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Edward James Olmos and Marlene Dermer, co-founders of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) presented the winners of its tenth edition at the Closing Night Award Ceremony, which took place last night at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Awards were given in the following categories: Best Picture (Rita Award), Best Script, Best Director, Opera Prima, Best Documentary, Best Short, Special Mentions and Audience Award.
The following are winners of the 10th Annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival:
Features:
Best Film – Rita Award
Winner: Un Mundo Maravilloso Director: Luis Estrada Country: Mexico
Synopsis: A controversial and entertaining political and socioeconomic satire of Mexico, A Wonderful World is told as a fairy tale; it makes an ironic comment on social inequalities and their possible consequences in a not very distant future.
Best Screenplay
Winner: Iluminados por el Fuego Director: Tristan Bauer Country: Argentina
Synopsis: Iluminados por el fuego dwells on the memories of Esteban Leguizamón, a 40-year old man who was drafted in 1982, at age 18, to fight in the Malvinas/Falkland war, in the South Atlantic. Spurred by the suicide attempt of one his former mates, Esteban remembers the experiences he shared with two fellow soldiers: Vargas, the suicide one, and Juan, who died in the war. The stories are a mixed bag: there were the horror, suffering, cold, hunger and mistreatment associated with the conflict, but also stories of friendship and solidarity. From Esteban’s perspectiva, the film examines the gradual immersion of those lives into death. Twenty yers after the war, Esteban decides to go back to the islands to revisit his past and heal old wounds.
Best Director
Winner: Barrio Cuba Director: Humberto Solás Country: Cuba
Synopsis: Magalis, Ignacio, Vivian, Miguelito and Santo, the leading characters of Barrio Cuba, are human beings striving for a little happiness in La Habana. They live life to its fullest, fighting against an uncertain fate, searching for a way out. In spite of the harsh reality of the barrio, they never lose the hope of a better future, of regaining a lost love, (or finding a new one) or of improving themselves. Barrio Cuba is the story of fighters whose lives weave a tapestry of emotions, at times bitterly confused, but always honest. The film is also the portrait of country at a time when preserving the dignity becomes a hard, demanding task.
Special Mention- Best Actor
Damian Alcazar, Un Mundo Maravilloso Director: Luis Estrada Country: Mexico
Synopsis: A controversial and entertaining political and socioeconomic satire of Mexico, A Wonderful World is told as a fairy tale; it makes an ironic comment on social inequalities and their possible consequences in a not very distant future.
Special Mention
Your Name is Justine Director: Franco de Peña Country: Poland
Synopsis: While living with her grandmother in Poland, a young woman falls in love. Her boyfriend is charming and suggests they travel around Europe and work here and there to pay for their trip. Unfortunately, the boyfriend isn’t as he seems and the young woman is sold as a prostitute when they cross over to Germany. She tries to free herself, attempting to remain sane while her captors try to break and condition her to a new life of servitude
OPERA PRIMA:
Winner: 7 Vírgenes Director: Alberto Rodriguez Country: Spain
Synopsis: Tano, a teenager currently serving a sentence in a juvenile reform center, is given a 48-hour leave to attend his brother’s wedding. Together with his best friend Richi, Tano plans to enjoy his 48-hour pass to the limit, doing all the things he is normally prohibited from doing. He gets drunk, takes drugs, steals, has sex and hangs out with his buddies. By the end of his 48-hour pass, Tano has also witnessed the collapse of all the things he takes for granted in his life: the neighborhood, his family, friends and loved ones – everything is somehow different for him. More than just two days of freedom, Tano’s leave turns out to be a journey into maturity.
Documentaries:
Best Documentary
Winner: En el Hoyo Director: Juan Carlos Rulfo Country: Mexico
Synopsis: Mexican legend recounted that for every bridge being built the devil would ask for one soul, in exchange for the bridge never to fall. This film tells the story of the workers who are participating in the construction of a second deck to Mexico City’s inner
periférico freeway. This second deck is about to transform the city, its landscape and the lives of its inhabitants. It is the story of those whose hands and sweat go into the making of this mammoth work of concrete, steel and asphalt. The workers’ daily lives, their hopes, their dreams and their dignity for survival. Contrasts, emotions, and small moments that shall culminate in the loss of a soul taken by the devil; a soul that will remain as a memory of the workers who built the second deck.
Special Jury Award
De Nadie Director: Tin Dirdamal Country: Mexico
Synopsis: De nadie tells the story of Marí, an immigrant from Central America, forced by circumstances to abandon her family, searching for the elusive American Dream. On her way to the United States, she goes through Mexico, where her life becomes a nightmare. De nadie is a documentary about courage and also about the injustices suffered by thousands of people from Central America. They are robbed, tortured and raped, and sometimes also murdered, in Mexico. Before saying good-bye to Marí, we promise we’ll find her family in Honduras to deliver a message acknowledging her odyssey.
Special Jury Award
Habana: Arte Nuevo De Hacer Ruinas / Havana: The New Art Of Making Ruins
Directors: Florian Borchmeyer, Matthias Hentschler
Country: Germany
Synopsis: The New Art of Making Ruins traces the reflections and thoughts of people living in Havana, who spend their days among buildings in ruin. An essay on the ambivalence of magic and decay, the documentary records the last moments of these buildings, before they are renovated – or just collapse.
Honorable Mention:
From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale
Director: Henry Chalfant
Country: USA
From Mambo to Hip Hop tells the story of how multiple generations of predominantly Puerto Rican New Yorkers created artistic expressions that are at once culturally specific yet universally appealing. Focusing on the mambo, salsa, and hip hop generations and the South Bronx neighborhood that has been celebrated and demonized, the film reveals how creative expression helped foster and sustain a community, and when the landscape looked bleakest, served as a resource for strength and community rebuilding. The film weaves a tapestry of people, places and a unique culture with a social history that includes colonialism, migration, and racism.
SHORTS:
Best Short
Winner: Contracuerpo Director: Eduardo Chapero-Jackson Country: Spain
Synopsis: A young woman obsessed with her image takes a journey into the labyrinth of her own perception, turning her body into a prison for the world to see and living the self-destructive dream of becoming what she is not.
Special Jury Prize
Invulnerable Director: Alvaro Pastor Country: Spain
Synopsis: Elís is just beginning his career as a high school teacher and a relationship with Pedro, a colleague. He finds out he is HIV positive. How will he tell his new lover?
Special Jury Prize
Email a Mama Director: Gerardo Ruiz Miñan Country: Peru
Synopsis: A student tells her mother about college life in expressive emails, though her reality is much different than how she reports it
Special Honorable Mention
La Leche y El Agua Director: Celso Garcia Romero Country: Mexico
Synopsis: A woman tries to get back her only companion in life: a cow.
Special Mention Technical Achievement
Man vs. Woman Director: Juan Carlos Vargas Country: USA
Synopsis: Man vs. Woman is a science-fiction action adventure about a climactic and explosive duel between four desperate scavengers fighting for survival on a desolate dry planet — a man, a woman, a cloned velociraptor and a heavily armed robot.
AUDIENCE AWARD:
Winner: Elsa y Fred Director: Marcos Carnevale Country: Argentina
Synopsis: Elsa is 82 years-old and for the past 60 years she’s dreamt of a moment that Fellini had already envisaged: the scene of “La Dolce Vita” at the Fontana di Trevi. The same scene without Anita Ekberg in it but Elsa instead. Without Marcello Mastroiani but with that love that took so long to arrive. Alfredo always did everything he was supposed to do. After losing his wife, he feels distraught and confused. Elsa bursts into his life like a whirlwind, determined to teach him that the time he has left to live – be it more or less – is precious and that he should enjoy it as he pleases.
LALIFF:
The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, a non-profit organization, promotes the richness and diversity of Latino filmmakers from the US and around the world. Marlene Dermer, George Hernandez; and actor, producer, director Edward James Olmos, founded the festival in 1996, which held its first edition in 1997.
For more information on LALIFF, please visit: www.latinofilm.org.
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