Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico – The stars will be shining bright over Banderas Bay this month, as the University of Guadalajara’s Centro Universitario de la Costa (CUCosta) welcomes actors, film directors and movie fanatics from all over Mexico and the world to the 23rd Annual Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival (FICPV).
The most important film event in the city and the region, the FICPV is an extension of the Guadalajara International Film Festival of the University of Guadalajara. It is set to take place in Puerto Vallarta from June 8 to 11, 2023, with a selection of premiere short films and full-length movies presented at various venues throughout the city.
At a press conference, Anelí Martín del Campo Carrillo, general coordinator of the Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival, announced that the inaugural event will be the screening of the film La Pecera (2023) on Thursday, June 8 at 6:00 pm at the Centro Universitario de la Costa. The film’s director, Glorimar Marrero-Sánchez, will attend the presentation.
The film La Mujer de Benjamín (1991) will also be screened at CUCosta, as well as Redes: Juegos de la Vida (2023), whose director, César Aréchiga, will be attending.
The film Kenya (2022) will be presented as part of the tenth edition of the Premio Maguey, with director Gisela Delgadillo as the special guest. There will also be a screening of El Castillo (2023), with its director Martín Benchimol in attendance.
FICPV23 organizers announced that in this edition, in collaboration with the Fundación Universidad de Guadalajara AC, there will be a gala that aims to show solidarity with civil organizations and offer an alternative for fundraising through total box office donations.
Professor César Omar Avilés González, executive director of the Fundación Universidad de Guadalajara, affirmed that cinema also encourages supporting good causes. Therefore, this year’s gala, set to take place on June 10 at 8 pm, will be dedicated to the memory of Mr. Raúl Padilla López, and the proceeds will go to the Los Mangos Library and Cultural Center. The film will be Almamula (2023), and its screening will be attended by its director Juan Sebastián Torales. Ticket cost 100 pesos and 400 will be available.
Yozozky Dinorah Cortés, president of the Los Mangos Library Cultural Center, was present at the press conference. She thanked the organizing committee for benefiting this cultural venue with the gala funds and said that the resources will be used for the rehabilitation of the external part of the library.
The festival programming also includes the 3rd “El Mar en Corto” Contest, a space where Vallarta talent has the opportunity to express their ideas creatively through the seventh art.
The closing ceremony of this twenty-third edition of the Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival will feature the film Martínez (2023), with the presence of director Lorena Padilla and actress Martha Claudia Moreno.
There will also be the presentation of the Iguana de Oro, FICPV23’s highest award, which recognizes the trajectory of characters who have made relevant contributions to cinema. On this occasion, it will be given to the Mexican film actress Arcelia Ramírez; as well as the renowned directors Glorimar Marrero-Sánchez and Lorena Padilla.
For more information and schedules of the festival’s movies and activities, please visit the Film Festival’s official page on Facebook.