World Premiere of Daniel Burman's First Documentary at the NY Jewish Film Fest

The New York Jewish Film Festival, organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Jewish Museum, has announced the lineup for its 20th edition which includes the World Premiere of Los 36 justos / 36 Righteous Men, the first documentary feature film by Argentine filmmaker Daniel Burman (Lost Embrace; Empty Nest). The film follows a group of Orthodox Jews on an annual pilgrimage visiting tombs in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. It was also announced that the Mexican-Argentinean film Te extraño / I Miss You by Fabián Hofman has been also selected for the festival which runs January 12th through the 27th at the Walter Reade Theater in the Lincoln Center campus.

Screening of EN EL BALCÓN VACÍO at the Walter Reade Theater

The 1961 Mexican film En el balcón vacío / At the Empty Balcony by director Jomí García Ascot, and based on a short shorty by María Luisa Elío, was screened yesterday at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater as part of their annual 'Spanish Cinema Now' showcase. The film was introduced by the filmmakers son, Diego García Elío, who also offered a Q&A session moderated by Richard Peña, Program Director at the Film Society.

The film tells the story of Gabriela, a woman wrenched from her native Spain during the Civil War that revisits in memory her convoluted childhood in exile. The low budget experimental film was made with a cast of non professional actors including María Luisa García Elío herself and some renowned writers such as Juan García Ponce, Álvaro Custodio, Salvador Elizondo and José de la Colina, among others. During the Q&A, García Elío mentioned that the film never received a theatrical release, and that in an act of life imitating art, her mother was able to return for the first time to her native country years later, and that it was very similar instance as the film had depicted 25 years earlier.

BIUTIFUL Earns Nomination for the Golden Globe Awards

Alejandro González Iñárritu's film Biutiful starring Javier Bardem earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Awards in the Best Foreign Film category. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced this morning the nominations for the annual awards that will take place on January 16 in Beverly Hills, California. González Iñárritu's film which is also Mexico's submission to the Academy Awards will have a U.S. release starting December 29th. Competing against Biutiful in the Golden Globes are the films I am Love (Italy), The Edge (Russia), The Concert (France) and In a Better World (Denmark).

A USEFUL LIFE; ALAMAR and SINS OF MY FATHER, Winners at the Havana Film Festival

The Havana Film Festival announced the winners of its 32nd edition which came to a close today. The winner of the prize for Best Film was the Uruguayan film A Useful Life / La vida útil (pictured) by Federico Veijoj, whilst Mexican film Alamar by Pedro González Rubio took the prize as Best First Film. Nicolás Entel's film Sins of My Father / Pecados de mi padre was awarded the prize for Best Documentary of the festival. This year's edition of the festival took place from December 2nd through the 12th, it opened with Che, un hombre nuevo by Tristán Bauer and closed with the local premiere of Flamenco Flamenco by Carlos Saura.

Natalia Almada Receives the United States Artists Fellowship

The national grant-making and advocacy organization Unites States Artists (USA) announced today the winners of their USA Fellowships 2010 in its fifth edition. Filmmaker Natalia Almada, director of the award-winning films Al Otro Lado and El General (2009 Sundance Documentary Directing Award) was selected as one of this year's fellows among other 52 outstanding artists in different fields such as architecture, dance, literature, film and media, music, theater and visual arts. The fellowship consists of an unrestricted grants of $50,000 for each of the artists.

Films by Diego Lerman, Sergio Bianchi and Federico Veiroj Selected for Global Lens 2011

The Global Film Initiative, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization, specializing in the support of independent film from Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, announced today the line up for the 2011 edition of their 'Global Lens' series. In total nine films were selected for next year's roster which includes the Argentinean film The Invisible Eye / La mirada invisible by Diego Lerman; Brazilian film by Sergio Bianchi and Federico Veiroj. On its eight year, 'Global Lens' will premiere January 13-28 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to then travel to over 35 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Additionally the films will also be available on Virgin America airlines.

A Chilean and a Mexican Film Selected for Slamdance

The Slamdance Film Festival which will be celebrating its 17th edition from January 21-27 at Park City, Utah, announced today its official selection for its fiction and documentary competition. Amongst the selected features in the Narrative Competition are two Latin American films: Atrocious by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Barreda and Drama (pictured) by Chilean filmmaker Matías Lira.

Mexican Artist Francis Alÿs to Sundance

The Sundance Film Festival announced today the 2011 short film lineup for its upcoming festival which includes Tornado (pictured) by Belgian-born Mexican artist Francis Alÿs, a direct video register of tornadoes in the Mexican countryside over ten years. Alÿs' work was selected for the New Frontier Shorts program,  which is dedicated to the "celebration of innovation in filmmaking." Other Latin American shorts selected for the festival in the International Narrative Shorts section are the Chilean film BLOKES by Marialy Rivas; the Brazilian/French co-production Cinderela by Magali Magistry, whilst the Brazilian film Storm by Cesar Cabral has been included in the International Animation Short section.

PRESUMED GUILTY and WASTE LAND Winners of the 2010 IDA Award

Last night in a ceremony hosted by documentarian Morgan Spurlock at the Directors Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, California, five documentary films were presented with the the 2010 IDA (International Documentary Association) Documentary Award. Mexican film Presumed Guilty / Presunto culpable (pictured) by Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith was presented the Humanitas Award in a tie with Laura Poitras' The Oath, whilst Brazilian/British co-production Waste Land, directed by Lucy Walker, won the Pare Lorenz Award.

ELITE SQUAD 2 and OLD CATS Also Headed to Sundance

The Sundance Film Festival unveiled today additional titles for some sidebar programs of its 2011 edition. It was announced that Brazilian film Elite Squad 2 (pictured) by director José Padilha (who directed the documentary film Bus 174, named one of the 10 Best Latin American Films of the Decade by Cinema Tropical's poll), as well as the Chilean film Old Cats / Gatos viejos co-directed by Pedro Peirano and Sebastián Silva will be featured in the Spotlight section. Additionally, it was announced that Pamela Yates film Granito about Guatemala will be screened in the Documentary Premieres section whilst Cedar Rapids by Latino filmmaker Miguel Arteta will be featured in the Dramatic Premieres section of the festival.

Films from Mexico, Colombia and Cuba Headed to Sundance 2011

The Sundance Film Festival announced today the competition lineup for its 2011 edition that will take place January 20-30 in Park City, Utah. In total three films from Latin America were selected for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section. The selected films are: Iria Gómez's Asalto al cine / The Cinema Hold Up from Mexico (pictured); Carlos Moreno's Todos tus muertos / All Your Dead Ones from Colombia; and Gerardo Chijona's Ticket to Paradise / Boleto al Paraíso from Cuba. No Latin American films were selected in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.