The Venezuelan film The new smoking fish conquered to the Mar del Plata International Film Festivalin Argentina, where it was recognized with the award for Best Latin American Feature Film this November 14.
The award at the prestigious Argentine meeting – the only class A competition in Latin America accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) – confirms the international impact of national production. Along with the recognition granted by the jury, the film obtained a financial stimulus of 10,500,000 pesos granted by Banco Galicia to support its distribution in the region, as well as a comprehensive post-production service in 4K format by the company Alta Definición, represented at the ceremony by Claudio Groppo.
The announcement of the award unleashed deep emotion among part of the cast present at the event, made up of the director Luis Fernández, the actress Mimí Lazo, Hugo Carregal and Angélica Marie Vitanza Delgado.
After receiving the trophy, the protagonists shared The National their impressions and testimonies after the victory.
Mimí Lazo: “We won Venezuela, this is for you”
The famous Venezuelan actress, visibly moved by winning the top prize in the regional section, expressed her joy by dedicating the victory to her native country:
“Venezuela, we did it, we won the festival. I am super excited to be at this festival in Mar del Plata. We won Venezuela, I love you very much, Venezuela. This is for you”.
Luis Fernández: “Contribute to the new positive identity of the Venezuelan”
For his part, the director and screenwriter considered that the mere selection in official competition already constituted an extraordinary recognition, defining the Astor Piazzolla Award as the culmination of a process of hard work in which more than 150 professionals, including the technical and artistic team, were involved:
“I’m still processing it. Being selected in competition in Mar del Plata was always a gift for us. This award is the culmination of an extraordinary experience from the beginning and opens the door to a new route… I am very proud of my entire team, my producers, my cast and the technical team. More than 150 people gave their love to this film to celebrate Román Chalbaud on this stage and contribute to the new positive identity of the Venezuelan through our cinema”.
Hugo Carregal: The emotional return to his homeland after 53 years
For the experienced actor and producer, the recognition had deeply personal value. Carregal highlighted the “huge and outstanding” level of the cast and direction, expressing the impact of returning triumphantly to Argentina more than half a century after leaving his homeland:
“At this moment the adrenaline is pumping. I had a terrible desire to win because I had seen the work of Luis Fernández and the entire team. Imagine what it means to me, after 53 years of leaving Argentina, to return with Luis and Mimí and be able to access this great prize. I am very happy for myself, for my wife, my daughters, my grandchildren and thanking God for all this”.
For her part, actress Angélica Marie Vitanza Delgado showed the pride she feels for this award. “I am grateful, happy, I still don’t believe it. I have many mixed emotions, but I am proud of our cinema, of our country, of our actors and of all our struggle. Of this desire to always dream big, to want to achieve everything and materialize those dreams that one at some point called fantasies, but that are now reality.”
Facts about The New Smoking Fish
Commercially released in Venezuela on October 15, the film is conceived as a free and irreverent version of the emblematic work directed by Román Chalbaud in 1977. The plot follows the process of an audiovisual team that intends to film a new adaptation of the classic. In this fiction within fiction, the iconic actress Mimi Lazo embodies The Heronthe unforgettable character that Hilda Vera immortalized five decades ago, addressing in a meta-cinematographic way the repercussions of the scandal and the remembered nudity of the original version.
In statements prior to the festival collected by the press, director Luis Fernández defined the nature of the project by stating that it was a risky proposal: “It is a quite irreverent version. Classical purists and nostalgics may feel enormously offended by my daring, but if I am going to kill a tiger of that size, and I am going to mess with something so big and sacred, it is better not to be afraid of leather, you have to do it with everything.”
In the Latin American Feature Film Competition, the Venezuelan film measured forces with outstanding continental productions, including Brazilian ones Feito Pipa (by Allan Deberton) and Rumor (by Joana Nin), the Colombian In the background is mom (by Ana Laura Calderón) and the Mexican women Cosme, a family affair (by Álvaro Curiel de Icaza) and The garden we dream of (by Joaquín del Paso). The screenings of the film took place in the theaters of the Paseo Aldrey cinema in Mar del Plata.
