Tag Archives: Alonso Ruizpalacios

Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Starz Pilot for “Vida” Wins Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival

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The audience has spoken… And, they’ve given Alonso Ruizpalacios his due prize.

The SXSW Film Festival announced its Audience Award winners, with the Mexican film director and co-helmer So Yong Kim’s Vida taking home the Episodic prize.

Starz's Vida

The forthcoming Starz series was created by Tanya Saracho and directed by Kim. Ruizpalacios directed the Vida pilot.

Abner Benaim took home the prize in the 24 Beats Per Second category for his documentary film, Ruben Blades Is Not My Name.

The Panamanian film director’s film is hailed as a celebration of the Latin American icon who was at the center of the New York Salsa revolution in the 1970’s. His socially charged lyrics and explosive rhythms brought Salsa music to an international audience. Blades has won 17 Grammys, acted in Hollywood, earned a law degree from Harvard and even ran for President of his native Panama.

Santiago Caicedo’s Virus Tropical was the Audience Award Winner in the Global category.

The black-and-white feature is closely adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Power Paola, the nom de plume of Colombian-Ecuadorian cartoonist Paola Gaviria.

The Audience Awards follow the previously announced 2018 Jury Awards.

Over nine days, the 2018 SXSW Film Festival screened 136 features.

Here’s the complete list of Audience Award winners:

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: First Match
Director: Olivia Newman 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: TransMilitary
Directors: Gabriel Silverman, Fiona Dawson 

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: All Square
Director: John Hyams 

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: The Dawn Wall
Director: Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer 

VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: Profile
Director: Timur Bekmambetov 

MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: Upgrade
Director: Leigh Whannell 

EPISODIC
Audience Award Winner: Vida
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios, So Yong Kim 

24 BEATS PER SECOND
Audience Award Winner: Ruben Blades Is Not My Name
Director: Abner Benaim 

GLOBAL
Audience Award Winner: Virus Tropical
Director: Santiago Caicedo 

FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Audience Award Winner: Science Fair
Director: Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster 

SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Audience Award Winner: #19 – Offf Barcelona 2017
Directors: Eve Duhamel, Julien Vallee

Mishel Prada Cast in Starz’s New Latinx Drama Series “Vida”

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Mishel Prada is livin’ la vida in Hollywood…

The Latina actress has landed a series regular in Starz new Latinx drama series Vida from showrunner Tanya Saracho (How To Get Away With Murder).

Mishel Prada

Rendon joins a cast that includes several Latino actors/actresses, including McFarland, USA’s Chelsea Rendon, East Los High’s Karen Ser Anzoategui, The Bling Ring’s Carlos Miranda, Suffering Man’s Charity’s Maria Elena Laas and Club de Cuervos’ Melissa Berrera.

Vida focuses on two Mexican-American sisters, Emma and Lyn, from the Eastside of Los Angeles who couldn’t be more different or distanced from each other. Circumstances force them to return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past and shocking truth about their mother’s identity.

Prada will portray Emma who, estranged from both her sister and her mother, reluctantly returns for her mother’s funeral and to deal with the family business. Barrera will play her sister, Lyn, a care-free party girl, who has figured out how to live a pretty worry-free life in the Bay Area.

Anzoategui will portray Eddy, a sensitive soul who is trustworthy, generous and passionate but also intimidating looking upon first glance. Rendon will play Marisol who is the expression of east side youth culture: woke, politicized, and deep in the resistance. Miranda is Johnny, a stand-up guy who runs his ailing dad’s auto shop and is engaged to his pregnant girlfriend but has a history with Lyn. Laas will portray Cruz, an enigmatic lesbian who has a checkered history with Emma.

Alonso Ruizpalacios directs the series premiere episode. Big Beach TV will produce the Latinx series.

Prada’s previous credits include Fear the Walking Dead: Passage and Tell Me How I Die.

Luna Launches Branded Entertainment Studio, Gloria

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It’s all guts and Gloria for Diego Luna…

The 35-year-old Mexican actor/director/producer and his business partners Pablo Cruz and Eric Bonniot have officially launched the branded entertainment studio, Gloria.

Diego Luna 

Luna and Cruz, along with Gael Garcia Bernal, are also co-founders of the Mexican production and distribution company Canana.

Based in Los Angeles and Mexico City, Gloria is working on projects in both English- and Spanish-speaking markets.

“The Latino community is hugely influential and we want to work with brands to tell stories that are relevant and real,” said Luna, who was recently cast in Star Wars: Rogue One.

Gloria’s upcoming projects include a feature-length branded documentary and it is currently in production on a six-part web series for Mexico’s largest department store chain.

Among the talent working with Gloria are Gravity co-writer Jonas Cuaron and Alonso Ruizpalacios, the award-winning director of Gueros.

As for Luna, has had a busy year so far. Along with being cast in Star Wars: Rogue One, he directed the Danny Glover–Maya Rudolph road movie Mr. Pig.

Ruizpalacios’ “Güeros” Wins the Main Competition Section at the Los Cabos International Film Festival

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Alonso Ruizpalacios continues his winning ways…

The Mexican director and screenwriter’s latest film Güeros won the main competition section at the third edition of the Los Cabos International Film Festival.

Güeros

Güeros, a road movie revolving around a trio of Mexican slackers, has found success on the festival circuit with wins in Berlin, Tribeca and most recently at Mexico’s Morelia festival.

In Los Cabos’ Mexico First section, the jury prize went to Arturo Gonzalez‘s Llevate Mis Amores, a portrait of Mexican women who provide food to U.S.-bound Central American migrants.

Special guests at the festival included Rosario Dawson (The Captive); Mexican directors Diego Luna (Chavez) and Guillermo Arriaga (The Burning Plain); and actors Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater, who were on hand for the closer Boyhood.

Among the deals announced in Los Cabos, director Mark Kassen (Puncture) will be helming Criminal Enterprise for Dummies. As for acquisitions, Cine Tren picked up Latin American distribution for Justin Benson‘s Spring and Germany’s Media Luna grabbed world rights to Internet Junkie.

The five-day event often turned political as actors and filmmakers used the stage to demand justice for the violent disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero.

Los Cabos ran from Nov. 12-16. The annual event brings together industry people from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.