《火会来》在马塔布拉塔国际电影节获奖

Oliver Laxe’s “Fire Will Come” topped the international competition at the just-concluded 34th Mar del Plata International Film Festival in Argentina, a second win in a row for Spanish cinema at Latin America’s only FIAPF-accredited festival. The film also earned best screenplay honors for Laxe and Argentine co-writer Santiago Fillol.

Laxe’s third film follows arsonist* Amador Coro, who returns to his rural hometown in Galicia, Spain, after serving a prison sentence, only to see his fate cross paths with young firefighter Lois when a fire starts to devastate* the region. The film premiered in Cannes, where it snagged a Jury Prize at Un Certain Regard.

The Astor Award for best director was shared between Portuguese auteur Pedro Costa, for his Locarno-premiered “Vitalina Varela,” and German filmmaker Angela Schanelec, for “I Was at Home, But.”

The Audience Award went to Karim Aïnouz’s Un Certain Regard winner “Invisible Life,” Brazil’s submission for consideration in the international feature film Oscar category.

The 34th edition of Argentina’s long-running Mar del Plata festival was held in honor of its late president, filmmaker José Martínez Suarez, who died in August at the age of 93. A special José Martínez Suarez Award for best director in the Argentine Competition was given this year to Mercedes Halfon and Laura Citarella for their film “The Poets Visit Juana Bignozzi.”

The fest also honored film critic and programmer Luciano Monteagudo, who ran Buenos Aires’ legendary Lugones Film Theater for several decades before stepping down earlier this year.

(SD-Agencies)