Escalante’s Work in Heli Garnered him the 2013 Best Director in Cannes
Amat Escalante’s Spanish language film, Heli premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and he took home the Best Director award that year. The film was then selected to represent Mexico that year at the Academy Awards, however it was not nominated. U.S. audience will have a chance to see the film as it premieres on June 13rd in limited release.
Heli is a gritty, intense and thought-provoking film that focuses on the struggle of a young working class family in Mexico, doing all the right things, that unexpectedly gets caught up in the drug violence and corruption that has devastated the country for many years.
Escalante is a self-taught filmmaker born in Barcelona but he grew up in Guanajuato, Mexico and Los Angeles. He began his work in cinema at the age of 15. His first feature Sangre was shot in Guanajuato and and also premiered in Cannes in 2005, Un Certain Regard, where he was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize from International aitics. His second film, Bastardos, was also part of the Un Certain Regard Official Selection in 2008. Amat is only the 4th Mexican since Luis Buñel to win this award at Cannes.
Heli opens in Los Angeles on June 13th at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. Tickets go on sale 3-4 days before opening. It also opens in San Diego, and New York City on the same day.
For more information, reviews and interviews please visit: www.helithefilm.com
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