The jury of the 63rd Critics’ Week chaired by French producer Sylvia Pialat awarded the Grand Prize to the first feature film by director and screenwriter Federico Luis. Quite a symbol, while Argentine cinema, and culture in general, are suffering attacks from ultraliberal president Javier Milei.
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Argentine director Federico Luis received the Grand Prize of the Critics’ Week, parallel section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, on Wednesday for his first film Simon de la Montana. Lorenzo “Toto” Ferro (25 years old) plays Simón, a boy who befriends a group of mentally disabled teenagers in a town in the Andes.
In a completely different genre, but like the successful French film A little something extra d’Artus, whose team climbed the steps of Cannes on Wednesday May 22, Simon de la Montana features actors who are themselves mentally handicapped.
“I think it’s definitely worth making the effort to connect with people who are different from you, because in this way you access the most beautiful thing about being human, namely its great breadth. and its infinite complexity“, declared the director while presenting his film.
Rewarding an Argentine filmmaker is also quite a symbol, the world of cinema having sounded the alarm in recent weeks against the attacks of ultraliberal president Javier Milei. The rest of the Cannes prize list, including the Palme d’Or, is expected on Saturday evening, May 25.
