Four features under his belt (2004’s Malachance, 2006’s Drama/Mex, 2008’s I’m Gonna Explode and 2011’s Miss Bala) and Gerardo Naranjo‘s only history with the Sundance film festival is as a jury member. That might change come next January. One that I consider the odd man out among filmmakers from the Mexican film renaissance that commenced back with Iñárritu’s Amores Perros, from lovers on the run, beauty queens on the move and young adults hitting the road, there is a lot of chaotic displacement in his films. Since his sophomore feature, his films are high value festival items and since this is a U.S. shot project, Viena and the Fantomes could very much land a coveted Premieres category showing to make bidders. Naranjo’s Un Certain Regard section selected thriller Miss Bala seriously made the rounds, so this eighties punk era set film has a certain...
- 11/26/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Scott Frank, who is best known for writing movies like Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Minority Report, has apparently been working on a new draft of The Mountain Between Usfor Chernin Entertainment. The film, which has Michael Fassbender in talks to star, is about a doctor and a woman who survive a plane crash in Colorado, work to survive the harsh weather, and eventually fall in love. The story is based on the novel by Charles Martin and the first draft was scripted by J. Mills Goodloe, who wrote the 2007 Sunu Gonera movie Pride. Variety says that Gerardo Naranjo will direct the film, making it the filmmaker's English-language debut. Narrajo made his first feature film in 2004, a Mexican-set drama called Malachance, and just last year he directed the thriller Miss Bala. While I wasn't a big fan of the movie, it was premiered at both the Cannes Film Festival...
- 8/10/2012
- cinemablend.com
Last week we featured some of Mexico’s young filmmakers who have emerged as part of a recent revival in Mexican cinema. These new directors have pushed out the old guard and persevere in difficult situations, using public funding and micro-budgets to create films which take aim at Mexico’s social ills, broach difficult subjects, and take stylistic risks. These original and innovative artists are carving out a space for Mexican films in the international art house market. Here we continue to highlight even more directors from Generation Mex.
Gerardo Naranjo
Probably the most buzzed about Mexican director of late, Naranjo’s fourth feature Miss Bala (Isa:tcf) premiered at Cannes, went on to play festivals in Toronto and Los Angeles and was selected as Mexico’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Loosely inspired by real events it tells the story of Laura, a young woman who aspires to compete in the Miss Baja beauty pageant. Instead she finds herself amidst narcos as an unwilling participant in Mexico’s drug war. Using long takes and very few cuts Naranjo accomplishes the difficult, a melancholy thriller and pensive allegory punctuated by intense moments of violent but often quiet action. 20th Century Fox released the film in limited theaters late last year. In his previous films Voy a explotar (I’m Gonna Explode) (Isa:Elle Driver), Drama/Mex, and Malachance he experimented stylistically but they all reflect his signature, emotionally resonant and sensitive depictions of characters on the edge.
Yulene Olaizola
Having only recently graduated from the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (Ccc), one of the two major film schools in Mexico, she has already directed three feature-length films. Her thesis project, the award-winning documentary Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo (Intimacies of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo) (Isa:Interior13 Cine) traces her grandmother Rosa's friendship with Jorge Riosse, her young, troubled tenant. Paraísos Artificiales (Artificial Paradises) (Isa: Interior13 Cine), named after an anthology by the 19th century French poet Baudelaire, was her impressive fiction debut. It’s dreamy, serene, and breathtaking landscapes of the lush seaside hills of Veracruz, Mexico provide the backdrop, as a young woman addicted to heroin tries to free herself from the compulsive need for a fix while staying at a beach resort. Her newest film Fogo is days away from its world premiere at The Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. In a departure from her previous projects, she chose to make a film in English focusing on the deterioration of a small community in Fogo Island, located off the coast Canada.
Pedro González-Rubio
In an effort to create an intimate environment for his second film Alamar (Isa: MK2 Diffusion), he wrote, directed, shot and edited the picture himself. Set in a small house on stilts that sits above the crystal-clear blue waters of the Yucatan Peninsula, it explores the bond between a father and son as they share a fishing trip together. When asked whether Alamar is a documentary or fiction at a festival screening he defiantly answered, “It’s a film.” Having invented parts of the story but documenting real events, he seamlessly blends reality and fiction in a picturesque and introspective cinematic meditation that at times almost becomes a photographic essay. Film Movement acquired the theatrical and DVD rights in North America. His directorial debut, Toro Negro, an unflinching look at an alcoholic bullfighter, won prizes at Havana, San Sebastian and Morelia Film Festivals.
Fernando Eimbcke
He had film festivals, critics and distributors clamoring for his attention after his black-and-white directorial debut, Temporada de Patos (Duck Season) (Isa: Traction Media) premiered at Cannes in 2004. It won prizes at AFI Fest and Guadalajara Film Festival and later several Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars.) The comedy-drama about two teenage boys who must entertain themselves after a power outage went on to play more than 70 festivals and was sold in more than 30 countries. He followed up this smashing success with Lake Tahoe, a minimalist quiet film in which teenaged Juan crashes his family's car into a pole and then scours the streets searching for someone to help him fix it. Eimbcke studied film in Mexico City at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (Cuec).
Gerardo Naranjo
Probably the most buzzed about Mexican director of late, Naranjo’s fourth feature Miss Bala (Isa:tcf) premiered at Cannes, went on to play festivals in Toronto and Los Angeles and was selected as Mexico’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Loosely inspired by real events it tells the story of Laura, a young woman who aspires to compete in the Miss Baja beauty pageant. Instead she finds herself amidst narcos as an unwilling participant in Mexico’s drug war. Using long takes and very few cuts Naranjo accomplishes the difficult, a melancholy thriller and pensive allegory punctuated by intense moments of violent but often quiet action. 20th Century Fox released the film in limited theaters late last year. In his previous films Voy a explotar (I’m Gonna Explode) (Isa:Elle Driver), Drama/Mex, and Malachance he experimented stylistically but they all reflect his signature, emotionally resonant and sensitive depictions of characters on the edge.
Yulene Olaizola
Having only recently graduated from the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (Ccc), one of the two major film schools in Mexico, she has already directed three feature-length films. Her thesis project, the award-winning documentary Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo (Intimacies of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo) (Isa:Interior13 Cine) traces her grandmother Rosa's friendship with Jorge Riosse, her young, troubled tenant. Paraísos Artificiales (Artificial Paradises) (Isa: Interior13 Cine), named after an anthology by the 19th century French poet Baudelaire, was her impressive fiction debut. It’s dreamy, serene, and breathtaking landscapes of the lush seaside hills of Veracruz, Mexico provide the backdrop, as a young woman addicted to heroin tries to free herself from the compulsive need for a fix while staying at a beach resort. Her newest film Fogo is days away from its world premiere at The Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. In a departure from her previous projects, she chose to make a film in English focusing on the deterioration of a small community in Fogo Island, located off the coast Canada.
Pedro González-Rubio
In an effort to create an intimate environment for his second film Alamar (Isa: MK2 Diffusion), he wrote, directed, shot and edited the picture himself. Set in a small house on stilts that sits above the crystal-clear blue waters of the Yucatan Peninsula, it explores the bond between a father and son as they share a fishing trip together. When asked whether Alamar is a documentary or fiction at a festival screening he defiantly answered, “It’s a film.” Having invented parts of the story but documenting real events, he seamlessly blends reality and fiction in a picturesque and introspective cinematic meditation that at times almost becomes a photographic essay. Film Movement acquired the theatrical and DVD rights in North America. His directorial debut, Toro Negro, an unflinching look at an alcoholic bullfighter, won prizes at Havana, San Sebastian and Morelia Film Festivals.
Fernando Eimbcke
He had film festivals, critics and distributors clamoring for his attention after his black-and-white directorial debut, Temporada de Patos (Duck Season) (Isa: Traction Media) premiered at Cannes in 2004. It won prizes at AFI Fest and Guadalajara Film Festival and later several Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars.) The comedy-drama about two teenage boys who must entertain themselves after a power outage went on to play more than 70 festivals and was sold in more than 30 countries. He followed up this smashing success with Lake Tahoe, a minimalist quiet film in which teenaged Juan crashes his family's car into a pole and then scours the streets searching for someone to help him fix it. Eimbcke studied film in Mexico City at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (Cuec).
- 5/16/2012
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
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