Mexico City.- The film Radical, produced by and starring Eugenio Derbez, was awarded at the Sundance Festival with the Favorite of the Festival award, which is given by the public even though it is out of competition.
This Friday, at a ceremony held in Park City, Utah, the awards were delivered in which this film was the only Mexican to stand out.
Directed by Christopher Zalla, Radical is about a teacher in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, played by Derbez, who lives between the violence that exists in the city and the deficiencies that the educational system faces, and must find a way to get closer to his students. .
Eugenio Derbez has participated in other independent films that have grown, such as CODA: Señales del Corazón, a film that ended up winning an Oscar for Best Picture.
Other Mexican productions that were presented at the festival were the short Chica de Fábrica, by Salma Cervantes, starring Yalitza Aparicio and the feature film Heroico by David Zonana, and Brujería, a Chilean and Mexican co-production.
More prizes
The Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize of the Dramatic Jury went to the launch of Focus Features A Thousand and One, from newcomer writer-director AV Rockwell.
The film is set in New York in the late 1990s, where a single mother moving from shelter to shelter kidnaps her 6-year-old son and as the days go by her secret is close to being revealed.
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, took home the Documentary Jury Prize.
The production examines the life and legacy of the legendary poet Giovanni. Audience winners included The Persian Version, directed by Maryam Keshavarz for drama and Beyond Utopia, directed by Madeleine Gavin, for documentary.
