'Hammock' wins Bunuel Award

Historic 'Paraguayan' feature honored at fest

By JOHN HOPEWELL

SAN SEBASTIAN -- “Paraguayan Hammock,” the first 35mm all-Paraguay feature since the ‘70s, has won the 6th Luis Bunuel Award.

Runners up were Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” and Lucia Puenzo’s “XXY.”

Organized by Fipca (the Ibero-American Federation Film and Audiovisual Producers), the plaudit is awarded to the best Latin American film of the year.

Jury is formed by the heads of five really top film festivals: Berlin’s Dieter Kosslick, Tribeca’s Peter Scarlet, Cannes Thierry Fremaux, Locarno’s Frederic Maire and San Sebastian’s Mikel Olaciregui.

Directed by Paz Encina, “Hammock” is in other ways a pioneering production. It has some local finance from Paraguay’s Silencio Cine, though most coin was put up by Argentina’s Lita Stantic Productions, and three key European producers of Latin American cinema: Spain’s Wanda Vision, France’s Slot Machine and Holland’s Fortuna Films.

“Hammock,” which bowed in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2006, is also spoken in Paraguay’s native Guarani language.

Written as well as directed by Encina, “Hammock” turns on an aged couple living in some woods whose son has departed for a war, and never returned.

The award will be presented during the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival, a showcase for films from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, which runs Nov.15-22, coinciding with Fipca’s annual board meeting.