MIFF Titles Rack Up Record Noms at Mexican Academy of Film Awards

Scoring an impressive 14 nominations each, two feature films from our 2014 Close-Up on Mexico lineup featured in Cinema 360° presented by Viendomovies program—Heli and La jaula de oro—tied for the most nominated films at the Ariel Awards, Mexico’s Academy of Film awards, presented by the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.

Amat Escalante’s Heli, is a dramatic tale where 12-year-old Estela falls for a young police cadet who wants to marry her, bringing unexpectedly shocking consequences upon her family; and Diego Quemda-Díez’s road movie drama, La jaula de oro, involving three Guatemalan teens who flee their homeland for a better life in the US, but must first escape the dangers of human traffickers in Mexico.

Scene from The Amazing Catfish; Scene from Club Sandwich

In the Best Picture category, four out of the five nominees were featured at MIFF 2014; in addition to Heli and La jaula de oro, Claudia Sainte-Luce’s The Amazing Catfish (Los insólitos peces gato) involving an ailing single mother of four, who brings misfit Claudia into her home for a “temporary“ stay, and Fernando Eimbcke’s Club Sandwich, a droll comedy of another single mother who must face her 15-year-old son’s inevitable departure from the nest when a girl his own age piques his interest.

Director Diego Quemada-Díez (La jaula de oro) at Regal South Beach; Director Fernando Eimbcke (Club Sandwich) at Paragon Grove

Diego Quemada-Díez and Fernando Eimbcke, both of whom were in attendance at MIFF this year, are also up for Best Director Ariels.

Also receiving multiple nominations in key craft categories were Sebastian Hofmann’s Halley and Rafa Lara’s Cinco de mayo: The Battle (Cinco de Mayo: La Batalla) both of which were featured at MIFF 2013, along with Gracia Querejeta’s 15 Years + 1 Day (15 años y 1 día) from Spain and Carlos Lechuga’s Melaza from Cuba, both of which which were nominated in the Iberoamericana Film of the Year category.

The 56th edition of the Ariel Awards, considered the most prestigious award in the Mexican motion picture industry, will take place in Mexico City on Monday, May 26th.  —Tatyana Chiocchetti

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