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600 Miles by Gabriel Ripstein to be Presented at FICM

We are pleased to announce that 600 Miles, by Mexican director Gabriel Ripstein, will be presented at the 13th edition of FICM. 600 Miles had its international premiere as the opening film in the Panorama Special section at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), where it received the award for Best First Film.

“It is an enormous privilege for me to have my first film as a director be part of the 13th FICM,” Gabriel Ripstein said. “I’m very fond of this festival and respect it a great deal. Thirteen years ago I was invited by Daniela Michel to give a conference on production at the festival, when it had just started. To participate now as a director of a film is a great honor for me. I thank the entire FICM staff for including 600 Miles in such a special event.”

The film, produced by Lucía Films and distributed by Videocine, tells the story of Arnulfo Rubio, a low-level operator who smuggles weapons from the United States to Mexico. What he doesn’t know is that Hank Harris, a veteran agent of the ATF, is on his trail. After a fateful mistake by Harris, Rubio makes a desperate decision: He takes the agent hostage and crosses the border with him. During their trip into Mexico, these two men, who are apparently enemies, begin to know one another. But the place where they arrive is dangerous and the only way the two men can come out alive is to trust each other.

Gabriel Ripstein was born into a family of filmmakers (he is the grandson of producer Alfredo Ripstein and son of director Arturo Ripstein) and has been involved in the creative side and the business aspect of filmmaking. He has written screenplays for both the U.S. and Mexican industry, and has participated as producer in more than 20 features of Sony Pictures. 600 Miles is his debut feature and his first film as a director to participate in FICM.

It is an honor for FICM to present 600 Miles which, in addition to its success at the Berlinale, has been selected by the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences (AMACC, for its acronym in Spanish) to represent Mexico in the competition for Best Foreign Film at the 88th Academy Awards.