AWARD-WINNING FILMS SET THE TONE FOR VLAFF'S 2009

Award-winning films from Mexico and Chile have been selected for the prestigious opening and closing nights of the seventh annual Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF) in September. The two high-profile productions set the tone for an award-winning lineup at one of North America's premier Latin American film festivals.

Arrancame La Vida (Tear This Heart Out), directed by Roberto Sneider,is considered as the most expensive film in Mexican history, while La Buena Vida (The Good Life) is directed by one the most recognized contemporary Chilean filmmakers, Andres Wood. The two Latin American pictures will bookend what promises to be a blockbuster film event from September 10-20, 2009 in Vancouver, B.C.

For opening night on September 10, Arrancame la Vida casts two of the most recognized Mexican actors today – Ana Claudia Talancón (El Crimen del Padre Amaro) and Daniel Giménez Cacho (La Mala Educación). Arrancame la Vida was Mexico's official submission to the Oscars in 2009 and received no fewer than five nominations at the Mexican Academy Film Awards.

Closing out the festival on September 20, La Buena Vida pays homage to Chile, VLAFF’s 2009 guest country. The sixth film by Andrés Wood (Machuca, Historias de Fútbol) was selected for competition in a number of prestigious international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (Havana Film Festival in Havana, Cuba) and the Guadalajara Film Festival in Mexico. The film also won the Goya Award – the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar – from the Spanish Film Academy for Best Latin American Film in 2009.