Mexican Natalia López Gallardo wins the Silver Bear at the Berlinale with the film ‘Manto de Gemas’

The Mexican filmmaker received recognition for her debut film ‘Manto de Gemas’

(MEXICO – BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL).- Natalia López Gallardo enters the big leagues of the world of cinematography. Her debut film, Manto de Gemas, was awarded a Silver Bear as a jury prize at the Berlin film festival, the Berlinale, one of the European awards part of what has been called the Holy Trinity of Festivals of European cinema (Cannes, Venice, Berlin).

The absolutely genuine character that López Gallardo prints, the approach without makeup and at the same time endowed with a moving creative charge that traps the viewer under a dilated rhythm are its greatest success.

The film narrates the paralyzing fear that settles in the collective of a small town in Mexico in the face of the permanent threat of organized crime, breaking the social networks necessary for a common project for the good of the community where each one deals first and foremost with their own safety.

The impotence in the face of the advance of organized crime in Mexico is one of the concerns that the Mexican director expressed as part of the laitmotiv -generative impulse- to make this film.

Spanish cinema is celebrating

Hispanics are celebrating. The Golden Bear goes to the Spanish film Alcarràs by Carla Simon (1986). The film portrays a summer of a Catalan family after the peach harvest. The young filmmaker declared: “This film is like a family. Not only because I start from the memories of my own, but because all of us who work on it end up creating a new family,” she explained. Alcarràs is Simon’s second feature film.

It transpired that the last time a Spanish film triumphed at the Berlinale was in 1981 with In a hurry De prose , by maestro Carlos Saura and in 1983 with La Colmena by Mario Camus.

The 72nd edition of the Berlinale festival awards the prizes on this occasion six days before the start of the festival instead of 10 days later. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to impress its influence.

The projections dedicated to the public that are usually concentrated in a single day, this time will be projected for four days in the German capital from February 17 to 20 with a capacity of 50 percent in theaters.

This is the list of the winners of the Berlinale 2022

Golden Bear for the best film: Alcarràs , directed by the Spanish Carla Simon.

Silver Bear for Best Director: Claire Denis for Both Sides of the Blade ( Avec amour et acharnement ) starring French film stars Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon Binoche.

Silver Bear, Grand Jury Prize: The Novelist’ Film ( So-seol-ga-ui yeong-hwa ) by Hong Sangsoo.

Silver Bear, Jury Prize: Robe of Gems , ( Mantle of Gems ) of the Mexican Natalia López Gallardo.

Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Laila Stieler, for Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush ( Rabiye Kurnaz gegen George W. Bush ).

Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: German actress of Turkish origin Meltem Kaptan, for Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush.

Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Laura Basuki, for Nana , Before, Now & Then , Indonesian film.

Silver Bear for Special Artistic Contribution: Rithy Panh and Sarit Mang, for Everything Will Be Ok . (Film developed entirely with hundreds of clay figures as protagonists).

Jury Special Mention: A piece of sky ( Drii Winter ) by Michael Koch.

Best Documentary Award: Myanmar Diaries, for The Myanmar Film Collective . Myanmar is an island located in Southwest Asia and a luxury tourist destination for Europeans.

Best First Feature Award: Sonne ( Sun ) by Kurdwin Ayub.

TYT Newsroom