FILMS
TRUE VISION AWARD 2022 RECIPIENT: JUAN PABLO GONZÁLEZ
Juan Pablo González will receive this year’s True Vision Award in honor of his achievements in and contributions to the field of nonfiction filmmaking. His latest film, Dos Estaciones, will screen at the festival in addition to his feature debut, Caballerango, and one of his short films, "Las Nubes." As part of the award, González was invited to present a screening of a film that influenced his approach to filmmaking, and he chose Canoa: A Shameful Memory (Dir. Felipe Cazals). Juan Pablo González was born in Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco, Mexico; and his home region has become the focus of his filmmaking practice, acting as the location for all of his work to date. As a filmmaker, he seeks to reclaim the medium to counter colonial narratives and center the voices of rural Mexico—building alternative histories to those who seek to frame its communities as being locked in stasis or as victims of circumstance. González’s work spans fiction and nonfiction, and he often collaborates with people from his life to reflect their own realities on screen. His films seek to explore community, grief, globalization, and the changing nature of Jalisco as a place. All of his work shares a beautifully cinematic aesthetic, and, with a patient lens and care for his subjects, González’s commitment to telling these stories is clear in every frame. His newest film, Dos Estaciones, saw him work with a cast of local nonprofessional actors to tell the story of a strong-willed owner of a tequila factory in the Jalisco Highlands fighting to save her business from encroaching foreign corporations. In Caballerango (T/F 2019), González crafts a quietly devastating portrait of grief in a rural Mexican town, and "Las Nubes" (T/F 2018) unfolds in a single take as a man recalls the memory of the last time he saw his daughter. The award is given with support from Dr. Timothy McGarity of Restoration Eye Care. The award is designed by local metal artist Michael Marcum.
PRESENTED BY 8
