# 39th Guadalajara International Film Festival

The 39th Guadalajara International Film Festival took place from June 7 to 15, 2024, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Spanish documentary film This Excessive Ambition served as the festival's opening film, screened at the opening ceremony at Telmex Auditorium. Directed by Santos Bacana, Rogelio González and Cristina Trenas, the film follows the tour Sin cantar ni afinar by Spanish rapper C. Tangana. Yorgos Lanthimos anthology film Kinds of Kindness was the closing film.
Pierre Saint Martin's We Shall Not Be Moved won the Mezcal Award for Best Film in the Mexican films section. Brazilian-Portuguese film Toll, directed by Carolina Markowicz, won Best Ibero-American Film, while Chilean-Dutch film The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine, directed by Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza, won Best Ibero-American Documentary Film.

## Background

The Community of Madrid was chosen as the guest of honor for this year's edition. Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia and Spanish directing duo Los Javis (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi) will receive the International Mayahuel Tribute and the Maguey Lifetime Achievement, respectively. Additionally, Chilean actor Alfredo Castro will be honored with the Mayahuel Iberoamerican Tribute, Mexican filmmaker and actress Ángeles Cruz will receive the Maguey Activism Award, and Mexican actor Diego Luna will received the Mayahuel Honorary Award (Mayahuel de Plata).
The festival will be directed by Estrella Araiza, who took over the festival's direction from Raúl Padilla López, who served as president for the festival until his death in 2023. Padilla López was honored for his work during the festival's previous edition.
The festival's poster, featuring a woman surrounded by nopales, was designed by Mexican graphic designer and tattoo artist Tata Mucino, and was inspired by "the facial featured of Mexican women".

## Official selections

The following films were selected for the official competitions:

### Mezcal Award

    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| After the Guns | Después de las armas | Héctor Alfonso Laso Machuca | Mexico |
| Corina (HeJ) | Corina (HeJ) | Urzula Barba Hopfner | Mexico |
| Children of the Coast | Los hijos de la costa | Bruno Bancalari | Mexico |
| Dead Man's Switch | Arillo de hombre muerto | Alejandro Gerber Bicecci | Mexico |
| Demons at Dawn (MG) | Los demonios del amanecer | Julián Hernández | Mexico |
| Después (MG, HeJ) | Después (MG, HeJ) | Sofía Gómez Córdova [es] | Mexico |
| Jíkuri: Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara | Jíkuri: Viaje al país de los Tarahumaras | Federico Cecchetti | Mexico, United States, France |
| Lachatao | Lachatao | Natalia Bruschtein Erenberg | Mexico |
| Shame | Vergüenza | Miguel Salgado Parra | Mexico |
| State of Silence | Estado de silencio | Santiago Maza | Mexico |
| The Invisible Contract | Tratado de invisibilidad | Luciana Kaplan | Mexico |
| The Muleteer (MG, HeJ) | La arriera | Isabel Cristina Fregoso | Mexico |
| The Weavers' Songs | Hilando sones | Ismael Vásquez Bernabé | Mexico |
| We Shall Not Be Moved | No nos moverán | Pierre Saint Martin | Mexico |
    (MG) indicates eligible for the Maguey Award, for films that include LGBTQ+ themes.
    (HeJ) indicates film eligible for the Hecho en Jalisco Award.

### Ibero-American Fiction Feature Film

    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Creatura | Creatura | Elena Martín Gimeno | Spain |
| Delirio | Delirio | Alexandra Latishev Salazar | Costa Rica, Chile |
| I Saw Three Black Lights | Yo vi tres luces negras | Santiago Lozano Álvarez | Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany |
| Natural Phenomena | Fenómenos naturales | Marcos Díaz Sosa | Cuba, Argentina, France |
| Prison in the Andes | Penal Cordillera | Felipe Carmona | Chile, Brazil |
| Saturn Return (MG) | Segundo premio | Isaki Lacuesta, Pol Rodríguez | Spain, France |
| Seaside Avenue | Avenida Beira-Mar | Bernardo Florim, Maju de Paiva | Brazil |
| The Dog Thief (MIT) | El ladrón de perros | Vinko Tomičić Salinas | Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, France, Italy |
| The Other Way Around | Volveréis | Jonás Trueba | Spain, France |
| Toll (MG) | Pedágio | Carolina Markowicz | Brazil, Portugal |
| You Burn Me [es] (MG) | Tú me abrasas | Matías Piñeiro [es] | Argentina, Spain |
    (MG) indicates eligible for the Maguey Award, for films that include LGBTQ+ themes.
    (MIT) indicates film also screened as a part of the Mayahuel Iberoamerican Tribute, presented to Alfredo Castro.

### Ibero-American Documentary Feature Film

    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Carropasajero | Carropasajero | Juan Pablo Polanco, César Jaimes | Colombia, Germany |
| I Am Here | Estou aqui | Dorian Rivière, Zsófia Paczolay | Portugal |
| Nights Gone By (GH) | Antier noche | Alberto Martín Menacho | Switzerland, Spain |
| Ozogoche | Ozogoche | Joseph Albert Houlberg Silva | Ecuador, Belgium, Qatar |
| Souls | Las almas | Laura Basombrío | Argentina |
| Stay Still | Quédate quieto | Joanna Lombardi Pollarolo [es] | Peru, Uruguay, Netherlands |
| Still Stares | Otra piel | Patricia Correa Cofré | Chile, Colombia |
| The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine | La fabulosa máquina de cosechar oro | Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza | Chile, Netherlands |
| The Undergrowth | La hojarasca | Macu Machín | Spain |
| Cyborg Generation | Cyborg Generation | Miguel Morrillo Vega | Spain |
    (GH) indicates film also screened as a part of the Madrid, Guest of Honor section.

### Ibero-American Short Film

    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| A Rosa Nasce Nas Pedras | A Rosa Nasce Nas Pedras | Sebastian Molina Ruiz | Portugal, Mexico, Belgium, Hungary |
| Blow! | Blow! | Neus Ballús | Spain |
| Chapter 4: Beneath the Waves | Naiki weeria. Ka gotti ba´a betuk luula | Zyanya López Arámburo | Mexico |
| Cielo roto | Cielo roto | Daniela Natacha Mora Villalobos | Costa Rica |
| Elevation (HeJ) | Elevación | Gabriel Esdras Hernandez Morales | Mexico |
| Longing for Light | Alhel de llum | Alba Cros Pellisé [ca] | Spain |
| Looks Bad | Mala facha | Ilén Juambeltz | Uruguay, Brazil |
| Moon Belly | Vientre de luna | Liliana K'an | Mexico |
| Ode to Ghosts | Elogio a los fantasmas | Facundo Rodríguez Alonso | Argentina |
| She Stays | Ella se queda | Marinthia Gutiérrez | Mexico |
| The Canon | El canon | Martín Seeger | Chile |
| The Cascade | La cascada | Pablo Delgado Sánchez | Mexico |
| The Custodian | El custodio | Arturo Franco | Spain, Cuba |
| The Divine Calling | El oficio divino | Maria Lorena Lisotti | Mexico |
| The Howl of the Furies | El turno de la aullante | Bayron Norman | Mexico |
| The Masterpiece | La gran obra | Álex Lora | Spain |
| The Night Inside | La noche dentro | Antonio Cuesta | Spain |
| When Everything Burns | Cuando todo arde | María Belén Poncio | Argentina, United States |
| Panadrilo | Panadrilo | Marcela Heilbron | Panama |
| Passarinho | Passarinho | Natalia Garcia Agraz | Mexico |
| Pesudo | Pesudo | Miquel Díaz Pont | Spain |
| Spiritum | Spiritum | José Adolfo Margulis Noriega | Mexico |
| Those Next to Us | Those Next to Us | Bernhard Hetzenauer | Mexico, Austria, Germany, Switzerland |
    (HeJ) indicates film eligible for the Hecho en Jalisco Award.

### Maguey Award

The following list consists of the films eligible for the Maguey Award that are not listed in the previous competition tables. The films in contention for both the Maguey Award and other competition section appear with the symbol (MG) next to it.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Crossing | Crossing | Levan Akin | Sweden, Denmark, France, Türkiye, Georgia |
| Desire Lines | Desire Lines | Jules Rosskam | United States |
| Light Light Light | Valoa valoa valoa | Inari Niemi | Finland |
| Neon Purple (HeJ) | Púrpura neón | Lex Renteria | Mexico |
| Sebastian | Sebastian | Mikko Mäkelä | United Kingdom |
| Sentinel's Heart (HeJ) | Corazón de centinela | Sergio Rosales, Andoeni Padilla, Alejandro de la Torre | Mexico |
| Teaches of Peaches | Teaches of Peaches | Judy Landkammer, Philipp Fussenegger [de] | Germany |
| The Astronaut Lovers | Los amantes astronautas | Marco Berger | Argentina, Spain |
| The Silence of My Hands (HeJ) | El silencio de mis manos | Manuel Acuña Arellano | Mexico |
| The Visitor | The Visitor | Bruce LaBruce | United Kingdom |
| Woman Of... | Kobieta z... | Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert | Poland, Sweden |
    (HeJ) indicates film eligible for the Hecho en Jalisco Award.

### Hecho en Jalisco

The following list consists of the films eligible for the Hecho en Jalisco that are not listed in the previous competition tables. The films in contention for both the Made in Jalisco and other competition section appear with the symbol (HeJ) next to it.
    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 604-A Bus | Ruta 604-A | Daniel Vega | Mexico |
| A Mexican on the Moon | Un mexicano en la Luna | José Luis Yáñez López, Francis Levy Lavalle | Mexico, Italy |
| Concerto For Other Hands | Concierto para otras manos | Ernesto González Díaz | Mexico |
| Good Savage | Buen salvaje | Santiago Mohar Volkow | Mexico |
| INGRITO, A Night with Café Tacvba | INGRITO, una noche con Café Tacvba | Alejandro Tavares López | Mexico |
| Misoshop | Misocompra | Andrea Ro Riggen | Mexico |
| Night Trip | Noche de viaje | Arleth Gutiérrez | Mexico |
| The Dog's Highway | La carretera de los perros | Carlos Rueda | Mexico |
| The Family's Son | Hijo de familia | Rafa Lara | Mexico |
| Bumbumpapá | Bumbumpapá | Alexis Gómez | Mexico |
| Sisters | Sisters | Mar Novo | Mexico |
| Devotion | Devotion | Jonatan Guzmán Reynoso | Mexico |

### Socio-Environmental Cinema Award

The following list consists of the films eligible for the Socio-Environmental Cinema Award that are not listed in the previous competition tables. The films in contention for both the Socio-Environmental Cinema Award and other competition section appear with the symbol (SE) next to it.
    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Rising Up at Night | Tongo Saa | Nelson Makengo | Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, Germany, Burkina Faso, Qatar |
| The Last | Los últimos | Sebastián Peña Escobar | Paraguay, Uruguay, France |
| Wild, Wild | Salvaxe, Salvaxe | Emilio Fonseca Martín | Spain |
| The Battle for Laikipia | The Battle for Laikipia | Peter Murimi, Daphne Matziaraki | Kenya, United States |
| Betânia | Betânia | Marcelo Botta | Brazil |

### International Animation Feature Film

    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Sultana's Dream | El sueño de la sultana | Isabel Herguera | Spain, Germany, India |
| Tender Metalheads | Heavies tendres | Joan Tomàs Monfort, Carlos Pérez-Reche, Juanjo Sáez Domper | Spain |
| Fox and Hare Save the Forest | Vos & Haas redden het bos | Mascha Halberstad | Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg |
| Flow | Flow | Gints Zilbalodis | Latvia, France, Belgium |
| The Glassworker | شیشہ گر | Usman Riaz | Pakistan |

### Rigo Mora Award

    Highlighted title indicates section's best film winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| A Crab in the Pool | Un trou dans la poitrine | Jean-Sébastien Hamel, Alexandra Myotte | Canada |
| Cold Soup | Sopa fría | Marta Monteiro | Portugal, France |
| Duck | Canard | Elie Chapuis | Switzerland, Belgium |
| Flesh Out | Prends chair | Armin Assadipour | France |
| In the Shadow of the Cypress | Dar Saaye Sarv | Hossein Molayemi, Shirin Sohani | Iran |
| Peeping Mom | Le sexe de ma mère | Francis Canitrot | France |
| Harvey | Harvey | Janice Nadeau | Canada, France |
| El ombligo de la luna (HeJ) | El ombligo de la luna (HeJ) | Sara Lourenço António, Julia Grupińska, Ezequiel Garibay, Bokang Koatja, Tian Westraad | France |
| Percebes | Percebes | Alexandra Ramires [pt], Laura Gonçalves | Portugal, France |
| The Family Portrait | The Family Portrait | Lea Vidakovic | Croatia, France, Serbia |
| Dolores (HeJ) | Dolores (HeJ) | Cecilia Andalon | Mexico |
| Wander to Wonder | Wander to Wonder | Nina Gantz | Netherlands, Belgium, France |
| Fox Tossing | Fox Tossing | Zénó Mira | Hungary |
| Beautiful Men | Beautiful Men | Nicolas Keppens | Belgium |
| Minus Plus Multiply | Minus Plus Multiply | Chu-Chieh Lee | United Kingdom |
| Flatastic | Flatastic | Alice Saey | France, Netherlands |
    (HeJ) indicates film eligible for the Hecho en Jalisco Award.

## Other sections
### Special Screenings

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Dying Briefly | Seré breve al momento de morir | Juan Briseño | Mexico |
| Night Box | Noite | Paula Gaitán [pt] | Brazil |
| Sur sonido negro | Sur sonido negro | Tin Dirdamal | Mexico, Kosovo, Albania |
| The Craft of Building, Raúl Padilla López | El oficio de construir, Raúl Padilla López | Gabriel Torres, Gabriel Santander | Mexico |
| The Exchange | El intercambio | Marco Berger | Argentina, Puerto Rico, Uruguay |
| The Shadow of Catire | La sombra del Catire | Jorge Hernandez Aldana [es] | Mexico, Venezuela |
| Wake Up Mom | Despierta Mamá | Arianne Benedetti | Panama |

### Tribute Screenings

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Madrid, Guest of Honor ||||
| Birth | Alumbramiento | Pau Teixidor | Spain |
| Contigo, contigo y sin mí | Contigo, contigo y sin mí | Amaya Villar Navascués | Spain |
| Eyes of the Soul: Cristina García Rodero | Cristina García Rodero: La mirada oculta | Carlota Nelson | Spain |
| Hispanoamérica, Song of Life and Hope | Hispanoamérica, canto de vida y esperanza | José Luis López-Linares | Spain |
| Lola, Lolita, Lolaza | Lola, Lolita, Lolaza | Mabel Lozano | Spain |
| Madrid | Madrid | Basilio Martín Patino | Spain |
| Madrid, 1987 | Madrid, 1987 | David Trueba | Spain |
| Moro | Moro | Pablo Barce | Spain |
| Piggy | Cerdita | Carlota Pereda | Spain, France |
| The Crime of Cuenca | El crimen de Cuenca | Pilar Miró | Spain |
| This Excessive Ambition (opening film) | Esta ambición desmedida | Rogelio González, Santos Bacana, Cris Trenas | Spain |
| Urban | Céntrico | Luso Martínez | Spain |
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (MG) | Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| Honorary Award: Diego Luna ||||
| Abel | Abel | Diego Luna | Mexico |
| Mister Lonely | Mister Lonely | Harmony Korine | United Kingdom, France, Ireland, United States |
| Y tu mamá también | Y tu mamá también | Alfonso Cuarón | Mexico |
| Maguey Lifetime Achievement: Los Javis ||||
| Holy Camp! | La llamada | Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi | Spain |
| Industry Tribute: Enrique Cerezo ||||
| Stories of Our Cinema | Historias de nuestro cine | Ana Pérez-Lorente, Antonio Resines | Spain |
    (MG) indicates eligible for the Maguey Award, for films that include LGBTQ+ themes.

### Series Showcase

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| The Black Files, Shadows of Crime | Archivo negro, sombras del crimen | Emiliano Altuna | Mexico |
| Toast for Two | Dos de copas | Érick Virgen | Mexico |

### Imagenes Restauradas

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| In the Times of Don Porfirio (1939) | En tiempos de Don Porfirio | Juan Bustillo Oro | Mexico |
| El Norte (1984) | El Norte (1984) | Gregory Nava | United States, Mexico |
| Amok (1944) | Amok (1944) | Antonio Momplet | Mexico |
| Nazarín (1959) | Nazarín (1959) | Luis Buñuel | Mexico |

### Doculab

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| A Street Named Cuba | Calle Cuba entre Sol y Amargura | Vanessa Batista, Guillermo Barbera | Cuba, Spain, Chile |
| Errant | Errante | Sofía Betarte | Uruguay, Brazil |
| Here, the Silence is Heard | Aquí se escucha el silencio | Picho García, Gabriela Pena | Chile, Spain |
| Sister | Manita | Andrés Acevedo Zuleta | Colombia |
| Olimpia | Olimpia | Indira Cato | Mexico |
| Brujas | Brujas | Andrea Ro Riggen | Mexico |

### International Panorama

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Meanwhile on Earth | Pendant ce temps sur Terre | Jéremy Clapin [fr] | France |
| Silence of Reason | Silence of Reason | Kumjana Novakova | North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| No Other Land | No Other Land | Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra | Norway, Palestine |

### Guadalajara Construye

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| #300 Letters | #300 cartas | Lucas Santa Ana | Argentina, United Kingdom |
| Knot | Nó | Laís Melo | Brazil |
| Once Upon a Time in Cordisburgo | Era uma vez em Cordisburgo | Marco Antonio Pereira | Brazil |
| Raya | La raya | Yolanda Cruz | Mexico |
| The Seamstress | La costurera | Daniel Rodríguez Risco | Peru |
| The Wig | La peluca | Emiliano Rocha Minter | Mexico |
| Tribes | Tribus | Gory Patiño | Bolivia |

### Cinema Libre

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Deep Reverence (2023) | Deep Reverence (2023) | Jenise Whitehead | United States |
| El Maestro. Benjamín Galindo's Film (2024) | El Maestro. La película de Benjamín Galindo | Gonzalo Lamela | Uruguay, Mexico |
| Elis and Tom [pt] (2022) | Elis e Tom | Roberto de Oliveira, Jom Tob Azulay | Brazil |
| Family Mixtape (2023) | Family Mixtape (2023) | Keith Nixon Jr. | United States |
| Fatfish (2023) | Fatfish (2023) | Jewells Santos | United States |
| I Can't Go On Like This (2023) | I Can't Go On Like This (2023) | Aria Covamonas | Mexico |
| In the Garden of Tulips (2023) | In the Garden of Tulips (2023) | Julia Elihu | United States |
| Metal Belt (2023) | Metal Belt (2023) | Blackhorse Lowe | United States |
| Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound (2024) | Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound (2024) | Antony Crook | United Kingdom |
| Omar + Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird (2023) | Omar + Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird (2023) | Nicolas Jack Davies | Germany, United States |
| Skin (2023) | Skin (2023) | Leo Behrens | United States |
| Spontaneous Generation: 10 Years of Design in Mexico (2021) | Generación espontánea: 10 años de diseño en México | Gustavo Castillo Alemán | Mexico |
| The Book of Life (2014) | The Book of Life (2014) | Jorge R. Gutierrez | United States |
| This is a Film About the Black Keys (2024) | This is a Film About the Black Keys (2024) | Jeff Dupre | United States |
| Você Means You (2023) | Você Means You (2023) | Mahyar Mandegar | United States |

## Official awards

The following awards were given:

### Mezcal Awards

* Best Film: We Shall Not Be Moved by Pierre Saint Martin
* Best Directing: Isabel Cristina Fregoso for The Muleteer
* Best Performance: Juan Ramón López for Shame
* Best Cinematography: María Sarasvati Herrera for The Muleteer

### Ibero-American Fiction Feature Film

* Best Film: Toll by Carolina Markowicz
* Special Mention: The Other Way Around by Jonás Trueba
* Best Directing: Bernardo Florim & Maju de Paiva for Seaside Avenue
* Best Performance: Maeve Jinkings for Toll
* Best Screenplay: Fernando del Razo & Santiago Lozano Álvarez for I Saw Three Black Lights
* Best Cinematography: Juan Velásquez for I Saw Three Black Lights
* Best First Film: Natural Phenomena by Marcos Díaz Sosa
* Special Mention for New Actor: Franklin Aro Huasco for The Dog Thief

### Ibero-American Documentary Film

* Best Film: The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine by Alfredo Pourailly de la Plaza
* Best Directing: Macu Machín for The Undergrowth
* Best Cinematography: Laura Basombrío for Souls

### Maguey Award

* Best Film: Toll by Carolina Markowicz
* Special Jury Prize: Crossing by Levan Akin
* Special Mention: Seaside Avenue by Bernardo Florim & Maju de Paiva
* Best Performance: The cast of The Astronaut Lovers

### Animated Film

* Best Animated Feature Film: Flow by Gints Zilbalodis
* Special Mention: Tender Metalheads by Juanjo Sáez, Carlos Pérez-Reche & Joan Tomás Monfort

### Rigo Mora Award

* Best Animated Short Film: The Family Portrait by Lea Vidakovic
* Special Mention: Percebes by Alexandra Ramires & Laura Gonçalves

### Hecho en Jalisco

* Best Film: Corina by Urzula Barba Hopfner
* Best Short Film: Bumbumpapá by Alexis Gómez
* Special Mention for Best Short Film: The Dog's Highway by Carlos Rueda

### Socio-Environmental Cinema Award

* Best Film: The Battle for Laikipia by Peter Murimi & Daphne Matziaraki
* Special Mention:
** Wild, Wild by Emilio Fonseca Martín
** Rising Up at Night by Nelson Makengo

### Young Jury

* Best Film: The Invisible Contract by Luciana Kaplan
* Special Mention for Best Performance: Luisa Huertas for We Shall Not Be Moved

### Audience Award

* Audience Award: We Shall Not Be Moved by Pierre Saint Martin

## Independent awards
### FIPRESCI Awards

* Best Film: The Invisible Contract by Luciana Kaplan

### FEISAL Awards

* Best Film: The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine by Alfredo Pourailly de la Plaza
* Special Mention for Best Film:
** Shame by Miguel Salgado Parra
** We Shall Not Be Moved by Pierre Saint Martin