Catalan filmmaker gets honorary prize in Guadalajara

The Catalan filmmaker Ventura Pons has been awarded the Mayahuel prize for his career at the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), Latin America’s top celebration of cinema. Catalonia is the guest of honor in this year’s edition of the Mexican festival.

Pons received the prize from the hands of the festival director Iván Trujillo and the Mexican filmmaker Jaime Humberto Hermosillo on Tuesday. “In Catalonia, we’re very happy that Trujillo has dedicated this festival to Europe’s oldest nation, with the oldest parliament,” he said.

The Catalan director wore a yellow ribbon, which he referred to as “the symbol of liberty,” in solidarity with the four pro-independence leaders jailed in Madrid. He even gave ribbons to Hermosillo and Trujillo, adding: “Long live liberty, long live cinema, long live Guadalajara, long live Catalonia, and long live the world.”