Argentine Film 'Belén' Wins Glauber Rocha Award

The Argentine film Belén, directed by Dolores Fonzi, won the Glauber Rocha Award today. The laurel is presented by the Prensa Latina News Agency and the Foreign Press accredited in Cuba as part of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema.

Consisting of a work by the distinguished Cuban visual artist Moisés Finalé and a recognition diploma, the award was announced at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba during the presentation of the collateral prizes for the 46th edition of this major film event.

The award was presented by Prensa Latina President, Jorge Legañoa, who highlighted that this marks the 40th anniversary of the Glauber Rocha Award's creation and shared details of the jury's decision.

According to the official statement, Belén is a "sober and powerful staging," capable of conveying the difficult and at times dramatic situation of the protagonist without falling into sensationalism.

The photography and editing reinforce this atmosphere of realism and sensitivity, while the performances by Fonzi herself, Julieta Cardinali, and Laura Paredes lend humanity and dignity to a story that directly challenges the viewer, the document indicated.

Furthermore, the jury highlighted that Belén is also a political and social testimony, and a denunciation of the criminalization of health and reproductive rights.

The film, inspired by the real case of a young woman from Tucumán unjustly convicted after suffering a spontaneous abortion, exposes "how prejudices can turn the judicial system into a mechanism of oppression," the statement emphasized.

Additionally, it added, the cultural impact of this film transcends Argentine borders and has contributed to the debate on dignity and human rights on a global scale.

Belén manages to "combine the artistic quality of its production with a transformative social vocation;" the film not only moves and mobilizes but also stands as an example of how cinema can be a tool for denunciation and transformation.

The Glauber Rocha Award jury also granted a Mention diploma to the Bolivian film La Hija Cóndor, directed and written by Álvaro Olmos, a film that demonstrates the possibility of "making cinema of excellent craftsmanship with an attractive plot, despite not having large funding."

The co-production between Bolivia, Uruguay, and Peru tells the story of Clara, a young Quechua woman apprenticing as a midwife in an Andean community and heir to the knowledge of ancestral songs used to accompany childbirth.

However, she dreams of leaving the mountains to become a folk singer in the city, a desire that fractures her bond with Ana, her adoptive mother.

"With notable sensitivity and dazzling photography, the film delves into the tensions between social mandates, tradition, and individual desire, also exploring migration processes and the sense of community belonging," the statement underlined.

The jury for the Glauber Rocha Award at the 46th Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana was comprised of representatives from TeleSur, Sputnik, Inter Press Service, Resumen Latinoamericano, Brasil de Fato, Correo Canadiense, Al Mayadeen, Alma Plus TV, Servicio de Noticias de la Mujer de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (SEMLAC), and Prensa Latina.