Margot Benacerraf
Encyclopedia
Margot Benacerraf is a Venezuela
n director born in the city of Caracas
. Benacerraf studied at IDHEC
(Institut des hautes études cinématographiques) in Paris
. Her two most well-known films are the documentaries Reverón and Araya
. Reverón illustrates the life of the well-known Venezuelan painter Armando Reverón
. Araya portrays the day to day work of the workers of the salt mines of Araya
, a city in the East of Venezuela
. The film was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival
, where it shared the Cannes International Critics Prize with Alain Renais's Hiroshima, Mon Amour. Benacerraf founded the Nacional Film library in 1966 and was its director for three years consecutively. She was a member of the Board of directors of Ateneo de Caracas, and in 1991, with the help of the writer and patron of the Latin American cinema Gabriel García Márquez
, created Latin Fundavisual, the foundation in charge of promoting Latin American audio-visual art in Venezuela. She has received several decorations among them National Prize of Cinema (1995), the Order Andrés Bello (in two occasions), the Simón Order Bolivar, Order of the Italian Government, Bernardo O’Higgins Order of the Government of Chile, amongst others. In February 1987, Ateneo de Caracas inaugurated a Room of Cinema in her name.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n director born in the city of Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
. Benacerraf studied at IDHEC
Institut des hautes études cinématographiques
L'Institut des hautes études cinématographiques is a French film school, founded during World War II under the leadership of Marcel L'Herbier who was its president from 1944 to 1969. IDHEC offered training for directors and producers, cameramen, sound technicians, editors, art directors and...
(Institut des hautes études cinématographiques) in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Her two most well-known films are the documentaries Reverón and Araya
Araya (film)
Araya is a 1959 Venezuelan-French documentary film directed by Margot Benacerraf and co-written by Benacerraf and Pierre Seghers.- Story :Araya: a peninsula jutting into the Caribbean off northern Venezuela...
. Reverón illustrates the life of the well-known Venezuelan painter Armando Reverón
Armando Reverón
Armando Julio Reverón was a modernist painter of the late 19th and early 20th century in Venezuela. Most of his work was inspired by the coast, landscape and people of Macuto, located in the central coast of Venezuela, and was characterized by his view and expression of the bright luminosity of...
. Araya portrays the day to day work of the workers of the salt mines of Araya
Araya
Araya is a town located on Venezuela's Caribbean coast, on the easternmost extremity of the Araya Peninsula.-Araya Fortress:The Araya Fortress is a beige-brown stone masonry fortification. The fortification was built in order to defend Araya and the Araya Peninsula against Caribbean...
, a city in the East of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. The film was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival
1959 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Marcel Achard *Antoni Bohdziewicz *Michael Cacoyannis *Carlos Cuenca *Pierre Daninos *Julien Duvivier *Max Favalelli *Gene Kelly *Carlo Ponti *Micheline Presle...
, where it shared the Cannes International Critics Prize with Alain Renais's Hiroshima, Mon Amour. Benacerraf founded the Nacional Film library in 1966 and was its director for three years consecutively. She was a member of the Board of directors of Ateneo de Caracas, and in 1991, with the help of the writer and patron of the Latin American cinema Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
, created Latin Fundavisual, the foundation in charge of promoting Latin American audio-visual art in Venezuela. She has received several decorations among them National Prize of Cinema (1995), the Order Andrés Bello (in two occasions), the Simón Order Bolivar, Order of the Italian Government, Bernardo O’Higgins Order of the Government of Chile, amongst others. In February 1987, Ateneo de Caracas inaugurated a Room of Cinema in her name.