Rebecca Adorno (left) and Kristina Motwani
Puerto Rican Rebecca Adorno was announced this evening 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.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Adorno is a New York-based editor, camera operator and artist. She received a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Puerto Rico and an MFA in computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she graduated with the highest honors in 2010, receiving the Paula Rhodes Award for Exceptional Achievement in Computer Art. In 2016 she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for the documentary Fighting ISIS, VICE on HBO.
She was an editor on the nine part HBO documentary series The Vow and worked on three seasons of the Emmy-award winning series VICE on HBO. She also edited the feature length documentary Residente, which was an official selection at SXSW’s Film Festival in 2017.
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.
