Ecuadorian film ‘Vacío’ was awarded as best feature film in Argentina | Cinema | Entertainment

The film, which has already received two awards, was released in January 2020, but due to the pandemic a revival is projected in July this year.

March 27, 2021 – 6:30 p.m.

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This 92-minute long production was awarded this Saturday as best feature film, America category, at the 22nd edition of the awards of the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (Bafici).

The announcement was released during the morning through a press conference in the Argentine capital, while the formal ceremony would take place in the afternoon.

The Ambateño Paúl Venegas, director, screenwriter and producer of Empty, which is his debut film, he points out that due to the pandemic he was unable to travel to Buenos Aires to receive the award, but his young children, aged 11 and 10, who reside there, would be his representatives to accept the statuette. “It is a highly curated festival,” he adds.

Empty, co-produced by the Uruguayan Esteban Schroeder and the Colombian Giuliano Cavalli, tells the story of two chinese migrants that arrive clandestinely to Guayaquil on their way to the United States, so approximately 70% of their dialogues are in Mandarin. The casting includes the Ecuadorian Ricardo Velastegui among the leading actors of Asian origin, such as Fu Jing, Lidan Zhu y Meng Day Min.

This award is the second received by the film. The first was as the best Ecuadorian feature film in the Guayaquil International Film Festival (September 2019), followed by the grand international premiere at the competing Busan International Film Festival (Biff), held in October 2020 in South Korea. He then had the recognition of representing Ecuador in the race for best international film at the 93rd edition of the Oscars.

“Receiving the Bacifi award is a great joy for me and the team. It is an award for the great effort that is made to make films in Ecuador, an encouragement that we can continue to advance despite all the barriers that exist here, starting with the State itself, which exercises the role of inquisitor instead of decisively promoting and this nascent film industry will, ”says Venegas.

Empty It premiered in 40 theaters in January 2020, and despite having had a positive reception from audiences nationwide, it was almost immediately affected by the pandemic. “People stopped going to the movies, and even their Chinese actors suffered discrimination because of their origin, which was the same as the COVID-19 virus,” adds the director. “However, it has continued to add achievements and, therefore, the public’s interest in seeing it. We are planning its revival in theaters and online for the month of July ”. (E)

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