The Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (BAFICI, for its Spanish initials) announced its winners on Friday following a twelve-day competition featuring more than 280 films screened across thirteen movie theaters in BA City.

The main prize, known as the Grand Prix award, was shared by two films — A paixão segundo GH (The passion according to GH) and El placer es mío (The pleasure is mine), from Brazil and Argentina, respectively. 

The passion according to GH, helmed by Luiz Fernando Carvalho, is based on the Clarice Lispector novel of the same name and stars Maria Fernanda Candido as a sculptor from Copacabana’s artistic elite who decides to clean her apartment after a heartbreak. When confronted with a huge cockroach in a room, she experiences “an existential Via Crucis.”

Sacha Amaral directed the Max Suen-led The pleasure is mine, which tells the story of Antonio, a young man who sells marijuana and manipulates people he knows through dating apps.

U.S. comedy-adventure Riddle of wire, Weston Razooli’s first film, won the International Best Feature Film award. Described as a “modern fairy tale set in Wyoming, USA,” it centers around the misfortunes three children encounter while running errands for their mother. 

Ukrainian filmmaker Oksana Karpovych won Best Director for her documentary Intercepted, which juxtaposes images of a war-torn Ukraine with intercepted recordings of Russian soldiers calling home. 

The top award for Argentine films went to the movie Vrutos. Directed by Miguel Bou, it tells the story of a young man from an impoverished neighborhood who gets into a fight with a group of elite rugby players. 

The best Argentine feature film went to Martín Farina’s El cambio de guardia (The changing of the guard), a charming documentary encompassing several years of a group of friends who belonged to the “Los Patricios” (Regimiento de Infantería 1 “Los Patricios”), the oldest regiment of the Argentine Army. 

The jury for the international awards was made up of Giacomo Abbruzzese (Italy), Angela Christlieb (Austria), Jorge de Carvalho (Portugal), Néstor Frenkel (Argentina), and María Negroni (Argentina). The national film award jury was made up of Annie Karlsson (Sweden), Serge Michel (Switzerland), Laura Nevole (Argentina), Valentina Otormin Dall’Oglio (Uruguay), and María Fernanda Mugica (Argentina).

This year’s BAFICI was marked by discussions over Javier Milei’s austerity measures and cuts to the movie industry and other cultural areas. For example, the government shut down Argentina’s National Institute of Film and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) three days into the festival. Staff were sent on temporary leave while the institution, which funds and supports local film production, allegedly went through an internal reorganization.

Read the full list of winners below:

INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL COMPETITION

Grand Prix

A paixão segundo GH (Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazil) and El placer es mío (Sacha Amaral, Argentina).

Best feature film

Riddle of Fire (Weston Razooli, United States).

Best feature film

The Ghosts You Draw on My Back (Nikola Stojanović, Serbia).

Best director

Oksana Karpovych (director of Intercepted, Canada).

Special jury award

L’Homme d’argile (Anaïs Tellene, France).

Best Actor

Maria Fernanda Cândido (A paixão segundo GH, Brazil).

Argentine Film Stimulus Award 

Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale’s La Pasión

OFFICIAL ARGENTINE COMPETITION

Grand Prix

Vrutos, by Miguel Bou.

Best feature film

El cambio de guardia, by Martín Farina.

Best short film

Cuando todo arde, by María Belén Poncio.

Best director

Miguel Bou (Vrutos).

Special jury award

La bolsita de agua caliente, by Yuliana Brutti.

Best actor

Javier Orán and Lautaro Bettoni, for Los amantes astronautas.

Special mentions for cinematography: Barcos y catedrales, by Nicolás Aráoz, taken by Mauricio Asial; Dejar Romero, by Alejandro Fernández Mouján and Hernán Khourian; Imprenteros, by Lorena Vega and Gonzalo Javier Zapico.

AVANT-GARDE AND GENDER COMPETITION

Grand Prix

Wander to Wonder, by Nina Gantz (Netherlands).

Best feature film

That They May Face the Rising Sun, by Pat Collins (Irlande).

Best short film

Mamántula, by Ion de Sosa (Spain). 

Best director

Pat Collins, for That They May Face the Rising Sun (Irlande).

Special jury award

Henry Fonda for President, by Alexander Horwath (Austria). 

Best actor

Lola Amores, for La mujer salvaje (Cuba). 

Argentine Film Stimulus Award

¡Homofobia!, by Goyo Anchou.

Special Mention for Acting 

Elena Topalidou, for Highway of a Broken Heart (Greece).