Chilean film "Alice in the Land" wins award in Pamplona

PAMPLONA.- Chilean film director Esteban Larraín was presented with First Prize at the 5th Point of View Festival in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona for his movie "Alice in the Land", which tells the story of a Bolivian woman's journey through the Atacama Desert.

The award, which comes with 10,000 Euros (12,500 U.S. dollars), was presented after the board of judges unanimously praised the full-length documentary style film's ability to "provoke concern through a minimal storyline about the beginning of a fragile and uncertain voyage with a universal air of truth".

"Alice in the land" tells the story of Alice, a woman who, when faced with her family's economic hardship, decides to embark on a 180 kilometer journey from her Bolivian village to San Pedro de Atacama, in Chile.

Born in 1973, Esteban Larraín works as a script writer, director and film producer.

98 films were entered in the international festival, 26 of which went on to the official stage, which drew more than 5,000 audience members to several projection rooms.