Filmmaker Kimberly Bautista has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 HBO/NALIP Documentary Filmmaker Award for her film Justice for My Sister (pictured) the story of one woman's unstoppable determination in seeking justice for her sister's murder. Committed to social change, the films awarded by HBO/NALIP present an uncompromising quality and honesty, and were judged on their unique causes, professional quality and structure, tone and style presented to the audience.
Kimberly Bautista is a Los Angeles-based Colombian and Irish-American filmmaker. She was a Princess Grace Award recipient in 2008 and a Latino Producers Academy Fellow in 2010. She was also the recipient of the prestigious yearlong Latino Artists Mentorship from the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) in 2010.
Her film tells the story of Adela, 27, who left home for work one day and never returned. Her ex-boyfriend beat her until she was unrecognizable and left her at the side of the road. Determined to see that Adela's killer is held accountable, her sister Rebeca, 34, takes on Guatemala's notoriously corrupt legal system. Completely transformed by her three-year fight, Rebeca emerges as a leader in her rural community with a message for others: justice is possible
HBO-NALIP also announced the two finalists for their Documentary Filmmaker Awards: Purgatorio, directed by Rodrigo Reyes, which reflects on the the flaws of human nature, using a stunning mosaic of compelling characters and broken landscapes of the US-Mexico border; and Diego Briceño's The Gospel of Camilo Torres, based on an uncovered 10-minute conversation between he and Father Camilo Torres, a controversial Colombian figure of the 60's. In a journey to piece together the lost memory of this man, images and stories are collected from both the priest's followers and detractors.
The Documentary Filmmaker Award comes with a $10,000 cash prize for the winner, giving them the opportunity to continue telling their stories about the Latino experience. Chosen by a panel of professional filmmakers and the HBO Documentary Films executive, films are chosen out of many high quality submissions.
