After a stirring Latin American debut of Jean-Marc Vallee’s “Wild” with Reese Witherspoon in attendance to kick off the third annual Los Cabos International Film Festival, the event continues into its successive days with a strong schedule of screenings and multiple events to forge film industry connections.
The Los Cabos festival, one of film’s fastest-building events in North America, has been noted for its strong industry attendance this year, which is fueled largely by the area’s #unstoppable movement following Los Cabos’ process of recovery after Hurricane Odile.
“Pride is a motor for creation, the motor that propels us towards even greater endeavors,” Director Xavier Dolan spoke of the effort before screening his jury prized Mommy at Thursday evening’s Gala event and recognizing Denys Arcand with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
He continued: “I wanted to say that you Cabo people will need pride to rebuild what has been lost, and I encourage you… and I’m happy to be here with the #unstoppable movement. If our presence — or any of the artists’ presence here — will help you in recovering from what happened, then that’s great.”
In addition to the theme of recovery, the third annual festival has a focus on reward, with plans to present $335,850 in prize money this year. That’s also “wild,” as it’s the highest for any Latin American festival.
