Twelve stories set in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil make up Horizontes Latinos, a selection of the year’s feature films, not yet released in Spain, from among all those totally or partially produced in Latin America, directed by moviemakers of Latino origin, or which are set against the backdrop or subject of Latino communities in the rest of the world. In the selection of titles competing for the Horizontes Award at San Sebastian’s 71st edition are two films to have carried off awards at the last WIP Latam –El castillo / The Castle and Estranho caminho / A Strange Path– and at the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum –Alemania–.
Having shown one of her previous movies in Horizontes Latinos, Los sonámbulos / The Sleepwalkers (2019), Paula Hernández (Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1969) returns to the section she will open with El viento que arrasa / A Ravaging Wind, a cinematic adaptation of Selva Almada’s homonymous novel. Alfredo Castro, Sergi López, Almudena González and Joaquín Acebo star in this tale of a preacher and his daughter who’s car breaks down during their latest mission to spread the gospel.
A year after participating in this section with Carvão / Charcoal (Carbón, 2022), Carolina Markowicz (São Paulo, Brazil. 1982) returns with her second feature film, Pedágio / Toll, which will close the section. The protagonist, a highway toll worker, is desperate because her son is gay and would do anything to change his condition.
Debutant María Zanetti (Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1980) will show Alemania, winner of the ArteKino International Award at the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum in 2021. In this first movie, the director focuses on the character of a teen whose family life is racked by her sister’s mental disorder.
Actress Dolores Fonzi (Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1978) –El aura / The Aura, Truman, La cordillera / The Summit and Distancia de rescate / Fever Dream– debuts as a director with Blondi, a tale of the special relationship between a mother and her son starring Fonzi herself alongside Carla Peterson, Rita Cortese, Toto Rovito and Leonardo Sbaraglia. Premiered in the Official Competition of the BAFICI Festival, the film won the Best Performance Award to the Cast for the entire line-up and the Award for Best Argentinian Director from among all Official Competitions (Género DAC Award).
Similarly debuting behind the camera is the writer and actress Camila Fabbri (Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1989), who in the feature film Clara se pierde en el bosque / Clara Gets Lost in the Woods portrays a woman confronted with a traumatic occurrence from her past. Fabbri has written and directed plays and has published her literary work in several languages. She was also nominated for the Silver Cóndor New Actress Award for her performance in Dos disparos / Two Shots Fired (Martín Rejtman, Horizontes Latinos, 2019).
With experience in the field of documentary films, Martín Benchimol (Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1985) will show his first solo-helmed feature, El castillo / The Castle, winner of last year’s WIP Latam Industry Award and the Egeda Platino Industry Award for Best WIP Latam. Premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin Festival, the film tells the story of Justina, a housekeeper who inherits an enormous mansion.
Also returning to Horizontes Latinos is Tatiana Huezo (San Salvador, El Salvador. 1972), who was included in the retrospective 4+1: Contemporary Mexican Cinema with El lugar más pequeño / The Tiniest Place (2011) and later won the Horizontes Award with Noche de fuego / Prayers for the Stolen (2021). El eco / The Echo, which documents life in a remote village in northern Mexico, carried off the Berlinale’s Best Documentary Award and the Best Director Award in the Encounters section.
Having participated in festivals such as BAFICI and Rotterdam with his previous works, Guto Parente (Fortaleza, Brasil. 1983) will now visit San Sebastian with his tenth feature film, winner of the Projeto Paradiso First Prize in the WIP Latam section. Estranho caminho / A Strange Path, following a filmmaker who reconnects with his father during the forced lockdown of the pandemic, was applauded in the international competition at Tribeca Festival with four awards: Best Film, Best Acting, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
David Zonana (Mexico City, 1989), who competed in the Festival’s Official Selection with his debut, Mano de obra / Workforce (2019), will show in Horizontes Latinos his second work, Heroico / Heroic, previously screened at Sundance and in the Berlinale’s Panorama section. Zonana will return to San Sebastian with this anti-war argument starring a young boy who enrols in a military academy in the quest for a better future.
Felipe Gálvez (Santiago de Chile, 1983) will show a film of western airs which participated in Un Certain Regard at the last Festival de Cannes. Entitled Los colonos / The Settlers and set in the early 20th century, this debut movie turns the spotlight on the genocide of native peoples in Chilean Patagonia.
Director Lucía Puenzo (Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1976), who has competed in festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Tribeca, formerly participated in Horizontes Latinos with El médico alemán-Wakolda (2013). Her fifth feature film, Los impactados, follows the steps of a woman, played by Mariana Di Girolamo, affected by physical and psychological changes after being struck by lightening during a storm.
With her debut, La camarista / The Chambermaid (2018), Lila Avilés (Mexico City, 1982) screened in New Directors and was selected to represent her country at the Oscars and the Goyas. Two years after having been a member of the Horizontes Award jury, the moviemaker will show in this section her second work, Tótem / Totem, which competed at the last Berlinale and whose lead character is a 7-year-old girl who looks on as her family foundations crumble.
All of the films in the Horizontes Latinos section compete for the Horizontes Award, coming with 35,000 euros for the director of the film and its distributor in Spain. The Horizontes Award Jury has the task of assessing and awarding prizes to these titles. Films in the Horizontes Latinos section which are the first or second works by their director (in this case, Alemania, Blondi, Clara se pierde en el bosque, Heroico, Los colonos, Pedágio and Tótem) also compete for the TCM Youth Award, decided by a jury of 150 students aged between 18 and 15 years.