The Barcelona-set feature “La nit no fa vigília” and Argentine film “Hidden City” (“Ciudad Oculta”) won the Malaga Festival Work in Progress awards for Spanish and Latin American projects on Friday.
“La nit no fa vigília” (which roughly translates to “The Night Does Not Keep Watch”) centers on a young man who lives with and cares for his aging, frail grandmother, but still finds time for a nocturnal social life. It was among the frontrunners to win at the awards ceremony.
A joint project from a student collective comprising Laura Corominas Espelt, Laura Serra Solé, Clara Serrano Llorens, Gerard Simó Gimeno, Ariadna Ulldemolins Abad and Pau Vall Capdet, “La nit no fa vigília” also won the industry magazine Cine y Tele prize.
Francisco Bouza’s “Hidden City” follows a young soccer player in Buenos Aires who must undertake a journey across the city of the dead in order deal with the loss of a friend.
The projects were among a large number award winners that took part in this year’s Malaga WIP program and Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF).
Víctor Iriarte’s “Sobre Todo de Noche,” which revolves around two women who meet for the first time, one who was forced to give up her child for adoption when she was young, the other the parent who adopted and raised the boy, won the Aracne Digital Cinema award for post production services as well as the Latido Films distribution prize.
Two films received the Yagán Films award for sound production: Juan Pablo Polanco and César Jaimes’ hybrid feature “Carropasajero,” which follows indigenous Wayuú people on the border between Colombia and Venezuela and a woman who returns to her native land to meet her family after years of exile; and Agustín Toscano’s Argentine documentary “I Trust You” (“En Vos Confio”), about two women who met in a convent, abandoned their habits to live their love secretly and adopted a daughter only to later face criminal charges.
“I Trust You” also picked up the LatAmcinema.com award for Latin American projects.
Juan Agustín Carbonere’s Argentine feature “The Saint” (“El Santo”), about a healer of humble origins who builds a cult following through his use of outlandish and disturbing techniques, won the Damita Joe distribution prize.
“The Saint” also won the Music Library award along with Jenifer de la Rosa’s autobiographical documentary “Hija del Volcán” (“The Daughter of the Volcano”), a Spanish-Mexican co-production.
MAFF Awards
Prizes at Malaga’s MAFF co-production and financing forum were spread across the board. Produced by Sergy Moreno, Spaniard Ana Ortiz’s feature debut “Firefly Glades” (“El claro de las luciérnagas”), a thriller with horror overtones, won the Cántico Producciones Awards’ first prize, while Jô Serfaty and Clarissa Guarilha’s Brazilian work “Borda do Mundo” took the second prize.
Aeden O´Connor Agurcia and Ana Isabel Martins Palacios’ “Cae el Sol,” a Honduran-Mexican-Guatemalan-Norwegian project, received the Bolivia Lab Industria Prize, an invitation to the filmmakers to participate in a production laboratory in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in July.
The ECAM Prize for participation in an incubator program at the Madrid Film School this fall went to “Borda do Mundo.”
“4Eber,” a Peruvian-Mexican project by Ximena Valdivia Salas and Illari Orccottoma Mendoza, received the Santiago Film Festival’s Sanfic Award, consisting in an invitation to participate in a production lab set for August in the Chilean capital.
The Films to Festivals distribution award, meanwhile, went to Ariel Gutiérrez and Víctor Léycegui’s Mexican work “Toda una vida” and Francesca Canepa Sarmiento and Enid Marie Campos León’s Peruvian project “La Otra Orilla.”
The winners of the three Acorde/Music Library were: Arima León and Daute Campos’ Spanish project “Tal Vez,” which received the Women Screen Industry award; Cristian Lagos Soto and Maximiliano Bolados’ Chilean project “Madres de Octubre,” which took the Ibero-American prize; and Marilina Calós and Soledad San Julián’s Argentine work “Moxos,” which won the Latin American award.
The Elamedia-Sideral international distribution prize went to Rakesh Narwani’s Spanish project “El Gran Bazar de Mis Padres,” also part of 2023’s Netflix-Dama diversity program, Cambio de Plano.
