Quemada-Diez’s “La jaula de oro” Wins Big at the Mumbai Film Festival

Diego Quemada-Diez’s first feature film continues earning acclaim around the world.

The Mexican writer/director’s La jaula de oro  won the Golden Gateway of India award in the international competition section for the best film from a debut director at the 15th Mumbai Film Festival.

La jaula de oro

The film, which centers on three teenagers trying to immigrate to the U.S. from Guatemala, was produced by Inna Payan, Luis Salinas and Edher Campos.

Salinas received the award from the international competition jury head, director Bruce Beresford.

It’s the latest award for Quemada-Diez’s film…

Earlier this month, the film won the Golden Eye for best film at the 9th Zurich International Film Festival. In all, La jaula de oro has earned more than a dozen international awards.

Meanwhile, this is the second year in a row that a Mexican film has won the top honor at the Mumbai Film Festival, after last year’s Aquí y alla (Here And There) — also revolving around immigration — by director Antonio Méndez Esparza triumphed.

Méndez Esparza’s “Aquí y Allá” Honored at the Mumbai Film Festival

The first time’s the charm for Antonio Méndez Esparza

The Spanish filmmaker has picked up two awards at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival for his critically acclaimed feature debut Aquí y Allá.

Antonio Mendez Esparza

The Mexican immigrant drama was named the best film by a first-time director in the international competition category. In earning the Golden Gateway of India award, the film was honored with and a cash prize of $ 100,000 collectively awarded to the producer, director & sales agent of the film.

In addition, Méndez Esparza picked up the Silver Gateway Award for best director for helming Aquí y Allá.

Aqui y Alla

The film, which will be screened in the AFI Fest 2012’s Young Americans and New Auteurs sections at this year’s festival, recently earned Méndez Esparza a Gotham Independent Film Awards nomination for Breakthrough Director.

The film, which took top honors at the Critics’ Week sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival, centers on Pedro, a Mexican man who returns home to a small mountain village in Guerrero, after years of working in the US.

Spain’s Blancanieves, a black-and-white silent drama based on Snow White and directed by Pablo Berger, screened as the festival’s closing film.

The Mumbai Film Festival is organized by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image.

Méndez Esparza Receives Gotham Independent Film Awards Nod

Antonio Méndez Esparza is having a notable year…

Antonio Méndez Esparza

The 26-year-old Spanish filmmaker has earned a Gotham Independent Film Awards nomination in the Breakthrough Director category.

Méndez Esparza was recognized for his exceptional work on his debut feature film Aquí y Allá (Here and There).

Aquí y Allá

The film, which took top honors at the Critics’ Week sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival, centers on Pedro, a Mexican man who returns home to a small mountain village in Guerrero, after years of working in the US. He finds his daughters older, and more distant than he imagined, while his wife still has the same smile. Having saved money from two trips to the U.S., he hopes to now finally make a better life with his family, and even to pursue his own dreams on the side by starting a band: the Copa Kings.

Meanwhile, Parks and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza has been recognized for her work on the feature film Safety Not Guaranteed, a film that centers on three magazine employees who head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel.

The 28-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/comedian and her co-stars in the film – Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni, Jenica Bergere, Kristen Bell, Jeff Garlin and Mary Lynn Rajskub – received a nod in the Best Ensemble Performance category.

The Gotham Independent Film Awards are handed out by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers.

The awards signal the kick-off to Hollywood’s awards season. In all, Gotham Independent Film Award nominations were given to a total of 26 films across six competitive categories: Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.

The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 26th in Manhattan. In addition to the competitive awards, actors Marion Cotillard and Matt Damon, director David O. Russell, and Participant Media founder Jeff Skoll will each be presented with a career tribute.

Here’s a look at the categories with Latinos being recognized:

Best Ensemble Performance

– Bernie, Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey (Millennium Entertainment)
– Moonrise Kingdom, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban (Focus Features)
– Safety Not Guaranteed, Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni, Jenica Bergere, Kristen Bell, Jeff Garlin, Mary Lynn Rajskub (Film District)
– Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher (The Weinstein Company)
– Your Sister’s Sister, Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt, Mark Duplass (IFC Films)

Breakthrough Director

– Zal Batmanglij for Sound of My Voice (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
– Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky for Francine (Factory 25 and The Film Sales Company)
– Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin for Now, Forager (Argot Pictures)
– Antonio Méndez Esparza for Aquí y Allá (Here and There) (Torch Films)
– Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures)