El Vigilante (The Night Guard), a drama about a security guard who has one of the strangest nights of his life, won big Saturday evening at the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico, nabbing jury prizes for best picture and actor.
First-timer Diego Ros produced, directed and wrote the Mexico City-set drama, which stars Leonardo Alonso, who previously appeared in Cary Fukunaga’s 2009 immigration thriller Sin Nombre.
The festival’s audience award went to Daniel Castro’s thriller Las Tinieblas (The Darkness), while Bellas de Noche (Beauties of the Night), which explores Mexico’s cabaret scene in the 1970s, walked away with the jury award for best documentary.
The 14th edition of the Morelia International Festival was a star-studded affair. This year’s guests included Gael Garcia Bernal, Eva Longoria, Aaron Eckhart, Edgar Ramirez (Hands of Stone), Casey Affleck and Oscar nominee Demian Bichir, who made his directorial debut with Un Cuento de Circo & a Love Song.
Also on hand was Willem Dafoe for the world premiere of Giada Colagrande’s drama Padre. During the weeklong event, Dafoe revealed that he will be starring in Daniel Graham’s freshman drama Opus Zero, which will begin shooting in Mexico next week and is being produced by Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas.
