🎬 Information and images Courtesy via Lucia Reinoso of Procine
Cinema as Living Memory: The Guatemalan Academy Celebrates the Legacy of National Cinema
Guatemala City, November 2025 | The Guatemalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, as part of the Project for the Strengthening of the Guatemalan Film Sector — with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports — presented "Cinema as Living Memory" (El cine como memoria viva), a gala dedicated to honoring the legacy of Guatemalan cinema through creation, memory, and audiovisual research.
The event took place on November 23, 2025, in the Auditorium of the Hotel Camino Real, Guatemala City, within the framework of the 28th Ícaro International Film Festival.
"Luis de Lión" Lifetime Achievement Award
During the gala, the "Luis de Lión" Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to:
* Luis Argueta, a Guatemalan-American director and producer, a pioneer of national cinema and internationally recognized for El silencio de Neto and his migratory trilogy.
* Patricia Orantes, an actress and director with more than four decades of artistic work, co-founder of Rayuela Teatro Independiente, and a key figure in the formation and development of the performing arts in Guatemala.
This recognition is named after the Guatemalan writer Luis de Lión, author of El tiempo principia en Xibalbá and one of the most important voices in the country's contemporary literature.
For this edition, the Academy commissioned Guatemalan sculptor Cristian Cojulum to create the award. This recognition seeks to represent the aesthetic, symbolic, and conceptual values that give meaning to the distinction, integrating a vision that transcends the physical object to become a symbol of memory and legacy.
Presentation of Edgar Barillas' Book
As part of the program, the second edition of the book Imaginando la Suiza Tropical. El papel del cine guatemalteco de ficción en el imaginario social del siglo XX (1949–1986) (Imagining the Tropical Switzerland. The Role of Guatemalan Fiction Cinema in the Social Imaginary of the 20th Century (1949–1986)), by Dr. Edgar Barillas, researcher and documentalist specializing in audiovisual heritage, was presented.
The work constitutes the first volume of an exhaustive investigation into the history of Guatemalan fiction cinema, analyzing more than three decades of production and its influence on the construction of the country's social, political, and cultural imaginaries.
A Celebration of Cinema and Cultural Memory
"Cinema as Living Memory" brought together filmmakers, academics, artists, institutions, and agents of the cultural sector in an evening dedicated to recognizing the importance of cinema as a tool for collective memory and nation-building.
The Guatemalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences is an association composed of professionals from the various specializations of audiovisual work. Its work focuses on the promotion, research, development, and preservation of national cinematography, as well as the strengthening of the sector at an international level. Its functions include the selection of films that represent Guatemala in awards such as the Oscar, Goya, Ariel, and Macondo. The Academy promotes the diffusion of Guatemalan cinema, stimulates artistic, technical, and scientific excellence, encourages exchange between creators and institutions, and works for the consolidation and projection of the country's film industry.
