Coming-of-age drama Vainilla, directed by actress-turned-director Mayra Hermosillo, was the standout winner of Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte showcase on Friday (December 6).
The film received multiple accolades, including the Cine + Festival Award, Sofía Films Award, NMF / Color Front Award, and Apclai - Festival De Trieste Award, all designed to support final stages of post-production.
Set in the late 1980s, Vainilla presents a poignant family portrait through the eyes of eight-year-old Roberta. The story revolves around a household of seven women from different generations and ideologies fighting to save their home, which is on the brink of foreclosure. Stacy Perskie’s Redrum (Pedro Páramo, Bardo) served as producer.
In the Copia Final section, Álvaro Olmos Torrico’s The Condor Daughter also claimed three major awards: Apclai – Festival De Trieste, Ciné + Festival, and Titrafilm. A co-production between Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay, the film follows Clara, a young Quechua midwife whose gift of alleviating pain through her singing voice is seen as a blessing by her mountain community. However, Clara defies expectations when she flees to the city to pursue her dream of becoming a singer.
In the genre arena, vampire thriller Love Kills from Brazil’s Filmland Internacional and directed by Luiza Shelling Tubaldini won the La Mayor Cine award. Besides that, it was all Mexico.
Carlos Matienzo Serment’s debut feature horror-thriller Tekenchu, about a 1960s detective investigating child murders, won the Chemistry and La Haye Media awards. Jorge Yair Leyva Robles’ horror-action Sunward, Damiana Acuña Terminel’s fantasy drama Lux Noctis, and Joseph Díaz’s horror drama Triangle also earned prizes.
In the Animation! section, top honours were awarded to Baptism, a surreal stop-motion drama directed by Oscar-nominated animator Hugo Covarrubias (2022’s Bestia). The film is produced by Lucas Engel, a Berlinale Talents alumnus and founder of Pista B, known for works like The Bones by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, which won the Orizzonti Award at Venice 2021.
A second Animation! award, the MIFA/Annecy Award, went to Hua Awakens, a CGI adventure fantasy directed by Daniel Chang Acat and co-produced by Peruvian Bicicleta Casa Audiovisual and US-based Casa Duhamel. The film portrays the lives of the Chinese-Latin American community experience in Latin America.
In the television series category, the main awards were claimed by Superchance, directed by Juan Gallo and produced by Cine HHH (Uruguay) and Osa Estudio (Argentina), and Pipa e Caracol, a Brazilian production by Alex Ribondi and Ricardo Makoto from Mesinha Amarela.
The awards ceremony took place at Teatro Solís in Montevideo, rounding out the market’s first iteration in Uruguay.
2024 Ventana Sur Award winners
Primer Corte
Cine + Festival
Vainilla (Mex)
Titrafilm Award
In All My Journeys I Am Returning
Le Film Français Award
Antitropical (Chil)
Sofía Films Award
Vainilla (Mex)
NMF / Color Front Award
Vainilla (Mex)
La Mayor Cine
Antitropical (Chil)
Apclai - Festival De Trieste
Vainilla (Mex)
WIP Projeto Paradiso
The Nature of Invisible Things (Bra-Chil)
Copia Final
Ciné + Festival
The Condor Daughter (Bol-Per-Uru)
Titrafilm
The Condor Daughter (Bol-Per-Uru)
Le Film Français / Cannes Market Film News
Eva (Col)
Apclai - Festival De Trieste
The Condor Daughter (Bol-Per-Uru)
CAACI - EFADS Dale Award
Criminal Body (Bol-Arg)
Blood Window Screenings
La Mayor Cine
Love Kills (Bra)
Chemistry
Tekenchu (Mex)
La Haye Media
Tekenchu (Mex)
Sanfic Mórbido Lab
Sunward (Mex)
Blood Window Lab
Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia
Lux Noctis (Mex)
Bifan/NAFF Award Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Triangle (Mex)
Terror Molins Film Festival Horror Talent
Lux Noctis (Mex)
FantasoLab
Lux Noctis (Mex)
BIF Market y AltaTensión Films
Lux Noctis (Mex)
EGEDA - Platino Next Gen
Lux Noctis (Mex)
Animation!
MIFA/Annecy Awards
Features
Baptism (Chil)
Hua Awakens (Per)
Casa Duhamel (US)
TV series
Superchance (Uru)
Osa Estudio (Arg)
Pipa e Caracol (Bra)
Special mention - MIFA Annecy
Feature
The Factory Beyond The Hill (Bra)
Noon Films (Sp)
TV series
Married With Celu (Arg)
La Liga Award
Married With Celu (Arg)
Pixelatl Award
Penelope’s Unusual Journey (Bra)
Ibero-American Quirino Awards
Dani’s Fiction Rules (Chil)
Baptism (Chil)
Proyecta Awards
San Sebastian Festival Award
I Thought I Was Swimming (Uru)
Grass (Arg)
Sørfond Award
Duván Duque
Eave Slate
Grass (Arg)
Sideral Cinema Award
Tropical Malaise (Col).
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