A jury of members of GEHITU, the Basque association of gays, lesbians, transsexuals and bisexuals, has selected five Latin American films as finalists of the VIII Sebastiane Latino Award, to be presented during the 68th edition of the San Sebastian Festival. The selected titles are Alice Junior, Las mil y una, Los fuertes, Todos cambiamosand Vento seco.   

The Award goes to the Latin American feature film that best defends the demands and values of lesbians, gays, transsexuals and bisexuals. In 2020, one female director and four male directors symbolise this defence the length and breadth of the continent with films from Panama, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, which participates with two productions.

"The finalist works show the lives of LGBTI people in rural areas and in poor neighbourhoods, small environments with no anonymity where LGBTI people are the most vulnerable. However, according to GEHITU, "they also figure amongst those who contribute most to improving these spaces, as we have seen in times of Covid". The collective stresses that the selection includes "reflections on sexuality and masculine desire surrounded by an audacity rarely seen in the cinema" and "anthology tales which radically embody this year's pride motto: looking backwards towards the most vulnerable, women, in their declination of lesbians, trans and bisexuals".  

In 2019, the Sebastiane Latino went to the production from Guatemala, Temblores, by Jayro Bustamante, which denounces the pseudoscientific therapies intended to change sexual orientation. The film will be screened in different towns throughout Gipuzkoa immediately before the San Sebastian Festival at what will be a good time to remember the many young LGBTI people who have been in lockdown with their homophobic families.   

With its call for the eighth edition of the award, whose winner will be announced in August, GEHITU continues to support Latin American LGBT+ cinema in the framework of the San Sebastian Festival. During the 68th edition of the event the Sebastiane Award will be presented and those responsible for the accolade will organise the VI Meeting of Ibero-American LGBTI Festivals, taking place online this year.

ALICE JUNIOR
GIL BARONI | BRAZIL, 2019 | 87'

Alice Júnior is producing her latest YouTube video about the long-awaited first kiss. But when her father walks into her bedroom and announces in front of the camera that they will be leaving the vibrant Brazilian city of Recife and moving to a small, conservative town in the south, Alice has to prepare herself for the prudery and small-mindedness she will confront there. The transgender teenager, played by the blogger Anne Celestino Mota, doesn't let the initial hostility get her down. With her dazzling personality, the self-confident and charismatic Alice makes her new schoolmates and teachers rethink their conservative Catholic ways.

LAS MIL Y UNA (ONE IN A THOUSAND)
CLARISA NAVAS | ARGENTINA/GERMANY, 2020|120'

When Iris meets Renata in the rundown Las Mil Viviendas housing estate she feels an inexplicable attraction. Renata's new presence is disturbing and prejudice spreads. In the face of hostility, the girls and their small group of friends will represent the queer resistance, making these crumbling buildings as much of an accomplice as a danger and their meetings the light in the neighbourhood night.

LOS FUERTES (THE STRONG ONES)
OMAR ZUÑIGA HIDALGO | CHILE, 2019 | 89'

Lucas travels to visit his sister in a remote town in southern Chile. In front of the ocean and the fog, he meets Antonio, a boatswain with a local fishing boat. When an intense romance grows between them, their strength, their independence and their adulthood become immovable in front of the tide.

TODOS CAMBIAMOS (EVERYBODY CHANGES)
ARTURO MONTENEGRO |PANAMA, 2019 | 93'

In a small town, Federico and Carol, the parents of three children, are the perfect family; but on their date nights they share a secret, called Lizzie. When they're found out, a transformation will begin, putting the strength and love of all family members to the test. A struggle for the right to happiness by a family that strives to stay together in the face of a society that points the finger at them.

VENTO SECO (DRY WIND)
DANIEL NOLASCO | BRAZIL, 2020 | 110'

The area around Catalan in Brazil's Goiás state is dry, very dry. Sandro's life here is somewhat monotonous. He has a purely sexual relationship with his colleague Ricardo. He always seems to be a bit of an outsider, not comfortable in his own skin, not really belonging. Everything changes when Maicon, a man straight out of a Tom of Finland illustration, shows up in their small town.