14th LA Latino Intl Film Fest Announces Award Winners
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
14TH LOS ANGELES LATINO INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS
“HABANA EVA” RECEIVES THE RITA AWARD FOR BEST FILM
“TIEMPO DE LEYENDA” AND EL AMBULANTE SHARE THE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
“MAL DIA PARA PESCAR” IS BEST OPERA PRIMA
“ALIJUNA” IS BEST SHORT
CINELATINO AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS GO TO “HERMANO” FOR BEST FEATURE AND “HARVEST OF LONELINESS” FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
ANNA MUYLAERT RECEIVES NOD AS BEST DIRECTOR FOR “E PROBIDO FUMAR” WITH ROBERTO FONTANRROSO AND RODRIGO GRANDE CITED FOR BEST SCREENPLAY FOR “CUESTION DE PRINCIPIOS”
LOS ANGELES, CA August 25, 2010 – The 14th Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) announces the award winners at its Closing Night Awards Ceremony presented by The Coca Cola Company with Fina Torres’ HABANA EVA taking home the Rita Award as Best Film; Jose Sanchez-Montes Gonzalez’s TIEMPO DE LEYENDA and Eduardo de la Serna’s, Lucas Marcheggiano’s and Adriana Yorcovich’s EL AMBULANTE sharing the award for Best Documentary; Alvaro Bechner’s MAL DIA PARA PESCAR cited for Best Opera Prima; and Cristina Escoda’s ALIJUNA named Best Short Film.
Cinelatino’s Audience Choice Awards went to Marcel Rasquin’s HERMANO for Best Feature and Gilbert Gonzalez’s and Vivian Price’s HARVEST OF LONELINESS for Best Documentary. Cinelatino sponsored prizes of $1000.00 to each of the winners. The 2nd highest choice for audiences in the Feature Film category was HABANA EVA, with GO FOR IT! Placing 3rd. The Documentary category saw EL AMBULANTE in the 2nd spot, with THE STORM THAT SWEPT MEXICO, the 3rd most popular with LALIFF audiences.
In addition to Torres’ HABANA EVA winning the Rita Award for Best Film, Tatiana Gaviola’s TERESA received an Honorable Mention in the category.
In the Best Documentary category, Jose Sanchez-Montes Gonzalez’s TIEMPO DE LEYENDA and Eduardo de la Serna’s, Lucas Marcheggiano’s and Adriana Yorcovich’s EL AMBULANTE winning films were joined by the Honorable Mention nod given to Consuela Alba and John Speyer’s EL ANDALON – A MAVERICK HUMANITARIAN IN CHIAPAS.
The Short Film category was led by Cristina Escoda’s ALIJUNA for Best Short Film and Rafael & Raul Cardenas’ LUNA for Best Animated Short Film. Honorable mentions were given to Aina Calleja’s LOS DIAS DE VERANO SON MAS LARGOS, Juan Francisco Viruega’s ESTOCOLMO, and Yancy Arias’ BABY.
Anna Muylaert was named Best Director for E PROBIDO FUMAR, with the trio of Yousef Delara, Michael D. Olmos and Victor Teran receiving an Honorable Mention for BEDROOMS. Roberto Fontanarrosa and Rodrigo Grande received the nod for Best Screenplay for their work on CUESTION DE PRINCIPIOS. Julian Roman was also given an Honorable Mention for Acting for his performance in RETRATOS EN UN MAR DER MENTIRAS.
Adding a celebrated conclusion to its 2010 Youth Program, LALIFF also announced a special award from the British Film Academy (BAFTA) presented to Franchesco Ramos’ BREAKAWAY for Best High School Film. As part of the award the British Film Academy will make 100 DVD presentation copies of Ramos’ film for the young director’s use.
LALIFF Executive Director Marlene Dermer said, “The artistic accomplishments of the films and filmmakers this year truly ranked among LALIFF’s best. As difficult as it made our jury’s selection process to single any film from the rest, our audiences were rewarded every time they entered the theater to watch them. We take our role in bringing these films to the public’s attention and providing a spotlight on the best work of our Latino filmmaking artists very seriously, and the shared love of film and sense of community between filmmakers and fans, artists and patrons evident over the course of this year’s festival could not be more gratifying.”
LALIFF Co-Founder Edward James Olmos added, “It is always a challenge to put on an event like this one requiring the combined efforts of countless staff members, volunteers, sponsors, patrons and vendors – and this year was no different. In fact, this year might have been one of our most challenging to date thanks to the economics and logistics of producing film festivals today. But, I believe everyone involved with LALIFF views this as something beyond a film festival. LALIFF encourages such a rich connection between audience and art, between the blend of cultures taking place through these screenings and panels and events, that we enthusiastically do it – and everyone reaps the rewards.”
The festival featured 91 films, including 46 features (32 narrative and 14 documentaries) and 45 shorts. Highlights included an Opening Night Gala appearance and speech by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa prior to the North American debut of Marcel Rasquin’s devastating drama, HERMANO. The screening was followed by an after party at The Highlands in the Hollywood & Highland Complex.
LALIFF’s signature series of Hollywood Connect filmmaker panels featured a conversation with THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE screenwriter Matt Lopez; a director’s roundtable with some of the many female directors populating LALIFF’s 2010 slate of films; and a special panel addressing the issues surrounding immigration which included the participation of activist legend, civil rights leader and co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America, Dolores Huerta, among others.
The festival concluded with the Closing Night Film presented by LEXUS of Carlos Carrera’s BACKYARD, Mexico’s official selection for the 2010 Academy Awards at the legendary Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, followed by a Gala after party sponsored by The Coca Cola Company in the Egyptian Theater’s Courtyard. In a special appearance, the star of BACKYARD, Ana de la Riguera introduced the film. Other attendees during the film festival included Beau Bridges, Clifton Collins Jr., Lisa Vidal, Dayanara Torres, Aimee Garcia, Patricia Velasquez, Michael Pena, Wanda de Jesus, Lupe Ontiveros, Lalo Alcaraz, Yancy Arias, Shalin Ortiz, Jordan Belfi Benito Martinez, David Zayas, Roselyn Sanchez, Humberto Luna and Kike Santander.
The following includes the list of the winners or the 14th Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival:
Best Feature Film (RITA AWARD)
Sponsored by: Deluxe Laboratories
HABANA EVA
Director: Fina Torres
Country: Cuba/Venezuela/France
Honorable Mention – Best Feature Film
TERESA
Director: Tatiana Gaviola
Country: Chile
Best Documentary
Sponsored by: Fuji Film
TIEMPO DE LEYENDA
Director: Jose Sanchez-Montes Gonzalez
Country: Spain
EL AMBULANTE
Director: Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano, Adriana Yorcovich
Country: Argentina
Honorable Mention – Best Documentary
EL ANDALON – A MAVERICK HUMANITARIAN IN CHIAPAS
Director: Cosuelo Alba, John Speyer
Country: United States/Mexico
Best Opera Prima
Sponsored by: Final Draft, Showbiz Software, Movie Magic
MAL DIA PARA PESCAR
Director: Alvaro Bechner
Country: Spain/Uruguay
Honorable Mention – Best Opera Prima
OVEJA NEGRA
Director: Humberto Hinojosa Ozcariz
Country: Mexico/Spain
Best Short Film
Sponsored by: Final Draft, Showbiz Software, Movie Magic
ALIJUNA
Director: Cristina Escoda
Country: United States
Honorable Mention – Best Short Film
LOS DIAS DE VERANO SON MAS LARGOS
Director: Aina Calleja
Country: Mexico
Honorable Mention – Best Short Film
ESTOCOLMO
Director: Juan Francisco Viruega
Country: Spain
Honorable Mention – Best Short Film
BABY
Director: Yancy Arias
Country: United States
Best Animated Short Film
Sponsored by: Final Draft, Showbiz Software, Movie Magic
LUNA
Director: Rafael Cardenas & Raul Cardenas
Country: Mexico
Cinelatino Audience Choice Award: Feature Film
Sponsored by: Cinelatino
HERMANO
Director: Marcel Rasquin
Country: Venezuela
2nd – HABANA EVA
Director: Fina Torres
Country: Cuba/Venezuela/France
3rd – GO FOR IT!
Director: Carmen Marron
Country: USA
Cinelatino Audience Choice Award: Documentary
Sponsored by: Cinelatino
HARVEST OF LONELINESS
Director: Gilbert Gonzalez, Vivian Price
Country: USA
2nd – EL AMBULANTE
Director: Eduardo del la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano, Adriana Yurcovivh
Country: Argentina
3rd – THE STORM THAT SWEPT MEXICO
Director: Ray Telles
Country: USA
Best Director
Sponsored by: Final Draft, Showbiz Software, Movie Magic
Anna Muylaert (E PROBIDO FUMAR)
Country: Brazil
Honorable Mention – Best Director
Yousef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, Victor Teran (BEDROOMS)
Country: United States
Best Screenplay
Sponsored by: Final Draft, Showbiz Software, Movie Magic
Roberto Fontanarrosa & Rodrigo Grande (CUESTION DE PRINCIPIOS)
Country: Argentina
Honorable Mention – Actor
Julian Roman (RETRATOS EN UN MAR DER MENTIRAS)
Country: Colombia
Best High School Film
Selected by BAFTA
BREAKAWAY
Director: Franchesco Ramos
Country: USA
2010 JURY MEMBERS
FEATURE FILM JURY includes:
Peter Murrieta
Emmy winning producer/writer. Credits include “Wizards of Waverly Place”, “Hope and Faith” and “Greetings From Tucson”
Carlos Carreras
Talent agent at Paradigm.
Millie Luna
Head of acquisition and business development for Venevision International Films.
Fernando Sariñara Márquez
General Director of ONCETV MEXICO.
DOCUMENTARY JURY includes:
Francisco Jose Perez Martinez
Marlene Forte
Actress with credits including “Lost”, “CSI”, “Cold Case” and “ER”.
SHORTS JURY includes:
Lorenzo O’Brien
Producer/Screenwriter with credits including WALKER, HIGHWAY PATROLMAN and DEATH AND THE COMPASS.
Rosalinda Morales
Casting Agent with credits including UNDER THE SAME MOON, DOWN FOR LIFE and FLIGHTS OF FANCY.
Jesse Garcia
Actor with credits including A BEAUTIFUL LIFE and QUINCEAÑERA
BACK (left to right) Franchesco Ramos (Best High School Film – BREAKAWAY), Victor Teran (Honorable Mention/Best Director – BEDROOMS), Michael Olmos (Honorable Mention/Best Director – BEDROOMS), Yousef Delara (Honorable Mention/Best Director – BEDROOMS), Alvaro Bechner (Best Opera Prima – MAL DIA PARA PESCAR), Yancy Arias (Honorable Mention/Best Short – BABY), Marcel Rasquin (Audience Choice Award Feature Film – HERMANO), Julian Roman (Honorable Mention/Actor – RETRATOS EN UN MAR DER MENTIRAS), Sandro Fiorin (E PROBIDO FUMAR)
FRONT (left to right) Rodrigo Grande (Best Screenplay – CUESTION DE PRINCIPIOS), Xochilt Gonzalez (Audience Choice Award Documentary – HARVEST OF LONELINESS), Carmen Marron (Audience Choice Award 3rd Place – GO FOR IT!), Fina Torres (Best Feature Film – HABANA EVA), Consuelo Alba (Honorable Mention/Best Documentary – EL ANDALON)
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