Latin American Film Festival highlights female directors.

Camila Boehm, reporter for Agência Brasil - The feature film "Mother Only One" will be screened at the opening of the São Paulo Latin American Film Festival. The film is directed by Anna Muylaert, who also directed "The Second Mother" and is the honoree of the 11th edition.

The feature film "Mother Only One" will be screened at the opening of the São Paulo Latin American Film Festival. The film is directed by Anna Muylaert, who also directed "The Second Mother" and is the honoree of the 11th edition of the festival. (Image credit: Mãe só há uma / publicity)
The 11th edition of the São Paulo Latin American Film Festival highlights the growing presence of women in regional film production and honors São Paulo filmmaker Anna Muylaert, who directed the recent hit film *Que Horas ela Volta?* (The Second Mother). Twenty-three films by the director and screenwriter will be screened, including works from the beginning of her career that are rarely shown.

Tomorrow (20), at the opening session of the event, the festival will screen Anna's feature film, never before seen in Brazil, Mãe Só Há Uma (2016) and, until July 27, 118 films from 13 countries will be shown at the Memorial da América Latina, in the capital of São Paulo. In addition to the films, there will also be meetings and debates with the public.

On Thursday (21), there will be a meeting between the director and the public and the cartoonist Laerte for the also unreleased screening of another version of her film with Regina Casé: Que Horas ela Volta – Demo Filme. The version was used in the construction of her feature film and will be commented on by the director herself.

Attractions

In addition to highlighting female filmmakers, the festival's curator and creator, João Batista de Andrade, explains that the event aims to open doors to new talent. "The festival has a number of new features: a very large showcase of Mexican cinema – Mexican comedies and dramas; a very large showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema; and something special, which is the women who are working behind the camera," anticipates João Batista.

He says that the cinema of the generation he was trained in had a lot of prestige, including internationally, and received many awards. For João Batista, however, constantly replaying this production stifles the possibility of giving visibility to new generations. The filmmaker believes that the festival, which emerged in 2006, opened space for new talents.

"It was very important that the festival did this, starting in 2006. I think it opened things up and showed young people that they would have space. Traditional filmmakers remain important, but there need to be new ideas, new generations need a chance to present a new vision," he added.

The screening of classic films and directors, however, is not excluded from the program. "We always balance things out, we always pay homage, we always screen classic films, important films, but the festival is open to new things, to new ideas in cinema," recalls curator João Batista.

The special exhibition "Divas of the Golden Age" reveals Mexican film actresses in productions from the 1940s. The program will feature works starring divas such as María Félix, Ninón Sevilla, Marga Lopez, Stella Inda, and Dolores Del Rio. The exhibition also includes a selection of film noirs, such as *Na Palma de Tua Mão*, *Irmãs Malditas*, *Outro Amanhecer*, and *A Riqueza do Diabo*.

Another special section of the festival, "Women Behind the Cameras," will bring together recent productions (from 2014 and 2015) from the new generation of female Mexican filmmakers, including names like Alejandra Márquez Abella and Teresa Camou. In 2015, according to the festival organizers, a quarter of Mexican feature film production was directed by women.