5th Annual Los Cabos Film Festival in Full Swing

5th Annual Los Cabos Film Festival in Full Swing –  Three days in, the Los Cabos International Film Festival is in full swing. Last night’s gala screening of Snowden at El Pabellón Cultural de la República featured an appearance by the film’s director, Oliver Stone, to whom tribute is being paid at this year’s festival. In addition to Snowden, Stone’s film’s JFK and Salvador have also been showcased, and the esteemed director was presented with La Ballena de Los Cabos, the newly minted festival prize in the shape of a whale created by jewelry designer Daniel Espinosa.

Legendary film director Oliver Stone receives La Ballena de Los Cabos from Los Cabos International Film Festival director Alonso Aguilar-Castillo. Photo courtesy of Paulo Vidales/Imagen Latente.

Stone is one of many actors and directors who traveled to The Capes Region to present their work at the 5th annual Los Cabos International Film Festival. Italian actress Monica Bellucci, who was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival, also made an appearance at Cinemex in Cabo San Lucas to talk about her role in On the Milky Road, a love story set in war-torn Serbia. Movie stars Dennis Quaid (Breaking Away, The Right Stuff, Traffic) and Cary Elwes (Princess Bride) held court at the theater complex to promote their new Crackle original series The Art of More, set in the world of a high-end auction house.

Others making appearances included director Sebastián Hiriart and actress Paulina Dávila, who discussed Carroña, a poetic love story in reverse that made its world premiere at the festival; directors Ricardo Silva and Omar Guzmán, accompanied by actor Edward Coward, presented the world premiere of their film William, El Nuevo Maestro del Judo; La Habitación, a film comprised of 8 stories that take place in the same room in Mexico City, was presented by directors Alejandro Valle, Carlos Carrera and Natalia Beristáin, and producers Luis Salinas and Edher Campos.

The behind the scenes business of film was also represented, most notably at the Meet-MART at ME Cabo Hotel. The second session of the Los Cabos Film Investor Summit, hosted by Winston Baker, took place behind closed doors, with filmmakers participating in unique pitching sessions with leading Hollywood investors and financiers. The Mexico-Canada binational meeting was presented by Canada Media Fund and IMCINE, in a joint effort to bring film and television professionals from both countries together. ME Cabo, by the way, will also be the site of the closing party, a late night invitation only affair expected to continue into the wee hours of Monday morning.

Italian actress Monica Bellucci was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th annual Los Cabos International Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Paulo Vidales/Imagen Latente.

Snowden, a film about the travils of U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, was the third of the festival’s four gala screenings at El Pabellón Cultural de la República, following Jackie, a biopic of Jaqueline Bouvier Kennedy in the wake of her husband’s assassination, and Hasta La Raíz, which documented the making of the album of the same name by Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade. The fourth and final film, Captain Fantastic, will be screened tonight at El Pabellón at 9 p.m. It stars Viggo Mortensen as the unconventional father of six children.

The winners in the various film prize categories–México, Los Cabos, and Cinemex’s Viewers Choice–will be shown tomorrow between 1 and 9 p.m. in Theater 3 at Cinemex, the theater complex at Puerto Paraíso mall on the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Cinemex Theaters in San José del Cabo, meanwhile, will screen Hasta La Raíz at 7 p.m. Fittingly, portions of the album were recorded in San José, at Hotel El Ganzo.

Ticket packages that include party and screening passes are still available, as are individual movie tickets. For more information, including a schedule of all screenings, visit cabosfilmfestival.com.