Latin America Media Arts Fund Filmmakers & Projects
LAS MARTHAS (2012 Heineken VOCES Award for Documentary)
Directed & Produced by Cristina Ibarra and Produced by Erin Ploss-Campoamor
A documentary about an extraordinary rite of passage in Laredo, Texas where Mexican-American debutantes are presented at a grand Colonial ball dressed as American revolutionaries – a border tradition that’s 114 years old.
FERIADO (2012 Heineken VOCES Award for Narrative)
Written & Directed by Diego Araujo
Produced by Hanne-Lovise Skartveit, Juan Sebastián Jácome & Andrés Longares
Executive Produced by Frida Torresblanco
Cinematography by Bradford Young
The sheltered life of Juan Pablo is turned upside down when he must spend the carnival holiday with his wealthy family at their hacienda in the Ecuadorian Andes and meets Juano, a self-assured black metal fan from the nearby pueblo.
CITY OF THE CAESARS (2012 Grantee)
Directed & Produced by Francisco Hervé, Edited by Andrea Chignoli (Chile)
Two conspiracy theories. Two ordinary men. Wisdom, immortality and natural resources are at stake in a mythical place somewhere in Patagonia.
CUANDO LOS MUERTOS ESTAN MAS SECOS/WHEN THE DEAD ARE DRIER (2012 Grantee)
Directed & Produced by Claudio Araya Silva and Produced by Yara Morales Rivera (Bolivia)
In the eighties, more than 50 women committed suicide in a small peasant community. Hermenegildo and Pedro return to their community, attempting to retrace the paths of memory regarding the deaths of their wives. The trip aims to unravel the mystery surrounding the life and death of these women.
ELENA (2012 Grantee)
Directed & Produced by Petra Costa (Brazil)
The film recounts the journey of Petra, a young Brazilian woman who dreams of becoming an actress but is warned not to do so by her mother. Against these admonitions, Petra moves to New York City where the reasons why she was advised against this path begin to unfold.
THE SHARK'S EYE (2012 Grantee)
Directed by Alejo Hoijman and Produced by Gema Juarez Allen (Argentina)
Summer is coming to Nicaragua and Maycol and Bryan will start to learn their families’ trade, shark hunting. In a place where traditional trades disappear in favor of drug trafficking, these two boys choose their future. A coming of age film set in the forgotten Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.
THE BATTLE FOR LAND (2011 Grantee)
Juan Mejia, Director (Colombia)
The Battle for Land delves deep into the complexities of mass displacement pushing us past prevailing ideas where displacement is seen as an aberration of war, and progressively revealing a more intricate and terrifying picture. It is above all a journey deep into the heart of uprooting and the dark side of progress.
COCAINE PRISON (2011 Grantee)
Violeta Ayala, Director (Bolivia)
Trying to establish a cocaine business inside Bolivia's craziest prison an unlikely friendship develops, between two 'little fish', a young ambitious trafficker and a middle-aged cocaine worker fighting for release, personifying the country's love affair with cocaine.
TOYS (2011 Grantee)
Alba Mora-Roca, Director (Mexico)
Toys explores how a family's peculiar love for toys helps children overcome the effects of violence in Mexico. It follows a Mexican-Japanese family who, having gathered the largest toy collection in Latin America, travels north to do workshops with victims of the violence generated by fighting drug cartels.
WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE (2011 Grantee)
Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel, Directors (Peru)
An indigenous leader forced into exile and facing 20 years in prison for resisting the environmental ruin of Amazonian lands by big business. Refusing to surrender he continues his quest, shedding light on conflicting visions shaping the fate of the Amazon and the climate future of our world.
CUATES DE AUSTRALIA (2009 Grantee)*
Everardo Gonzalez, Director (Mexico)
A documentary about a community in exodus and in search of water who never lose hope that the rain may yet fall. The film takes place at Cuates de Australia, a cooperative farm in the desert of Coahuila. Everardo has been widely acknowledged for his films Los ladrones viejos (Old Thieves, 2007) and La canción del pulque (Pulque’s Song, 2003) with the Ariel (the Mexican Oscar) as well as several awards at international film festivals such as Morelia, Guadalajara and Biarritz.
DIARIO DE UN ELEFANTE (Diary of an Elephant) (2009 Grantee)*
Fernando Eimbcke, Director (Mexico)
El diario de un Elefante tells the story of a 50-year-old man who has to take care of his sick father, who abandoned him when he was nine years old. During a long trip to deliver his father to his brother, the memories and resentment from his childhood surface. Fernando Eimbcke previously directed the narrative features Lake Tahoe (2008) and Temporada de Patos (Duck Season) (2004), for which he received an Ariel (Mexico's Academy Award) and numerous awards at international film festivals including Guadalajara, Berlin and Cannes.
*chosen by nomination
