Peru’s ‘Milk of Sorrow’ Takes Berlin Film Festival Top Award
February 17, 2009
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) — “The Milk of Sorrow,” a Peruvian drama about a young woman with a mysterious illness, won the Golden Bear award for the best movie at the Berlin Film Festival last night.
Directed by Claudia Llosa, the film stars Magaly Solier as Fausta, who suffers from a disease she believes is transmitted through the breast milk of women who were raped in the Shining Path’s war of terror in Peru. Her life starts to change direction after her mother dies and she goes to live in Lima.
“My heart was beating madly,” Llosa said after the award ceremony. “I am very happy. This is unbelievable.”
The winner was selected from 18 contenders by a seven-member jury led by the actress Tilda Swinton. The Silver Bear for best director went to Asghar Farhadi for “About Elly,” an Iranian movie about a group of friends on a three-day break on the Caspian Sea. The break turns into a nightmare after one of their number disappears — a woman who none of the others know well.
A Silver Bear was awarded to Sotigui Kouyate as best actor for his role in “London River,” in which he plays a French Muslim waiting for news of his missing son after the terrorist bombings in London in July 2005.
Birgit Minichmayr won the Silver Bear as best actress for her role as Gitti in “Alle Anderen” (“Everyone Else”), a drama that tracks the disintegration of a relationship during a vacation in Sardinia. The film, by German director Maren Ade, also won a special jury prize.
Love on Screen
“Gigante” by the Argentinian director Adrian Biniez won three awards — the special jury prize, an award for innovative filmmaking and a prize for the best first feature. The film recounts the tale of a supermarket security guard who falls in love with a cleaning woman he has spotted on the store’s surveillance monitors.
A Silver Bear for the best script was awarded to Oren Moverman for “The Messenger,” in which Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson play two U.S. officers charged with the harrowing task of informing the families of soldiers sent to Iraq that their spouses or offspring have died.
Films that were passed over for awards included Hans- Christian Schmid’s “Storm,” exploring the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague; Richard Loncraine’s “My One and Only,” a comedy starring Renee Zellweger as a glamorous New York mother looking for a man to keep her and her two teenaged boys; and “Cheri” by Stephen Frears, starring Michelle Pfeiffer.
Peru celebrates National Pisco Day with week-long festival
July 25, 2008
Peru’s minister of Production Rafael Rey will open today the festival “Pisco Surco 2008: Our country, our party, our pisco”, on the occasion of National Pisco Day celebrations to be held on July 27th.
The event will also be attended by the mayor of Santiago de Surco, Juan Manuel del Mar Estremadoyro, representatives of Peru’s National Commission of Pisco (Conapisco), among other important authorities, businesspeople and artists.
It will take place at 12:20 pm (17:20 GMT) in the “Parque de la Amistad” (Park of Friendship) in Surco.
Pisco is Peru’s national drink and is made in traditional distilleries in wineries in Mala, San Antonio, Santa Cruz de Flores, San Vicente de Cañete, Pacarán and Lunahuaná, south of Lima.
In many parts of the world, a raised glass is the surest sign of welcome. In Peru, the delicious brandy known as pisco is the best way to invite someone to discover centuries of history and tradition amidst the surprising cultural diversity that never fails to charm our guests.