In a rare double-whammy, Rey’s Education, directed by Argentina’s Santiago Esteves, won both the prizes on off er Wednesday night at the San Sebastián Festival’s Films in Progress,
one of the highest-profi le pix-in-post competitions in Europe.
First conceived as an eight-segment TV mini-series that won a fi ction contest at Argentina’s Television Digital Abierta, cop thriller-drama Rey’s Education snagged both the Films in Progress 30th Industry Award, given by a clutch of Spanish distributors and service houses, and the Caci/Ibermedia TV Films in Progress Award.
Esteves’ fi rst feature, Rey’s Education kicks off with Reynaldo Galíndez, Rey, a 14-year-old petty criminal, pulling his fi rst job. Escaping, he falls into the patio of a retired security guard, damaging his home. e guard proposes a pact: Rey repair the damage caused to his home in return for not being handed over to the police. As Rey does this, the guard attempts to tutor him in the lessons of life. But Rey’s past begins to catch up with him….
“It’s a classic story featuring one person who is getting to the end of his life and another who is just beginning,” said Esteves at San Sebastián, after the Films in Progress award ceremony. He added: “ is is very common in the crime world. We’ve tried to transfer the classic training of a warrior to the west of Argentina, which is rarely seen in Argentine movies.”
The Films in Progress 30th Industry Award is supported by companies Daniel Goldstein, Deluxe-Spain, Dolby Iberia, Laserfi lm Cine y Video, Nephilim Producciones, No Problem Sonido and Wanda Visión.
It covers the cost of a fi lm’s post-production and offers distribution in
Spain.
Backed by Caci, the association of Latin American fi lm agencies, the Ibermedia TV Films in Progress Award consists in a grant of $25,000 for non-exclusive broadcast rights on Ibermedia TV, a program screening movie from Latin America, Spain and Portugal on public broadcasters in the region.
EMILIANO DE PABLOS
JOHN HOPEWELL