Los Cabos International Film Festival

Los Cabos International Film Festival held its Award Ceremony, where Ewan McGregor received The Protagonist Award: Excellence in Acting and Steve Jobs had its Mexican Premiere as the Closing Gala Screening

 
Los Cabos International Film Festival presented its Closing Ceremony awarding prizes to the winner films of the two Official Selection competitions –México Primero and Competencia Los Cabos– and the ones participating in the Industry platforms –Cabos in Progress and Cabos Discovery–. In addition, The Protagonist Award: Excellence in Acting was received by Ewan McGregor, and Steve Jobs had its Mexican Premiere as the Closing Gala Screening.
 

The ceremony was presided by Los Cabos Arte y Cultura President, Alfonso Pasquel Bárcenas; Los Cabos Tourism Board Director, Rubén Reachi Lugo; State Tourism deputy of Los Cabos, Pablo Armenta Gutiérrez, and Mexican Film Institute Director, Jorge Sánchez Sosa.
 

 
This year, the Festival distributed more than USD 480,000 in prizes. The award ceremony started with parallel prizes awarded by Industry allies to projects in development stage and films in post-production stage.
 
 
PARALLEL PRIZES
 
The MXN 1,256,000 Cabos Discovery CTT EXP & Rentals Award –equivalent to four weeks of filming equipment– was presented by CTT Exp & Rentals representative, Jacqueline Hernández, to Paulina del Paso for her film A flor de piel (Skin Deep).
 
The Cabos in Progress Chemistry Award was presented by Chemistry Director Andrés Martínez to Sebastián Hiriart for Carroña (Carrion), a prize worth USD 45,000 in color-correction services.
 
The  Cabos in Progress FOX+ Award was presented by FOX+ representative Nayeli García to the omnibus film La habitación (The bedroom) directed by Carlos Carrera, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Carlos Bolado, Ernesto Contreras, Alfonso Pineda Ulloa, Alejandro Valle, Iván Ávila Dueñas and Natalia Beristáin. This is a cash prize worth USD 30,000 for the rights to broadcast the film in Latin America.
 
In addition, the Producers Network Badge Award was given to Mayra Espinosa, producer of the film Calla (Keep Quiet), presented in the Cabos Discovery platform.
 
Among the parallel prizes awarded to the Official Selection competing films, the México Primero Art Kingdom  Award was presented by Art Kingdom Director, Arturo González Alonso, to Jack Zagha for his film Almacenados (Warehoused). This is a prize worth USD 12,000 for the making of a trailer.
 
Closing this section, Nayeli García from FOX+ presented the  México Primero FOX+ Award worth USD 40,000 for the rights to broadcast Alejandra Márquez’ Semana Santa in Latin America.
 
 
INDUSTRY AWARDS
 
The Cabos Discovery Jury, formed by Cristian Conti, Anick Poirier and David Kaplan, chose Jessica Sanders’ Picking Cotton to receive the Cabos Discovery Award worth USD 8,000 given by the Festival.
 
The Cabos in Progress Jury, formed by Édouard Waintrop, Dennis Lim and Emilie Georges, chose Ricardo Silva’s El Fracaso to receive the USD 10,000 Cabos in Progress Award given by the Festival.
 
 
OFFICIAL SELECTION AWARDS
 
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), which is the international association of film critics and journalists, for the first time presented its Best Mexican Film Award at this fourth Los Cabos Film Festival’s edition.
 
The winner film was Te prometo anarquía (I Promise You Anarchy), directed by Julio Hernández Cordón. This prize was awarded by the FIPRESCI Jury, formed by Nachum Mochiach, Marietta Steinhart and Lucy Virgen
 
Likewise, the Jury of México Primero, formed by Berlinale's head of international relationships, Karin Hoffinger; one of Mexico's most celebrated film critics, Fernanda Solórzano, and MoMA's Chief Film Curator, Rajendra Roy, presented the USD 15,000 Cinemex Award for the Best Film to Julio Hernández Cordón for Te prometo anarquía (I Promise You Anarchy).

And the USD 15,000 Competencia Los Cabos Cinemex Award winner was Lenny Abrahamson’s Room. The Jury of Competencia Los Cabos was formed by Telluride Film Festival Director, Tom Luddy; ex-Variety Chief Film Critic and now Amazon Studios development and acquisitions executive, Scott Foundas, and Argentinean producer and filmmaker, Lucía Puenzo.
 
Closing this part of the ceremony, the Cinemex Audience Award worth USD 10,000 was also to Room, by Lenny Abrahamson, being the best rated film of the Official Selection competence by the spectators.
 
This prize was presented by Cinemex General Director, José Leonardo Martí, who said:
 
“It is very important to Cinemex to bring together all the social figures committed to work for the common good and to set out to break new ground, opening an inclusive film program, a useful industry platform and a space devoted to new talent. For the fourth year running, we are supporting Los Cabos International Film Festival as one of its sponsors and, for the first time, we have the opportunity to present three Cinemex Awards –Best Film of México Primero, Best Film of Competencia Los Cabos and the Cinemex Audience Award–, all of this allows us to strengthen our role as a trampoline to bold Mexican filmmakers who have the courage to play in the international arena.”
 
 

THE 2015 PROTAGONIST AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ACTING

 
After the award ceremony for the competing films, a special mention was presented, the 2015 Protagonist Award for Excellence in Acting to one of the best actors of his generation, Ewan McGregor.
 
Born in Scotia, McGregor has distinguished himself for choosing bold, strong characters, which made him a name and earned him the audience applause. Along his career, he has worked in the most varied film genres and styles: Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting; the Star Wars saga; the musical film Moulin Rouge; Roman Polanski’s Ghost Writer; Ron Howard’s Angels and Demons, along with Tom Hanks; the comedy I Love You Phillip Morris with Jim Carrey; Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream; Amelia with Hillary Swank and Richard Gere; Tim Burton’s Big Fish; Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down; Little Voice with Michael Cane, and the glam rock film Velvet Goldmine, directed by Todd Haynes, among many other successful roles that have earned him nominations, awards and critics recognition.
 
This award was presented by Rodrigo García, who has directed films such as Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Nine Lives, Albert Nobs, Mother and Child, and, of course, Last Days in the Desert, starring Ewan McGregor, which had a special screening in this fourth edition of the Festival.
 
 
CLOSING GALA
 
Crowning a Festival that has rewarded the best of Mexican, American and Canadian cinema, the Mexican Premiere of Steve Jobs, by Danny Boyle, was presented as the Closing Gala.