She said she was crying because her brother was performing and that was the only thing that made him happy,” Breathnach said. “I told myself, this is a world I had to explore.”
The foreign language category also nominated films from Hungary (“Son Of Saul”), France (“Mustang”), Jordan (“Theeb”), and Denmark (“A War”). Jordan and Columbia celebrated their first nominations.
La 88ª edición de los Premios Óscar será transmitida en vivo, desde Hollywood, el domingo, 28 de febrero comenzando a las 4:00 p.m. por la cadena ABC.
