The lineup of FICUNAM 2014 is ready and things will kick off on February 27 with the Mexican premiere of one of the most anticipated films of the year: the final feature by animation master Miyazaki Hayao, The Wind Rises. This opening screening will be a free event, taking place in a downtown Mexico City public plaza (Santo Domingo) and being the one and only chance to watch The Wind Rises at FICUNAM (it will be released theatrically in Mexico later this year).
As ScreenAnarchy previously reported, Sono Sion's Why Don't You Play In Hell is another Japanese film that premieres in Mexico, as part of the festival's Strokes section (two showings are programmed) and as the annual drive-in movie.
Other highlights are Gianfranco Rosi's documentary Sacro GRA (winner of the Golden Lion at Venice 2013), Tsai Ming-Liang's Journey to the West, Federick Wiseman's At Berkeley, and Nobody's Daughter Haewon by Hong Sang-soo. Actually, Our Sunhi, another Hong Sang-soo film, will function as the closing one on the awards ceremony day (Thursday, March 6).
In terms of retrospectives, four directors are going to be honored this year: Alain Guiraudie, Gustavo Fontán, Harun Farocki, and Otar Iosseliani. To be honest, I don't know anything about them. Hell, most of FICUNAM's programming is completely unknown to me, but the whole point of a festival like this one is precisely to discover stuff (both new and old).
In the gallery below you can find the films that conform each and every section of FICUNAM 2014. Read on...
For schedule and additional information, visit the festival's official website.
FICUNAM 2014 Lineup
OPENING FILM
The Wind Rises (Japan) - Miyazaki Hayao
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
At Berkeley (US) - Federick Wiseman
Coast of Death (Spain) - Lois Patiño
Que ta joie demeure (Canada) - Denis Coté
Life Span of the Object in Frame (A Film About the Film Not Yet Shot) (Ukraine, Italy) - Aleksandr Balagura
Navajazo (Mexico) - Ricardo Silva
Sheep (France) - Marianne Pistone, Gilles Deroo
Stop the Pounding Heart (US, Italy, Belgium) - Roberto Minervini
Story of My Death (Spain, France) - Albert Serra
The Militant (Uruguay, Argentina) - Manolo Nieto
Three Exercises of Interpretation (Romania, France) - Cristi Puiu
Zanj Revolution (Algeria) – Tariq Teguia
When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism (Romania) - Corneliu Porumboiu
NOW MEXICO SECTION
Airtime (Tiempo Aire, Mexico) - Bruno Varela
Amsterdam (Mexico) - Carlos Amorales
González (Mexico) - Christian Díaz Pardo
Morning Doesn’t Begin Here… (La Mañana No Comienza Aquí…, Mexico) - Iván Ávila
The Palace (El Palacio, Mexico, Canada) – Nicolás Pereda
The Rest of the World (El Resto del Mundo, Mexico) - Pablo Chavarría
The Searches (Las Búsquedas, Mexico) - José Luis Valle
The Well (Manto Acuífero, Mexico) - Michael Rowe
We Are Mari Pepa (Somos Mari Pepa, Mexico) - Samuel Kishi Leopo
STROKES SECTION
Abuse of Weakness (France, Germany, Belgium) - Catherine Breillat
At Sea (US) - Peter Hutton
Dialogue of Shadows (France) - Daniele Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub
Journey to the West (France, Taiwan) - Tsai Ming-Liang
La jalousie (France) - Philippe Garrel
Nobody’s Daughter Haewon (South Korea) - Hong Sang-soo
Norte, the End of History (Philippines) - Lav Diaz
Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man (US) - Jonas Mekas
Pays barbare (France) - Yervant Giankikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi
P3ND3J05 (Argentina) - Raúl Perrone
Sentimental Education (Brazil) - Julio Bressane
The Last of the Unjust (France, Austria) - Claude Lanzmann
The New Testament of Jesus Christ According to John (Portugal) - Joaquim Pinto, Nuno Leonel
Three Landscapes (US) - Peter Hutton
Un conte de Michel de Montaigne (France, Germany) - Jean-Marie Straub
What Now? Remind Me (Brazil) - Joaquim Pinto
Why Don’t You Play In Hell (Japan) - Sono Sion
TRAILS SECTION
America (France) - Valérie Massadian
Anak Araw (Philippines, US) - Gym Lumbera
A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (Estonia, France) - Ben Russell, Ben Rivers
Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater (US) - Gabe Klinger
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf (India, UAE) - Shaina Anand, Ashok Sukumaran
Lacrau (Portugal) - Joao Vladimiro
La Última Película (Mexico, Canada, Denmark) - Raya Martin, Mark Peranson
Lukas the Strange (Philippines) - John Torres
Mahjong (Portugal) - Joao Pedro Rodrigues, Joao Rui Guerra da Mata
Manakamana (Nepal, US) - Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez
Memories for Moderns (Italy) - Yuri Ancarani
Que je tombe tout le temps? (France) - Eduardo Williams
Redemption (Portugal, France, Germany) - Miguel Gomes
Sacro GRA (Italy) - Gianfranco Rosi
Springtime Suns (Serbia) - Stefan Ivancic
The Harbor (Brazil) - Clarissa Campolina, Julia de Simone, Luiz Pretti, Ricardo Pretti
The Image Burns (Spain) - Lois Patiño
The Incomplete (Germany) - Jan Soldat
The Island (Chile) - Dominga Sotomayor, Katarzyna Klimkiewics
The Joycean Society (Belgium) - Dora García
The King’s Body (Portugal) - Joao Pedro Rodrigues
The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott (UK) - Luke Fowler
RETROSPECTIVE: ALAIN GUIRAUDIE
Les héros sont immortels (1990)
Tout droit jusqu’au matin (1994)
La force des choses (1997)
That Old Dream That Moves (2001)
Du soleil pour les gueux (2001)
No Rest for the Braves (2003)
Time Has Come (2005)
The King of Escape (2009)
Stranger by the Lake (2013)
RETROSPECTIVE: GUSTAVO FONTÁN
Swan Song (1994)
Marechal, o la Batalla de los Ángeles (2002)
Where the Sun Sets (2002)
El Paisaje Invisible (2003)
El Árbol (2006)
La Orilla Que Se Abisma (2008)
The Mother (2009)
Elegía de Abril (2010)
El Rostro (2012)
La Casa (2012)
RETROSPECTIVE: HARUN FAROCKI
The Inextinguishable Fire (1969)
Zwischen zwei Kriegen (1978)
Etwas wird sichtbar (1981)
Ein Bild (1983)
Jean-Marie Straub und Danièle Huillet bei der Arbeit an einem Film (1983)
Wie man sieht (1986)
Die Schulung (1987)
Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges (1989)
How to Live in the German Federal Republic (1990)
Videogramme einer Revolution (1992)
Ein Tag im Leben der Endverbraucher (1993)
Die führende Rolle (1994)
Arbeiter verlassen die Fabrik (1995)
Der Auftritt (1996)
The Interview (1996)
Der Ausdruck der Hände (1997)
Still Life (1997)
The Creators of Shopping Worlds (2001)
Gefängnisbilder (2003)
War at a Distance (2003)
Nothing Ventured (2004)
Respite (2007)
Zum Vergleich (2009)
Ein neues Produkt (2012)
RETROSPECTIVE: OTAR IOSSELIANI
Song About a Flower (1959)
Aprili (1961)
Tudzhi (1964)
Falling Leaves (1966)
Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird (1970)
Pastorali (1975)
Favourites of the Moon (1984)
Et la lumière fut (1989)
La chasse aux papillons (1992)
Brigands-Chapter VII (1996)
Farewell, Home Sweet Home (1999)
Monday Morning (2002)
Jardins en automne (2006)
Chantrapas (2010)
MEXICO 1965: FIRST EXPERIMENTAL FILM COMPETITION
Llanto por Juan Indio (1965, Mexico) - Rogelio González
The Distant Wind (1965, Mexico) - Salomón Laiter, Manuel Michel, Sergio Véjar
Amelia (1965, Mexico) - Juan Guerrero
There Are No Thieves in This Village (1965, Mexico) -Alberto Isaac
The Beloved Ones (1965, Mexico) - Juan José Gurrola, Juan Ibañez
The Secret Formula (1965, Mexico) - Rubén Gámez
HIT SECTION (SHORT FILMS)
Adri (Spain) - Estibaliz Urresola
A Woman Being Followed (Argentina) - Jerónimo Quevedo
B-boy (Mexico) - Abraham Escobedo Salas
Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful! (Cuba) – Pilar Álvarez
Beneath Heaven (Brazil) - Renata Spitz
Gorilla Dance (Spain) - Eugenio Canevari
Norma (Costa Rica) - Nicolás Wong
Nowhere (Mexico) - Gina Herrera
Paradisio (Mexico) - Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson
Rhoma Acans (Portugal) - Leonor Teles
She Was So Scared (Argentina) - Martina López Robol
The Hushed Up Music (Mexico) - Andrea Oliva
The Private from Odessa (Brazil) - Luis Felipe Labaki
CLOSING FILM
Our Sunhi (South Korea) - Hong Sang-soo