Año Uña - a film by Jonas Cuaron

Welcome to the ‘Año Uña’ Short Film Competition…
Congratulations to everyone who submitted their short film entry. Our jury were delighted with all entries received, making the task on deciding the winners a fun but difficult one!

The Jury:

  • Jonás Cuarón Jonas Cuarón was born in Mexico City in 1983. He received his B.F.A in Fine Arts from New York’s Vassar College. In 2001, Jonás co-wrote and co-directed his first short 8 Stories, with Colt Haussman, which was awarded Best Film in the U.S. National High School Film Festival. In 2003, he co-wrote and directed the short Un Disparejo. In 2007, Jonás co-directed The Shock Doctrine, a short film by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein, about Klein’s book of the same name, which premiered at the 2007 Corto Cortissimo section of the Venice Film Festival.
  • Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón is an Academy Award-nominated film director, screenwriter and film producer. Amongst other critically acclaimed films, Cuarón has directed Y Tu Mama Tambien, Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
  • Eireann Harper Eireann Harper was born in San Francisco in 1983. She received her B.A. in Art History from Vassar College in New York. Eireann worked as Curatorial Assistant for the 2003 Venice Biennial’s Utopia Station, which included contribution from filmmakers Jonas Mekas and Agnès Varda. Eireann co-wrote Jonás Cuarón’s short Un Disparejo, and worked as Assistant Director on that project. Eireann makes her film-acting debut in Jonás’ Año Uña, which she also produced.
  • Darius Khondji Darius Khondji is one of the most celebrated cinematographers of contemporary cinema. His unique style is present in a number of both French and Hollywood films and has influenced an already competitive industry. Khondji established his international reputation with his work on Delicatessen and subsequently worked with David Fincher on Se7en, as well as a number of renowned directors including Bernardo Bertolucci, Roman Polanski, Sydney Pollack, Woody Allen and Wong Kar-Wai. Khondji was nominated for an Oscar for his work on Alan Parker’s Evita.
  • Chris Coen Chris Coen worked as an assistant director before making the transition to producer and moving to Los Angeles in 2000 to start Halcyon Entertainment. Whilst in LA, he produced Deepwater starring Peter Coyote and Lucas Black, followed by Wristcutters: A Love Story starring Shannon Sossamon, Tom Waitts and Patrick Fugit. The film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for best first feature and accepted into dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival 2006. Whilst working in LA, Chris optioned the remake rights to Michael Haneke’s Funny Games which later Haneke directed and which starred Naomi Watts, Michael Pitt and Tim Roth. 2007 saw Chris set up Halcyon Pictures and Halcyon Releasing in the UK.
  • Mia Bays Mia Bays is an Oscar winning film producer and marketing/distribution consultant. Her first film as producer, Martin McDonagh’s Six Shooter, which won the Best Live Action Short Academy Award 2006. Her first theatrical feature as producer is Scott Walker – 30 Century Man by Stephen Kijak. Mia was nominated for a BAFTA in 2008 for the Carl Foreman Award for Best Debut by a producer. As a consutant, Mia worked on films such as Tsotsi, Blindsight and recently for Año Uña.
  • Tom Munro Tom Munro is a famed contemporary fashion photographer who, amongst many other celebrities, has photographed Gwyneth Paltrow, Quentin Tarantino, Dustin Hoffman, Justin Timberlake and Tom Cruise and whose clients include Calvin Klein, Givenchy and Armani. Tom’s pictures frequently feature in Italian Vogue. One of his most recent successes includes photos of Madonna for the cover of Elle magazine. After working with him, Madonna asked Munro to create the second video for her new album “Hard Candy”.
  1. COMPETITION WINNERS

    Congratulations to everyone who entered the ‘Año Uña’ Short Film Competition!
     

  2. WHAT WAS THE COMPETITION ABOUT?

    Watch the Año Uña trailer plus our exclusive clips from the film and you’ll soon see what we are looking for… 

In his novel Elsinore, Salvador Elizondo describes a character with the power to know, from looking at a single image, if the subject portrayed is alive or dead. A photograph is the promise of a moment’s permanence.

For AÑO UÑA, Jonás Cuarón began taking photographs throughout one year, spontaneous images of people in their everyday lives, with neither posing nor staging. Jonás knew while taking the photographs that he would use them to make a film, but there was no plot because the recorded events followed the characters, themes and stories of the year.

At the end of the year, Jonás and Eireann Harper completed an installation in which they mounted the thousands of photographic images in one room, ordered in scenes composed of shots. Consistencies began to emerge. Two people in particular reoccurred, Jonás’ girlfriend, Eireann, and his brother Diego. They became the narrative’s protagonists. (Read the full synopsis)

Año Uña charts the impossible romance between Molly, a 21-year-old American, and Diego, a Mexican in the throes of puberty. When Molly travels to Mexico, she rents a room in Diego’s house, and a close relationship immediately develops between the two. Diego, who had previously been consumed by desire for his cousin, Emilia, redirects his obsession after Molly arrives. Molly enjoys Diego’s flirtations, finding the attention and respect missing from her relationships with boyfriends. The relationship continues to grow until Molly returns to New York. Diego decides to run away and win Molly’s heart, whose tenderness for Diego turned into attraction.

We’d like you to take this one step further – re-write a part of the story with Jonás‘ stills, mix in or use just your own photos to make a completely different narrative and send it to us.

What can you win?

Our celebrated panel will select a winner for each of the three awards below.

Best Short Film
You will be introduced by Jonás and Alfonso Cuarón and your film screened at the UK premiere.

1st Runner-up
3x double passes to any Curzon Cinema plus an invitation to the UK premiere.

2nd Runner-up
6-month subscription to Lovefilm plus an invitation to the UK premiere.

The YouTube Community will also select a winner (based on ratings) for the People’s Choice award. Along with Best Short Film, you will also be introduced by Jonás and Alfonso Cuarón and your film screened at the UK premiere.

Each of the four winning entries above will also be included on the film’s DVD release.

See Terms & Conditions for more details.

Ano Una Trailer

Ano Una Stills
 
Sponsored by: Curzon Cinemas Love Film