Aproaching the Mar del Plata International Film Festival
With only 18 days left to the beginning of the 24th edition of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the lists for the Official Competitions were revealed.
Five European films, five from Latin America and four from Russia, South Korea, USA and Iran made it to the International Competition. One of them will win the Festival's more important award, the Golden Astor to the Best Feature Film. The Jury of this section will be conformed by Julieta Serrano, Jose Wilker, Juan Jose Campanella, Alvaro Buela and Michael J. Shapiro.
The other two Official Competitions are the Latin American Competition, where eight films will participate and the Argentinian Competition, with nine feature films and an international jury.
You can see the complete lists at www.mardelplatafilmfest.com Like on the previous editions, there will be other sections, like Work in Progress, an Argentinean Short Film Section, and some non official juries granting various awards.
The Festival will open on November 7th with A Serious Man, the latest comedy by the Coen brothers, and closes on the 15th with the Awards Ceremony. We'll publish the outcome on the November edition as well as keeping you posted during the Festival at www.filmfestivalsnews.com
Lucía Martinez
Awarded director's thoughts on Fiction
Fiction in the dictionary is defined as: "that which is untrue. A lie." In everyday use, fiction is closely related to "dreams", again, something not to be taken too seriously, something not real. Dramatically, however, fiction carries more weight. Our jobs as dramatists is to make truth, to extract and distill Truth out of Fiction. Fiction is a language which speaks directly to the unconscious. Fiction is indirect, enigmatic. It presents itself symbolically and metaphorically. Fiction is the Messenger of Truth. In Drama, Truth and Fiction are not mutually exclusive. Are Grimm’s Fairy Tales fiction? Are they also true? Fiction, then, is interpretive truth—a way of tricking us into the discovery of ourselves.
This award is a high compliment to me. LIMINAL is a tale about the inner wars we wage everyday inside ourselves. It is a journey into the realm where murder is an act of freedom, not a crime. As Jung said: "You have to know who to kill." Realistically, this message would horrify—yet on the wings of Fiction, it becomes an insight and an acknowledgement of our daily duty to survive the ever-present forces of destruction. Fiction is the only way our selves can accept what in reality we would deny.
I am proudest of this award. Thank you Festival De Cine De Granada and Annual Program Without Frontiers for realizing the power of fiction and for connecting that power with my film.
Fiction in the dictionary is defined as: "that which is untrue. A lie." In everyday use, fiction is closely related to "dreams", again, something not to be taken too seriously, something not real. Dramatically, however, fiction carries more weight. Our jobs as dramatists is to make truth, to extract and distill Truth out of Fiction. Fiction is a language which speaks directly to the unconscious. Fiction is indirect, enigmatic. It presents itself symbolically and metaphorically. Fiction is the Messenger of Truth. In Drama, Truth and Fiction are not mutually exclusive. Are Grimm’s Fairy Tales fiction? Are they also true? Fiction, then, is interpretive truth—a way of tricking us into the discovery of ourselves. 
