PRESUMED GUILTY Nabs Emmy Award

The Mexican documentary feature Presunto culpable / Presumed Guilty by Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith was awarded the News and Documentary Emmy as Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form in the 32nd annual edition of the awards ceremony that took place at Lincoln Center in New York. The film was nominated for three awards that are given by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

TOP CAT Becomes the Highest Grossing Mexican Debut Ever

The Mexican-Argentinean animated feature film Don Gato y su Padilla / Top Cat became the highest grossing Mexican debut at the box office, in its record breaking opening weekend. The film directed by Alberto Mar was released last Friday, September 16th with 492 prints nationwide, and went to earn over $40 million pesos (around $3 million USD) in the box office landing in the first place of the top ten.


Don Gato claimed the record breaking title over the 2002 release of The Crime of Father Amaro / El crimen del Padre Amaro by Carlos Carrera. The film, is based on the American cartoon created by the Hanna-Barbera team in 1961, and since it premiered in Latin America dubbed in Spanish, became an instant hit more than in the U.S.

Latin America Picks its Candidates for the Oscar

This week several Latin American countries selected their candidate films to represent each country in the Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th edition of the Oscars. It was announced that Gerardo Naranjo's Miss Bala (pictured) will represent Mexico, José Padilha's Tropa de elite 2: O Enemigo Agora é Outro / Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within will be competing for Brazil, Andres Wood's Violeta se fue a los Cielos for Chile. Additionally Daniel and Diego Vega's Octubre / October is Peru's selection; Colombia is sending Carlos César Arbelaez's The Colors of the Mountain / Los colores de la montaña; and Alejandro Bellame's The Rumbles of the Stones / Los rumores de las piedras the will compete for Venezuela. The 84th edition of the annual Academy Awards ceremony will take place on February 26th, 2012 at the Kodak Theater in L.A.

Guadalajara Film Fest Launches Satellite Showcase in LA

The Guadalajara Film Festival has announced the creation of a new and annual satellite program to take place in Los Angeles. The first edition, under the name of CIMEXLA, Mexican Cinema: Guadalajara International Film Festival in Los Angeles will take place September 8th through the 11th at the Egyptian Theater. The series will present seven feature films including the US Premiere of Paula Markovitch's El Premio (pictures), Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas' Jean Gentil, Patricia Martínez de Velasco's Aquí entre nos and Sergio Arau's Naco es chido. Additionally the lineup is completed with a program of short films and a panel on filmmakers working in Mexico and LA with the participation of actor Demián Bichir, director Roberto Sneider and producer Pablo Cruz. This showcase joins the Hola Mexico Film Festival as vehicles for the screening of recent Mexican film productions in LA.