Brazilian animation projects “Matías” and “Utopia,” arthouse titles “The Devil’s Well,” “Madre Pajaro” and “Missing” and genre pics “I Need to Be Loved” and “The Braid” looked like some of the big winners at this year’s Ventana Sur.
Announcing industry prizes on Dec. 5 in Buenos Aires, the Latin American film market unveiled a veritable slew of awards, usually in kind, very often accreditation for other labs.
Directed by João Castro and produced by César Barbosa, “Matías” scored the coveted WBD + Mundoloco CGI | Launchpad Series prize, consisting in a six-month development deal from Warner Bros. Discovery and Argentina’s Mundoloco CGI.
Sofía Quiros’ coming of age “Awaiting Birds” and Jairo Boisier Olave’s corruption drama “The Devil’s Well” swept five and four prizes a piece in Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte, while “Missing,” from Mexican auteur Kenya Márquez, scored three plaudits in its sister work in progress program Copia Final.
A closer look at Ventana Sur’s biggest winners this year:
Primer Corte
“Awaiting Birds,” (“Madre pajaro,” Sofía Quiros, Argentina, Spain)
From the producing team behind 2019 Cannes Critics’ Week title “Land of Ashes,” led by Cecilia Salim of Murillo Cine and Mariana Murillo (Sputnik Films), this coming-of-age story that follows Oliver (8), who stays with his aunt Paloma (26) while his mother receives treatment in the capital. Supported by Ibermedia, El Fauno, Torino Film Lab and Berlinale Talents.
“The Devil’s Well,” (“Los pozos del diablo,” Jairo Boisier Olave, Chile)
The drama, produced by Cangrejo Films (Chile) with Caviar Films (Argentina), Paideia Filmes (Brazil) and Mat Productions (France), follows Judith, a 15-year-old who can find underground water, as she exposes a theft network linked to a powerful avocado farm—and possibly her father. Supported by Cinéfondation–Cannes, BAL-LAB Biarritz, and Proyecta Ventana Sur, it tells an urgent story of water scarcity and corruption,” says producer Diego Pino Anguita.
Copia Final
“Missing,” (“Se busca,” Kenya Márquez, Mexico)
Produced by Puerco Rosa Producciones and Rubicon Productions, led by helmer-scribe Kenya Márquez, Jacobo Nazar and Janeth Mora. René, a rebellious teenager, flees her suffocating parents on a 1,243-mile journey to Juárez, Mexico, uncovering personal revelations. The film explores “motherhood, love, and family bonds from a feminine perspective,” says Márquez.
Animation!
“Matias,” (João Castro, Kaplow, Brazil)
Matias, a painfully introverted 20-year-old, tries to survive adulthood between awkward job interviews, disastrous dates and social traps. Described by producer César Barbosaas “a sharp dialogue-driven comedy about the absurdity of modern life.” From the creative duo formed by directors-writers-producers César Barbosa and Castro, specializing in the development of animation projects and working out of the Rio-based Kaplow.
“Utopia,” (Rafhael Barbosa, Ursa Cinematográfica, Brazil )
Feature “Utopia”director Rafhael Barbosa’s follow-up to last-year’s well-received “Cavalo,”was the only other Animation! title to take two industry prizes at Ventana Sur. The first feature from Ursa Cinematográfica, based out of Alagoas, northeast Brazil, it turns on a slave rebellion tat takes young medium Dandalunda in search of Angola Janga, a utopian quilombo. A 2D epic adventure drama set in 1695 Brazil and turning around the “the longest-lasting and most organized refuge for enslaved Africans outside of Africa,” Barbosa has told Variety.
Proyecta
“The Other Voice,” (“La otra voz,” Agustina Pérez Rial; Argentina, Spain, France)
Invited to next year’s San Sebastiá Co-Production Forum, drawing from an unseen private archive, the film crafts an intimate portrait of Mercedes Sosa, Latin America’s legendary protest singer. Letters and photographs from her exile years reveal a woman caught between fame and displacement. Co-produced by Gaman Cine, Fiørd Studio and Lorolo and supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund.
“God’s Favorite Girl,” (Diego Ulloa Alvear; Spain, Mexico, Ecuador)
Just boarded by Mexico’s Woo Films, a satirical dramedy turns on a 16-year-old girl who invents Marian apparitions to cope with her parents’ divorce — only to trigger a nationwide religious frenzy. The dark comedy marks a further international step for Spain’s Funicular Films, the label behind acclaimed series “This Is Not Sweden.” Co-produced with Abaca Films in Ecuador, it won top honors at ESCAC Opera Prima Lab and Guadalajara’s BDC Award. “A satire about faith, fame and the absurdity of modern belief,” says producer Marta Baldó.
“False Positive,” (“Falso Positivo,” Theo Montoya; Colombia, France, Spain, Netherlands)
Winner of an invitation to the Premio Sørfond Pitching Forum.
Following the acclaimed “Anhell69,” Montoya delves into Colombia’s darkest chapter with a poetic reconstruction of the “false positives” killings. Produced by Desvío Visual with Parcelles, Amore and Baldr, the film blends memory, mourning and surrealism. “I don’t want to tell what we already know. I want the audience to feel what still hasn’t been understood,” Montoya says. Supported by the Cannes Film festival’s Cinéfondation residency program and the Hubert Bals Fund.
Fantastic!
“I Need to Be Loved,” (“Necesito Que Me Amen,” Julia Sofía Vega, Argentina)
From Sewati Audiovisual, “a raw, necessary, unsettling work,” it has said of “I Need to Be Loved,” which took three prizes at Ventana Sur’s Fantastic! Lab, including participation at Sitges’ 2026 FanPitch, besting other favorites such as Paul Urkijo’s “The Escape” from Spain and Tamae Garateguy’s“Match,” produced out of Brazil, and a double winner in Buenos Aires.
“The Braid,” (“La Trenza,” Gonzalo Calzada, Argentina)
A child lives as a prisoner tied by a braid to his twin sister, who died at birth. Discovering that his mother is to carry out witchcraft with them, he determines to escape. A triple laureate at Fantastic’s Screenings and the latest from the Uruguayan helmer, behind “Nocturna.”
More to come.
