A debut feature film by Puerto Rican filmmaker Glorimar Marrero Sánchez, La pecera [The Fishbowl] has been selected to compete as Best Latin American Film of the Year at the Forqué Awards [Premios Forqué], which celebrate their twenty-ninth edition this year. It is the first time in the history of the competition that a Puerto Rican film has been nominated. [Also see previous post Film: La pecera and The Fishbowl (Review).]

The José María Forqué Film Awards, also known as the Forqué Awards, were created in 1996 by the Audiovisual Producers Rights Management Entity (EGEDA), to honor the memory of José María Forqué, a fundamental figure in Spanish cinematography and first president by EGEDA. EGEDA, the main association of audiovisual producers in Spain, has a presence in much of Latin America, such as Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, as well as in Spain and the United States.

In the words of director Glorimar Marrero Sánchez: “I feel more than grateful to EGEDA and the Forqué Awards for considering our film for this prestigious recognition. I reflect on the path we have taken with La pecera and I feel immense gratitude towards all the people who have accompanied us and made each step possible. Thank you, also, to those who have received this film with such openness and sensitivity, as they help us make visible an urgent story that deserves to be told.”

The winning film of the Best Latin American Film Award will be chosen with the advice of the Executive Committee of the PLATINO Awards, the Ibero-American Federation of Cinematographic and Audiovisual Producers (FIPCA), the Board of Directors of EGEDA, and specialized Ibero-American press.

The results will be announced at the presentation gala of the 29th José María Forqué Film Award, which will take place in Madrid on Saturday, December 16, 2023.

The other three nominated by the committee are the Chilean films La memoria infinita (Maite Alberdi) and Los colonos (Felipe Gálvez), and the Argentine film Puan (María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat).

This is the second international award ceremony in which La pecera achieves a nomination, since the Puerto Rican film currently continues its route as a candidate for Puerto Rico for the Goya Award nomination for Best Ibero-American Film.

La pecera debuted earlier this year at the coveted Sundance Film Festival, kicking off a fruitful international tour of exhibitions at more than 20 independent film festivals. It won the award for Best Film in the Global Images category at the Cyprus Film Days (Cyprus), the Grand Jury Prize in the Ibero-American competition at the Seattle International Film Festival (U.S.), and the Award for Best Fiction Film in the national category of the Puerto Rico Film Festival (Puerto Rico).

Recently, La pecera also obtained an Honorable Mention in the Central American and Caribbean Feature Film Competition, in the Central American and Caribbean film category, at the Costa Rica International Film Festival. Meanwhile, it has been showing in theaters in Puerto Rico for eleven consecutive weeks.

Translated by Ivette Romero. For original article (in Spanish) and more information, see https://www.noticel.com/pop/20231108/la-pecera-nominada-a-mejor-pelicula-latinoamericana-del-ano-en-premios-forque/8