Lucchesi’s “Ciencias Naturals” Wins Crystal Bear Award at Berlin International Film Festival

Matías Lucchesi’s latest project is the crystal clear winner in Berlin…

Matías Lucchesi

The Argentine director’s full-length feature debut Ciencias naturales (Natural Sciences) has won the Crystal Bear for best film in the Generation Kplus sidebar for children’s films at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.

Lucchesi not only directed the film, he also wrote the critically acclaimed screen play.

Natural Sciences/Ciencias Naturales

The coming-of-age story about a young girl who goes on the hunt for her absent father, took the top prize awarded by the Generation Kplus international jury, who called it “a captivating tale with wonderful acting and a clear vision. Strong in its simplicity, the film touched our hearts.”

The Generation Kplus children’s jury consisted of a group of young people who watched all the films in the section’s under-14 category.

Lucchesi’s previous credits include the short films Savannah and Distances.

Luna’s Cesar Chavez Biopic to Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival

Diego Luna’s latest directorial effort is set to premiere in Germany…

The 34-year-old Mexican actor/director’s biopic Cesar Chavez: An American Hero will have its world premiere next month at the Berlin International Film Festival, according to the movie’s production company.

Diego Luna

The film about Latino icon Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) will be entered into the festival’s official program in the Berlinale Special section, which presents recent works by contemporary directors, as well as cinematic portraits of renowned personalities, Canana Films, which Luna co-owns with fellow Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, said in a statement.

The cast of the biopic is led by Michael Peña, who portrays the late migrant farmworkers’ leader and civil rights activist.

Michael Pena as Cesar Chavez

Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera portrays Chavez’s wife, while Rosario Dawson plays Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s partner in founding the National Farmworkers Association (later renamed to the United Farm Workers).

“Cesar Chavez represents the largest non-violent protest movement in U.S. history; his goal was to achieve basic human rights for the more than 50,000 farm workers in California,” said the production company’s statement.

“We think the film will send the message that change is in our hands. Chavez did something that everyone thought was impossible with courage that inspired an entire nation.”

Cesar Chavez, which will hit U.S. theaters on March 28 and arrive in Mexico on May 2, was filmed in the United States and the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

It marks Luna’s second foray into directing, after his hit 2010 comedy/drama Abel.

Garcia Wins Silver Bear at Berlin International Film Festival

It’s turning out to be an award-winning weekend for Paulina Garcia

The Chilean actress and costume designer has claimed the Silver Bear award for Best Actress at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival.

Paulina Garcia

Garcia earned the prestigious prize for her starring role in the Sebastián Lelio-directed dramatic comedy Gloria, which centers on a middle-aged woman who rediscovers love with a former naval officer in his mid-60s that she meets out in a Santiago club.

Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Chilean director’s earned the Ecumenical Jury prize for Gloria, which the jury called a “refreshing and contagious plea that life is a celebration to which we are all invited, regardless of age or condition, and that its complexities only add to the challenge to live it in full.”

Lelio’s film also earned the Prize of the Guild of Herman Art House Cinemas.

Roadside Attractions will handle the distribution of the critically acclaimed Gloria in the United States.