Heroic by David Zonana
The Havana Film Festival New York (HFNNY) announced last Thursday the winners of the Havana Star Awards for its 24th edition, which took place April 10-18 at the Quad Cinema in downtown Manhattan. The Mexican military drama Heroic / Heroico, the second feature by director David Zonana, was the winner of the Havana Star Award for Best Film.
Heroic is the story of Luis, an 18-year-old boy with Indigenous roots, who enters the Heroic Military College in hopes of ensuring a better future. There, he encounters a rigid and institutionally violent system designed to turn him into a perfect soldier.
"A bold work that delves into themes of national patriotism, the marginalization of indigenous groups, and the insidious effects of hyper-masculinity. It presents a sharp critique of the role of the army in shaping young people into instruments of violence. For all these reasons, David Zonana's Heroic takes home the award for Best Film at the HFFNY,” wrote the jury.
Other winners include Carolina Markowicz for Best Director for the Brazilian film Toll / Pedágio; Colombian performer Jhon Narvaez won the Best Actor Award for his role as Joe Arroyo in Rebellion / Rebelión; the Cuban performer Lola Amores of A Night with the Rolling Stones / Una noche con los Rolling Stones was presented with the Best Actress Award.
Peruvian filmmaker Josué Méndez won the Best Screenplay Award for his latest filmThe Monroy Affair / El caso Monroy; the Colombian film Transfariana by French director Joris Lachaise won the Best Documentary Award, and Fernando López’s Memento Mori, also from Colombia, received a Special Mention in the fiction competition. The Argentine film The Castle / El castillo by Martín Benchimol received the Special Mention in the documentary category.
The jury in the fiction category was composed of Maria Linares, the Colombian score composer of film music; American actor John David West; and Breixo Viejo, the film scholar from the Herbert School of Communications at Hofstra University, specializing in film history. The documentary jury was composed of Ana María Hernández, professor of Latin American Studies at LaGuardia Community College; Argentine filmmaker Juan Pablo Cadaveira; and actor and editor Christian López-Lámelas
