The 4th edition of the Colombian Film Festival New York announced its winners over the weekend at Village East Cinema in Manhattan. For six days, the festival screened more than 19 world and national premieres in the categories of fiction and documentary.
Carlos Tribiño won Best Fiction Movie with his feature debut El silencio del río / Silence of the River (pictured). The film follows two parallel stories which are connected by a river— Anselmo is a boy who has lost his father and Epifanio is a poor countryman who sees his world threatened by violence.
Winner for Best Documentary was Aislados / Isolated (pictured below) by Marcela Lizcano. Lizcano’s documentary takes us to the most densely populated island in the Colombian Caribbean to ponder the role of men in society, looking at this island as a metaphor of our world.
Taking home the prize for Best Short Film was Cien años más viejo / One Hundred Years Older by John Chaparro. Irene and Andrés have been together 66 years and have 13 children but, Irene no longer remembers.
There were special mentions for actress Juana Acosta for her role in Anna, a young Colombian mother living in Paris and struggling with their fragile emotions and filmmaker Esteban Arango for Blast Beat about two brothers who are undocumented immigrants living in the U.S..
The Audience Award went to La ciénaga, entre el mar y la tierra / Between Sea and Land by Carlos del Castillo and Manolo Cruz which is the story of a man diagnosed with dystonia, a muscular degenerative illness, which completely limits his movement and dooms him to stay connected to an artificial respirator keeping him from fulfilling his greatest dream: to meet the sea, which is located just across the street.
Día Crucis, the directorial debut of caleño director Harold De Vasten took second place among the favorites of the public with a special mention.
The Colombian Film Festival was founded in Manhattan in October 2012 by Juan Carvajal, in order to bring and connect the diaspora in the country with its roots and talents. The 4th edition of the festival took place March 22-27 in New York City.
