From left to right: Rebecca Adorno, Natalia Almada, Eugenio Derbez, and Alexis Gambis.
Four Latin American winners were among the recipients of this year’s accolades at the Sundance Film Festival: Mexican-American filmmaker Natalia Almada, Puerto Rican editor Rebecca Adorno, Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez, and French-Venezuelan director for his Mexican-American film Son of Monarchs.
Almada was the winner of the U.S. Documentary Directing Award for her most recent film Users, a lyrical and poignant meditation on technology and society framed through her own relationship to her toddler children. This is the second time that Almada wins the award for Best Director in the documentary competition at the festival, after her 2009 win for her film El General.
Puerto Rican artist Adorno was announced the winner, along with Kristina Motwani, of the inaugural Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award U.S. Documentary for her work in the film Homeroom directed by Peter Nicks. The new Sundance award was created to recognize the creative work of the documentary editor, named after the late editor of Streetwise, Paris is Burning and The Oath, among many others. Homeroom is set at the Oakland High School and follows the lives of students trying to make the most of their final year in high school amidst a procession of blows. The film marks the final chapter in a trilogy by director Nicks, examining the relationship between health care, criminal justice, and education in Oakland.
Mexican actor Derbez was one of the winners of the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast for his supporting role in Siân Heder’s CODA. The film was the big winner of this year’s Sundance festival taking home three additional awards in the U.S. Dramatic competition: the Grand Jury Prize for Best Film, the Directing Award, and the Audience Award. In the film, Derbez plays a music teacher who tries to motivate Ruby to pursue a music career, as the only hearing person in her deaf family.
And as previously announced, Son of Monarchs by Gambis starring Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta was the winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, presented to a feature film that focuses on science or technology as a theme, or depicts a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.
The 2021 edition of the Sundance Film Festival took place January 28 - February 3.
