Jirafas, My Best Half, The Fury, The White Room Sweep Prizes at Guadalajara’s Co-Production Meetings

7 octubre, 2021

By Variety
OCTOBER 7, 2021.

Before a crowd of filmmakers and journalists, Mexico’s Guadalajara Festival reached an industry crescendo on Tuesday with the presentation of prizes for its Co-Production Meetings which brought producers and directors face to face with potential partners as well as giving opportunities to filmmakers to pitch their projects to industry service companies sponsoring in-kind awards.

It was difficult to discern any strong trends among favored projects as prize winners ranged from documentaries to features, though fatherless or deteriorating families seemed to be at the core of many of the titles. Recipients hailed from across Central and South America and were about equally divided between men and woman, with some prizes going to teams comprising just female filmmakers a sign perhaps that the legendary machismo of Latin America may be subsiding, at least, in the film industry.

Top winner was the documentary project “Jirafas,” an Ecuador/Chile co-production in early development, that tells the story of a small Ecuadorian town whose mayor arranges for a giraffe to take up residence at the local zoo. When the giraffe dies, the mayor organizes a giraffathon to raise money to purchase more of the animals. The idea works but sews dissension among the townspeople.

“Mi media naranja” (“My Best Half”), a Mexico-Spain co-production, picked up three prizes. The project focuses on possible child abuse discovered by neighbors of the perpetrator, leaving them in the precarious position of whether to report something they are unsure of, or not.

“La furia” (“The Fury”) from Spain, walked away with two prizes. The Barcelona-set film, which is currently in financial development, turns on the unique bond between a brother and sister who have grown up without a father but with a mother who lives on the edge.

“The White Room” – from Ana Piterbarg, who left to prominence directing Viggo Mortensen as twin brothers in “Everybody Has a Plan” – picked up two prizes. It focuses on a teen girl investigating her mother’s disappearance.

In all, 24 prizes from 13 sponsors from Mexico, Chile and Colombia were distributed to 11 winning projects.

2021 Guadalajara Co-Production Meetings Winners:

2.35 Digital Award

“Jirafas” (Sarahí Echeverría, Felipe Carmona and Marianne Mayer, Ecuador, Chile)

Pesos 300,000 ($16,000) for color correction

Sonata Films Award

“Jirafas”

Pesos 400,000 ($21,000) for sound post

Yagan Award

“The White Room,” (“La habitacion blanca,” Ana Piterbard, Epson Sidonie, Argentina, Chile)

For teaser or trailer sound

Valvula Award

“Por arte de magia,” (Melissa Saavedra, Maritza Blanco, Colombia)

For teaser or trailer images

Marketing Movie Runner Award

“Tiempo de cosecha,” (Flavio Pedota and David Ferreira, Dominican Republic)

Pesos 150,000 (US$8,000) for script analysis

Marketing Movie Runner Award

“Mi media naranja,” (Sebastián del Amo, Carolina Amador Bech, Mexico)

For script analysis

Pablo Mondragon Full Mix Studio Award

“La furia” (Gemma Blasco and Mireia Graell, Spain)

Pesos 150,000 ($8,000) – Pesos 365,000 ($19,000) for full mix, musical composition and supervision

Pablo Mondragon Full Mix Studio Award

“Volver a casa” (Catalina Alarcón and Daniela Camino, Chile)

Pesos 150,000 ($8,000) – Pesos 365,000 ($19,000) for full mix and musical composition and supervision

El Taller Award

“Mi media naranja”

Pesos 562,000 ($30,000) for post-production, image

El Taller Award

“La furia”

Pesos 562,000 ($30,000) for post-production , image

EFD Award

“Jirafas”

Pesos 335,000 ($17,600) for four weeks of camera and optics

EFD Award

“Los invisibles” (Andrés Rodríguez and Heidy Raiba, Guatemala-Mexico)

Pesos 400,000 ($21,000) for two weeks of camera use, optica and lighting

EFD Award

“Por arte de magia”

Special discount on equipment

EFD Award

“Malta,” (Natalia Santa and Kiran Fernandez, Colombia)

Special discount on equipment

Churubusco Award

“Los invisibles”

Pesos 500,000 ($26,000) – Pesos 1,500,000 ($79,000) for post-production services

Churubusco Award

“Mi media naranja”

Co-production agreement

Cinema 226 Award

“The White Room”

Pesos 3 million ($158,000) – Pesos 10 million ($526,000) for co-production

Cinema 226 Award

“Lala” (Rodrigo D. Marquez, Susana Esther y Jauregui Flores, Mexico)

Pesos 3 million ($158,000) – Pesos 10 million ($526,000) for co-production

Cinema 226 Award

“La casa de la playa,”(Kim Elizondo and Gabriela Fonseca, Costa Rica)

Pesos 3 million ($158,000) – Pesos 10 million ($526,000) for co-production

Cinema 226 Award Special Mention

“Por arte de magia”

Development assistance

Cinema 226 Award Special Mention

“Jirafas”

Development assistance

Cinema 226 Award Special Mention

“Los invisibles”

Development assistance

Estudios GGM Award

“La mala madre,” (Alicia Albares and Al Díaz, Spain)

Pesos 1,500,000 ($79,000) for three weeks of studio use with all services

Cinematic Media

“La mala madre”

Pesos 750,000 ($40,000) for color correction and DCP.