Magallanes August top Industry Awards

LOS ANGELES Sept 25 (Agencies) : Peruvian Salvador del Solar's 'Magallanes' and Cuban Armando Capo's 'August' and scooped the major industry plaudits at San Sebastian Wednesday night. 'August' snagged the EGEDA Best Project Award at Fest's Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum and 'Magallenes' the Industry Award at San Sebastian's Films in Progress. The EGEDA Award comes with a EUR10000 ($13000) cash prize. 'Ixcanul' took a special mention at Films in Progress 'Walls' at the Forum.

Thesp-turned-helmer Del Solar's feature debut featuring a top-notch Latin American cast Mexico's Damian Alcazar Peru's Magaly Solier the lead in Berlin Golden Bear winner 'The Milk of Sorrow' 'Magallanes' also boasts an impressive tripartite co-production backing of Peru's Pendulo Films and Tondero Films Cepa Audiovisual a producer on Argentine-Spanish hit 'Seventh Floor' and Colombia's Cinerama and Proyectil.

A film which charts the weight of a romantic past 'Magallanes' turns on a former soldier (Alcazar) turned tax driver who reunites with a woman (Solier) whose past is inexorably linked to his in an attempt at redemption. 'When serious issues go unresolved it is very difficult for people to move on' says Del Solar told Variety just before San Sebastian.

Billed by producer Marcela Esquivel Jimenez at Costa Rica's La Feria Producciones ('Red Princesses') as the first film about the Cuban rafter crisis told from the point of view of a Cuban who lived the situation 'August' is a coming-of-age-tale set in 1994 Cuba when the collapse of Soviet aid sparked desperate food and energy shortages and attempts at mass exodus.

The Forum cash prize and above all prestige of a Forum win will serve well a cash-strapped production that has a pedigree having been put through EAVE Puentes and this year's Cannes Cinemas du Monde development initiative.

'Ixcanul' the feature debut of Guatemala's Jayro Bustamante turns on the increasingly desperate attempts of a 17-year-old Kaqchiqel girl to expunge her guilt and rehabilitate her family after she is left pregnant by a boyfriend who has departed fir the US Produced by Edgard Tenembaum's Tu Vas Voir and Bustamante's La Casa de Produccion 'Ixcanul' was enthusiastically received at Films in Progress.

LOS ANGELES: Over the past decade the Zurich Film Festival has established a major presence in the crowded fest circuit thanks to A-list guests exclusive film finance meets and privileged access to the German-speaking market.

Leading talent at this year's edition which runs Sept 25-Oct 2 includes Liam Neeson Cate Blanchett Benicio del Toro Josh Hutcherson Diane Keaton and Antonio Banderas and helmers Susanne Bier Marc Forster and Frederick Wiseman.

Zurich positions itself as the main film festival in the fall for the lucrative German-speaking market of 100 million dovetailing with Berlin in February and Munich in June.

'We attract major media presence at Zurich especially from German media' says artistic director Karl Spoerri. 'That makes Zurich an excellent film platform.'

For its 10th anniversary the fest boasts a strong competitive lineup and a high-profile 30-film Gala Premieres section which includes 'A Walk Among the Tombstones' starring Liam Neeson; Israel Horovitz's comedy 'My Old Lady'; David Gordon Green's 'Manglehorn'; and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Venice opener 'Birdman.'

LOS ANGELES: With barely a week till it opens its doors on the 19th edition the Busan International Film Festival (Oct 2-11) has become embroiled in controversy connected to the already highly-politicized Sewol ferry disaster.

The festival has scheduled screenings of the documentary 'Diving Bell' which discusses a particular piece of diving equipment use of which might have saved lives in the largely failed rescue attempt. The film depicts this as part of a clash between public and private sectors. The film is co-directed by journalist Lee Sang-ho and documentary filmmaker Ahn Hae-ryong.

According to a former member of the Busan Film Commission writing in Cine 21 magazine the festival has come under pressure from the city mayor Seo Byung-soo to remove the film.

LOS ANGELES: The Santa Barbara Film Festival announced Wednesday it will open its 30th anniversary edition with 'Desert Dancer' from Relativity Studios on Jan 27 at the Arlington Theatre.

Based on a true story the film from helmer Richard Raymond stars Freida Pinto as a self-taught Iranian dancer who forms an underground dance group in the midst of a tumultuous 2009 presidential election.

'Raymond has delivered an extremely timely and thought-provoking movie about love truth and the freedom that comes from following your passions' stated Roger Durling SBIFF executive director.

The festival also announced that it will honor the Cousteau family Jean-Michel and his children Fabien and Celine with its Attenborough Award For Excellence in Nature Filmmaking the first time in five years the honor has been awarded. SBIFF will present the award to the Cousteaus 'for their decades-long commitment to educating the public and discovering the mysteries of the ocean' Jan 28 at the Arlington Theatre.