25th Toulouse Latin American Film Festival

For 25 years Toulouse has been a distinct hub of Latin American cinema in France and in Europe. The region has a considerable Latin American diaspora community, and the city hosts many students who form the majority of the festival audience.

The 25th edition of Cinelatino had three competition sections: feature films (fourteen titles), documentaries (seven) and short films (eight), all from Latin American countries. In addition, cinema fans had the opportunity to enjoy a wide-ranging informational panorama through various sections (Otra Mirada, Fiction, [Re]voir, Court-metrage, Jeune Public, Tango, Documentaire).

The main theme of 2013 was Cinema and Politics, highlighting four main topics: Dictatorship and the Violence of the State, Migrations, Media and Power, and Globalization, with well-matched films screening in each category.

Cinelatino presented an appealing variety of films in its official selection across all competition sections. Most were brand-new films (nearly all were produced in 2012-2013, with only a few titles from 2011) having their French premieres.

The feature competition was dominated by five films from Chile; Brazil and Argentina had two films each; Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Uruguay, and Cuba/Venezuela each presented one film. A striking aspect of this section (which was the special focus of the FIPRESCI Jury) was the prevalence of a young wave of directors: out of the fourteen films, ten were debuts, and the remaining four were second or third features. These are very good films which have already gained international recognition, having been selected and awarded at important festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, San Sebastian, Locarno, Rotterdam and Havana. An outstanding “champion” among young directors is the Mexican Pablo Delgado Sanchez; The Tears (Las Lagrimas) was his graduation film from the Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica de Mexico. (Bojidar Manov)

Toulouse Latin American Film Festival: www.cinelatino.com.fr