GIFF welcomes the great American director with open arms
The Guanajuato International Film Festival, in its twenty-second edition, dressed up to receive American director Gus Van Sant in San Miguel de Allende. After the lively concerts from our special Music + Cinema program, the city’s Main Garden received Red Carpet hosts Christian de la Luz and Mariana Mijares, who tested the audience’s knowledge of Gus Van Sant’s filmography through a dynamic of questions.
Renowned actress Jeimy Osorio (accompanied by Argentine actor Rodrigo Giménez) and Arcelia Ramírez — a Mexican actress who has received four Ariel nominations – also walked the carpet.
Accompanied by a lavish parade, Gus Van Sant arrived along with GIFF’s founder and president Sarah Hoch. The tribute ceremony was conducted by Arcelia Ramírez, who highlighted Van Sant’s importance for world cinema.
Gus Van Sant expressed his admiration for the beauty of San Miguel de Allende and said he was impressed by its churches and the fact that one of his idols, cultural icon Neil Cassady, spent his last days in this city.
Subsequently, Sarah Hoch presented the “Más Cine Por Favor” Silver Cross, the highest honor given by the festival to monumental figures of the cinema, both national and international. The director said he was flattered by the recognition and expressed an incipient interest in using the magnificent locations offered by San Miguel de Allende for some future film, adding to cry for “Más Cine Por Favor”.
Finally, Gus Van Sant introduced Good Will Hunting, a film that was an important step in his career as his greatest commercial success. This film, which shows the spiritual path of a working-class genius in Boston, was written by actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. “It is a film about two people talking in front of each other; then I realized that it was in this same way that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon built their script. ”
The audience was not scared away by the raindrops that began to fall and offered all their enthusiasm to make Gus Van Sant experience a sample of Guanajuato hospitality during the screening of Good Will Hunting.