Two Central American films were just announced as the top winners at the 37th edition of the Miami Film Festival: the Guatemalan film La Llorona by Jayro Bustamante was the winner of the Knight Marimbas Award, while the Honduran film 90 Minutes by Aeden O'Connor Agurcia was the winner of the Audience Award.
La Llorona, lead produced by La Casa de Producción of Guatemala in co-production with Mexico, and distributed in the US by Shudder, has won the $40,000 Knight Marimbas Award, supported by Knight Foundation, and given to the film that best exemplifies richness and resonance for cinema’s future, named for the marimba, a variation of the xylophone that produces a deeper, richer and more resonant tone. “La Llorona’s unique combination of genres, history and folklore creates a compelling cinematic narrative that encompasses the spirit of the Knight Marimbas Award,” said jury members Álvar Carretero de la Fuente, Rupert Lloyd and Elena Manrique.
A rare film from Honduras, 90 Minutes tells four interlinking stories of drama, romance and suspense all tied together by Honduras – and the world's greatest passion: soccer. In the filmmaker's own words, these are "universal stories of people in ultimate tests of character…that explores the deepest questions of what it means to be a human being. The lens of football (soccer) allows us to explore issues as diverse as immigration discrimination, drug trafficking, hooligan and domestic violence and even people trying to find a purpose in this world that every day feels more and more artificial and for all this to sit under a united thread.”
The $10,000 HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Award was presented to the Mexican film Los Lobos, lead produced by Animal de Luz Films of Mexico and directed by Samuel Kishi Leopo. “Beyond being a timely immigration story from Mexico that the world needs to see, Los Lobos is the intimate journey of a Mother taking her two young sons to find a ‘better life’. As Lucia goes to work each day, what could have been a claustrophobic and cliché film about her two young boys left alone in the apartment is anything but.
From the cassette recorder that plays the ‘House Rules’ to the captivating performances elicited from the adorable child actors, writer/director Samuel Kishi Leopo draws us in to this very private (semiautobiographical) story. Martha Reyes Arias is beautifully unassuming as Lucia – she pays her way, cleans a space for her boys, finds patience and love for them each night when she returns from work, and ultimately a de facto family. We are struck by the intimacy, the efficiency of execution, the subtle choices and of course the hopeful, yet honest ending,” said jurors Maxine Bailey, Agustina Chiraino and HBO VP Leslie Cohen of the film, which received its North American Premiere at the Festival.
The $10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award was presented to Chilean filmmaker Gonzalo Maza for his directorial debut, This is Cristina (Ella es Cristina). The Award is sponsored by the family of the late Jordan Alexander Ressler, an aspiring screenwriter and Cornell film studies graduate who died in a tragic hiking accident at the age of 23, before realizing his dream. This year’s selection was chosen by jurors Florencia Jimenez-Marcos and two previous winners of the Jordan Ressler Award, filmmakers Leticia Jorge (Tanta aqua, 2013) and Naji Abu Nowar (Theeb, 2015). The International sales agent FiGa Films represents both Los Lobos and This is Cristina for worldwide sales.
The $5,000 HBO Ibero-American Short Film Award has been won by Spain’s Ingride Santos for “Beef”, and four runner-up prizes of $1,250 each have gone to Adrift, La Deuda, La Gloria and Marisol.
The $5,000 Alacran Music in Film Award for the Best Score in the Festival goes to Nicolas Jaar for Pablo Larrain’s Ema. The jurors in this category were Korean composer Mowg (who won the award last year for Burning), Colombian musician Jorge Villamizar and Brazilian composer Marcelo Zarvos. The Alacran Music in Film Award is the third Festival prize for Ema.
Presented earlier in the Festival, the Oolite Arts Miami Film Festival Poster Design Award went to Daniel González Sánchez of Buena Suerte studio in Santiago, Chile for his design for Ema. This year’s winner was chosen selected by illustrator and movie poster art designer Akiko Stehrenberger. Ema also won the Oolite Arts Miami Film Festival Trailer Award, which went to Hands Up Paris for their trailer for the film. The selection was made by the 2019 winner of the award, Los Angeles-based editor Joe Hackman. Honorable mentions for additional outstanding trailers went to This is Cristina and Instinct and Miami-based editor Rodrigo Alfonso for his trailer for “Being”.
Additionally, honorable mentions in the Knight Made in MIA Short Film competition were presented to Carmen Pelaez’s Mango Season and Yara Travieso’s Third Trinity.
The Miami Festival opened March 6 and closed prematurely on March 12, and after the Festival’s gala awards ceremony originally scheduled for March 14 was cancelled due to public health concerns, Festival awards are presented virtually today.
