Pablo Aura Langer’s “Influencia” starring Alejandra Cárdenas, Marco Zapata, Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto star Gerardo Taracena and the 2 times winner of the Mexican Academy Award ‘Ariel’ Veronica Langer, was awarded “Best International Film” at the Las Vegas International Film & Screenwriting competition, at the Action Film Awards.

In its year long festival run, the movie has won over a dozen awards internationally in different festivals, such as “Best Feature Film” at the Valle Film Festival, “Best Production Design” at the Milan International Film Festival, “Special Jury Award” at the Saint Petersburg Peterhof International Film Festival, where it got a standing ovation from the crowd at its premiere.

The film was shot entirely on location in Mexico City and tells the story of Leonora, a 16 y/o teenager who lives with her grandmother Olga, in a roof-top room, isolated from the world for 10 years, because she is convinced that she has the gift of bringing a violent death to the people whose faces she looks into.

The magical world she’s created to survive living in seclusion is shaken when Olga dies and Leonora meets Brando, an urban prince whom she hides from the neighborhood mafia.

The story, a thriller that unites the lives of some small-time juvenile delinquents in the area, together with the magical world of Leonora, is a visual delight that recalls the best films of the old days of Mexican cinema.