Tag Archives: Anita Rocha da Silveira

Tatiana Huezo’s “Prayers for the Stolen” Wins FIPRESCI Prize at the Palm Springs Film Festival

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Tatiana Huezo’s prayers are being celebrated…

The 50-year-old Mexican Salvadoran filmmaker’s Prayers for the Stolen has won the FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Palm Springs Film Festival, which revealed its juried winners this week despite being forced to cancel its 2022 edition.

Tatiana HuezoHuezo’s film, which has made this year’s Oscars short list for the Best International Feature Film category. was released by Netflix in theaters and on the streaming platform in November.

It centers on three young girls in a mountain town who take over the houses of those who have fled, dress up as women when no one is watching, and have a hiding place as their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. Until one day, when one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hideout in time.

The jury awarded it the top prize “for a miraculously vivid portrayal of girlhood under siege told with visual exuberance and powerful intimacy from the ensemble cast.”

The film also took the festival’s Ibero-American Award, the top prize in its Ibero-American sidebar devoted to the best films from Latin America, Spain or Portugal.

Special mentions in the Ibero-American sidebar were given to Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Medusa and Víctor Escribano’s 7 Lives, 7 Lakes.

The Palm Springs Film Festival, which had been scheduled to run January 6-17 before being scrapped amid the latest COVID surge, is considered a must-stop for International Feature Oscar contenders, with 36 of the 93 official submissions this year slated for the lineup.

Here’s the full list of winners:

FIPRESCI Prize: Best International Feature Film

Prayers For the Stolen (Mexico)
Directed by Tatiana Huezo

FIPRESCI Prize: Best Actor in an International Feature Film

Amir Jadidi
A Hero (Iran)

FIPRESCI Prize: Best Actress in an International Feature Film

Agathe Rousselle
Titane (France/Belgium)

FIPRESCI Prize: International Screenplay

A Hero (Iran)
Screenplay by Asghar Farhadi

Best Documentary Award

Flee (Denmark)
Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen

Special Mention
The Caviar Connection (France)
Directed by Benoît Bringer

New Voices/New Visions Award

Happening (France)
Directed by Audrey Diwan

Special Mention
Wildhood (Canada/Germany)
Directed by Bretten Hannam

Ibero-American Award

Prayers For the Stolen (Mexico)
Directed by Tatiana Huezo

Special Mentions
Medusa (Brazil/USA)
Directed by Anita Rocha da Silveira

7 Lives, 7 Lakes (Spain)
Directed by Víctor Escribano

Local Jury Award

Escape from Mogadishu (South Korea)
Directed by Ryoo Seung-wan.

Special Mention
Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times (USA)
Directed by Louie Psihoyos, Peggy Callahan

MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award

A Hero (Iran)
Director Asghar Farhadi

Special Mentions
Fear (Bulgaria)
Directed by Ivaylo Hristov

Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (USA)
Directed by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler

Young Cineastes Award

Yuni (Indonesia)
Directed by Kamila Andini

Special Mention
Any Day Now (Finland)
Directed by Hamy Ramezan 

Music Box Films Acquires Thriller-Satire Film “Medusa,” Starring Mari Oliveira

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Mari Oliveira will be thrilling audiences in North America…

Music Box Films has acquired North American rights to Medusa, the well-received thriller-satire starring the Latina actress.

Mari Oliveira, MedusaHailing from Brazilian writer and director Anita Rocha da Silveira. Medusa follows Mariana (Oliveira), a 21-year-old who belongs to a world where she must do her utmost to keep up the appearance of a perfect woman. In order to resist temptation, she and her girlfriends try their best to control everything and everyone around them. And that includes the town sinners. At night, their girl squad put on masks, hunt and beat up all women who have deviated from the right path. However, the day will come when the urge to scream will be stronger than it ever has been.

The social and political critique, which touches on themes of sexual liberation, violence, and religious fixation in Brazil, marks a follow-up to the filmmaker’s debut feature, Kill Me Please.

The feature debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight strand before getting its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Box Films is aiming to release the film theatrically in the summer of 2022 with a home entertainment plan to follow.

“Medusa’s bold commentary on social and political trends in Brazil will resonate with US audiences who can recognize the disturbing parallels in this country,” commented Brian Andreotti, Head of Acquisitions at Music Box Films. “Anita is an exciting filmmaker with a wholly original voice, and we are excited to bring her provocative and aesthetically striking film to a wider audience.”

“We are thrilled to work for the first time with Music Box Films,” added Martin Gondre, Head of Sales & Acquisitions at Best Friend Forever. “We couldn’t find a better home for Anita’s stylish, topical, and striking second feature.”