Morelia festival wraps 24th edition; ‘Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building’ takes top honors

A childhood memory reshaped into fiction won big at the recently concluded Morelia International Film Festival, with “6 meses en el edificio rosa con azul” (“Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building”) taking both the judges’ top prize and the audience award. The double win — the Ojo for best Mexican feature and the audience award in the same category — marked a meeting of jury and moviegoer tastes that the newspaper El Universal described as rare on the festival circuit. Trailer de Seis meses en el edificio rosa con azul (HD) The 104-minute Spanish-language drama is the first fiction feature by Bruno Santamaría Razo, a documentary filmmaker born in Mexico City in 1986. Planned for a 2027 theatrical release in Mexico — with no streaming dates yet announced — the film follows an 11-year-old boy discovering his feelings for his best friend as his family confronts his father’s HIV diagnosis in 1990s Mexico City. Reconstructing family memories through imagination rather than strictly retelling events, the film premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, becoming the first Mexican feature to compete in the section in 20 years. The 24th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) was held in the Michoacán capital from Oct. 16 through Sunday. For its 25th anniversary next year, FICM officials are promising a landmark edition with major guests, bold retrospectives and a stellar lineup — and it will move the dates to the week immediately before the Day of the Dead. This year’s festival included 96 Mexican films in competition, alongside international screenings, retrospectives and tributes. The guest list was strong, as usual, with appearances by directors Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) and Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”), along with “Y Tu Mamá También” stars Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal — underscoring Morelia’s standing as a gathering place for Mexican cinema. Diego Luna’s highly acclaimed film adaptation of Brenda Navarro’s “Ceniza en la boca” had its national premiere at Morelia International Film Festival on Oct. 18. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro) International guests included U.S. director James Gray, who presented “Paper Tiger,” which competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. The winner at Cannes, “Fjord,” also played in the FICM. Festival president and Cinépolis CEO Alejandro Ramírez described this year’s event as a particularly Mexican celebration. Mexican Nicolás Pereda won best director for “Lo demás es ruido” (“Everything Else Is Noise”), an absurdist comedy about a musician preparing for her first television interview. Its star, Teresa Sánchez, also a Mexican, won best actress. Sam Louwyck of Belgium took best actor for playing a gay hairdresser in Mexican Nathalia Acevedo’s “Salón de belleza” (“Beauty Salon”). Mexican Joaquín del Paso’s “El jardín que soñamos” (“The Garden We Dreamed”), about a Haitian family traveling north, earned a special mention and the cinematography award. Mexican Fernanda Tovar received the first-time director award for “Chicas tristes” (stylized as “Sad Girlz” in translation), about two teenage girls supporting each other after one is sexually abused. Pablo Vaca’s “Forensita” won best Mexican documentary feature. With reports from El Universal, Variety, Animal MX and Proceso