Under the Flags, the Sun has topped the international competition of the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (Bafici), which ended on Sunday after 13 days of screenings of an estimated 298 films. 

Juanjo Pereira’s film depicts the fall of Alfredo Stroessner’s 35-year dictatorship in Paraguay in 1989, using an enormous audiovisual archive, a genre known as “found-footage”. 

Documentary-essay LS83 won the Buenos Aires City Prize that awards the best Argentine film of all official competitions. Herman Szwarcbart’s film explores the connection between personal memory and public discourse by intertwining childhood memories of writer Martín Kohan and the unreleased archives of the Channel 9 newscast between 1973 and 1980. 

Sundance-entry The Virgin of the Quarry Lake, directed by Laura Casabé and based on stories by writer Mariana Enriquez, won the Grand Jury Prize in the Argentine competition.

Written by filmmaker Benjamin Naishtat (Rojo, Puan) the film is set in the troubled summer of 2001 and narrates the horror-tainted story of Natalia, Mariela and Josefina, three teenage friends in love with a friend they will try to lure by delving into the realm of spells and black magic.

The awards announcement took place on Saturday at the Auditorium of Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires. 

“Awarding the Buenos Aires City Prize for the first time marks a milestone for Bafici and for our city’s cultural policy,” said Buenos Aires Mayor Jorge Macri. 

“For us, culture is not an expense: it is identity, a future, and an investment that projects Buenos Aires to the world,” he added.

The Grand Prizes of the three competitions awarded AR$5 million for each winning film, sponsored by Banco Ciudad, Peliplat and MUBI. The Buenos Aires City Grand Prize for the best Argentine film of all competitions consisted of AR$10 million.

The official awards of the 26th Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival are as follows:

BUENOS AIRES CITY PRIZE

LS83, by Herman Szwarcbart (Argentina / Germany)

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST ARGENTINE FEATURE FILM

The Continuous Present, by Ulises Rosell

BAFICI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Lita Stantic
Bebe Kamin

OFFICIAL COMPETITIONS AWARDS

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

GRAND PRIZE

Under the Flags, the Sun, by Juanjo Pereira (Paraguay / Argentina / USA / France / Germany)

BEST FEATURE FILM

Le Rendez-vous de l’été, by Valentine Cadic (France)

BEST SHORT FILM

My Mother is a Cow, by Moara Passoni (Brazil)

BEST DIRECTOR

Tomás Alzamora Muñoz, for Designation of Origin (Chile)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

A Day Cut Short, by María Villar (Argentina)

BEST ACTING

Maria Cavalier-Bazan, for Aimer perdre (Belgium)

ARGENTINE COMPETITION

GRAND PRIZE

The Virgin of the Quarry Lake, by Laura Casabé (Argentina / Mexico / Spain)

BEST FEATURE FILM

All the Strengths, by Luciana Piantanida (Argentina / Peru)

BEST SHORT FILM

The Banner, by Tomás Terzano (Argentina / Spain)

BEST DIRECTOR

Tomás Terzano, for The Banner (Argentina / Spain)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

The Bewilderment of Chile, by Lucía Seles (Argentina)

BEST PERFORMANCE

Andrea Carballo and César Troncoso, for The Woman of the River (Néstor Mazzini, Argentina / Uruguay)

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Tesis sobre una domesticación, by Javier Van de Couter (Argentina / Mexico)

LS83, by Herman Szwarcbart (Argentina / Germany)

The Continuous Present, by Ulises Rosell (Argentina)

VANGUARD AND GENRE COMPETITION

GRAND PRIZE

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, by Khalil Joseph (USA) (USA / Ghana)

BEST FEATURE FILM

Bomba Bernal, by Khavn (Philippines)

BEST SHORT FILM

Crash: Huang Xi Hu Xi, by Dale Zhou & Hongxiang Zhou (USA)

BEST DIRECTOR

Marie Losier, for Barking in the Dark (France)

SPECIAL JURY AWARD

Chronicles of the Absurd, by Miguel Coyula (Cuba)

BEST PERFORMANCE

Verónica Intile, for I Laugh, Therefore I Am (Tetsuo Lumiere, Argentina)

SPECIAL MENTION

Turtle Chasing Turtle, by Víctor González (Argentina)