Nicolás Pereda’s Narco Culture-Themed Film “Fauna” to Premiere at This Year’s Reimagined Toronto Film Festival

Nicolás Pereda is bringing the faunato this year’s reimagined Toronto Film Festival.

The 38-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s latest film Fauna will be among the film’s screened at the festival, which is North America’s largest festival.

Nicolás Pereda

The film is an exploration of the impact of “narco” culture on Mexican society.

It’ll be Fauna’s official global premiere. An excerpt from the film was screened as part of the “Works in Progress” section of the Los Cabos International Film Festival in 2019,and won the Cinecolor Mexico Award.

This year’s edition will run from September 10–19. As expected, the festival will look different due to the coronavirus.

Organizers say the 45th TIFF will be “tailored to fit the moment,” with a combination of physical screenings and drive-ins, digital screenings, virtual red carpets, press conferences and industry talks. 

There’ll be considerably fewer movies — a selection comprising 50 new features — and the festival isn’t expecting large numbers of international press or industry to attend in person.

In addition to Pereda’s Fauna, this year’s strong crop of early movies confirmed to screen at the festival are the Kate Winslet-starrer AmmoniteThomas Vinterberg’s Another RoundConcrete Cowboy with Idris ElbaGood Joe Bell starring Mark WahlbergSuzanne Lindon’s Spring BlossomTrue Mothers by Naomi Kawase and Halle Berry’s directorial debut BruisedMore titles will be announced over the summer.

The movies will play over the event’s first five days as physical, socially distanced screenings. There will also be five programs of short films, interactive talks, film cast reunions, and Q&As with cast and filmmakers.

However, the festival has acknowledged that its plans for an in-person festival will be contingent on the local government’s “reopening framework to ensure that festival venues and workplaces practice, meet and exceed public health guidelines.” Large gatherings still aren’t permitted in Toronto.

TIFF temporarily closed its year-round offices and cinemas at TIFF Bell Lightbox in March due to the pandemic. The organization is now taking steps to prepare for reopening and working with medical advisors and public health officials to ensure safe conditions.

Meanwhile, TIFF is launching a bespoke digital platform for the festival. The organization has partnered with Shift72 on the platform, which will host digital screenings, talks and special events.

The Industry Conference will be online-only this year, with screenings for press and industry taking place on the digital platform only. The fest says there will be “advanced security and anti-piracy measures, access to buyers, and opportunities for networking.”

For 2020, TIFF says it will welcome 50 filmmakers and actors as TIFF Ambassadors to help the festival deliver its program. They will include Ava DuVernayTaika Waititi, Anurag KashyapNicole KidmanMartin ScorseseNadine LabakiAlfonso CuarónTantoo CardinalRiz Ahmed, Isabelle HuppertClaire DenisAtom EgoyanPriyanka Chopra, Viggo MortensenZhang ZiyiDavid OyelowoLulu Wang, Rosamund PikeSarah Gadon and Denis Villeneuve.

TIFF will also present its annual TIFF Tribute Awards, acknowledging and celebrating outstanding contributors to the film industry. 

Now in its third year, TIFF’s Media Inclusion Initiative will continue to accredit eligible black, indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+ and female emerging film critics. New this year, TIFF is also offering companies and individuals the opportunity to gift industry access to 250 underrepresented emerging filmmakers from around the world.

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallegos’ “Birds of Passage” Wins Audience Award at Los Cabos International Film Festival

The people have spoken, and they’re all about Ciro Guerra’s latest project.

The awards have been handed out at the Los Cabos International Film Festival, with the 37-year-old Colombian film director’s Birds of Passage, co-directed by Cristina Gallegos, taking home the Cinemex Audience Award.

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego

Meanwhile, Andrés Kaiser proved to be the night’s big winner, taking home three prizes for the Mexican filmmaker’s thriller/mockumentary sweeping the Mexico Primero categories.

The black-and-white film, set somewhere in Mexico’s Oaxacan mountains, won the Cinemex Prize, the Premio FIPRESCI and the Art Kingdom Award.

The film, selected as Colombia’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film race at the 91st Academy Awards, chronicles the early days of illegal drug trading in Colombia.

The crafted 1970s tribal mobster epic depicts how a Wayuu family is torn apart by Colombia’s early drug trade.

Here’s a look at all the prize winners

LOS CABOS COMPETITION
“Genesis,” (Philippe Lesage, France)

LOS CABOS COMPETITION SPECIAL MENTION
“We the Animals,” (Jeremiah Zagar, U.S.)

CINEMEX AUDIENCE AWARD
“Birds of Passage,” (Cristina Gallegos, Ciro Guerra, Mexico, Colombia)

MEXICO PRIMERO

CINEMEX PRIZE
“Feral,” (Andrés Kaiser, Mexico)

PREMIO FIPRESCI
“Feral,” (Andrés Kaiser, Mexico)

ART KINGDOM AWARD
“Feral,” (Andrés Kaiser, Mexico)

GABRIEL FIGUEROA FILM FUND AWARDS

WORK IN PROGRESS
“Labor,” (David Zonana)

CHEMISTRY AWARD
“Labor,” (David Zonana)

CINECOLOR MEXICO AWARD
“I’m No Longer Here,” (Fernando Frias)

FILM IN DEVELOPMENT AWARD
“Neza,” (Julio Hernández Cordón)

CTT EXP & RENTALS AWARD
“Estado del imperio,” (Amat Escalante)

CTT EXP & RENTALS + CHEMISTRY AWARD
“The Hole in the Fence,” (Joaquín del Paso)

TALENT ON THE ROAD /WORLD TALENT HOUSE AWARD
“Viaje al país de los Tarahumaras,” (Federico Cecchetti)

BOBO AWARD
“The Devil’s Advocates”

PROMO TRAILER ART KINGDOM AWARD
“The Devil’s Advocates”

OUTSTANDING WORK IN CINEMA AWARD
Adam Driver

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam

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

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.