Kimberly Bautista Wins HBO/NALIP Doc Filmmaker Award

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. 

A Mexican and a Colombian Film Winners at Ventana Sur

The Mexican film project Los insólitos peces gatos / The Amazing Cat Fish (pictured) by Claudia Sainte Luce and the Colombian film Tierra en la lengua / Dust on the Tongue by Rubén Mendoza were the winners of the First Cut (Primer Corte) section of the 2012 edition of Ventana Sur, a Latin American film market created in November 2009 by INCAA and the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival.

The debut film by Sainte Luce, produced by Canibal Networks, Jaqueca Films and with support from the Foprocine Fund, is a semi-autobiographical family-set love story. It follows the growing friendship between a lonely young girl, who works at a supermarket, and a mother and her children. The awarded film received five prizes: 15,000 euros for distribution in France from Cine Plus Club; $1,330-$5,200 per country to Europa Distribution members releasing the film; up to $5,200 in Titra TVS post-production services; $2,600 from EU pic promotion scheme Eye on Films; and an ad campaign from Argentina's Film Suez.

Mendoza's Tierra en la lengua won the Haciendo Cine awards, which comes with different post-productions services. The film follows a pair of brothers travel to see their ailing grandfather. 

Margaret Mead Film Fest Awards Nicaraguan Coproduction

Adam Isenberg, the director of the Nicaraguan-Turkish co-production film Una vida sin palabras / A Life Without Words (pictured) is the winner of the 2012 Filmmaker Award given by the Margaret Mead Film Festival, the film festival announced it last night at its closing ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The documentary film tells the story of two siblings born deaf in rural Nicaragua who have never strayed more than a few miles from the farm where they were born, reaching adulthood with no written, spoken, or signed language. When an NGO worker tries to teach them their first words, the quiet but moving drama that unfolds poses provocative questions about the meaning and nature of language, of aid work, and of documentary film.

The Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award recognizes documentary filmmakers who embody the spirit, energy, and innovation demonstrated by anthropologist Margaret Mead in her research, fieldwork, films, and writings. The award is given to a filmmaker whose feature documentary displays artistic excellence and originality of storytelling technique while offering a new perspective on a culture or community remote from the majority of our audiences' experience.

NO and HALLEY to Sundance

The Sundance Film Festival unveiled today more titles that will participate in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier sections of the 2013 edition of the festival in January, which will feature works by the Chilean director Pablo Larraín, the debut feature by Mexican director Sebastián Hofman and an installation by Mexican artist Lozano-Hemmer.

The Spotlight section will feature No by Larraín starring actor Gael García Bernal. When Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet calls for a referendum to decide his permanence in power, the opposition persuades a young advertising executive to head its campaign. With limited resources and under scrutiny, he conceives a plan to win the election.

The New Frontier section which highlights work that celebrates experimentation and the expansion of cinema culture through the convergence of film, art, and new media technology will feature the U.S. premiere of Halley, the debut feature by Sebastián Hofmann that tells the story of Alberto, who is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard.

In the New Frontier section, Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer will show his installation Pulse Index, a beautifully resonant, interactive media installation that records the heart rates and fingerprints of participants and exhibits them in a beautiful Fibonacci pattern.

The Festival also announced the World premiere of We Are What We Are by Jim Mickle, the American remake of the Mexican film Somos lo que somos by Jorge Michel Grau.

Rotterdam Announces First Latin American Contenders

The Rotterdam Film Festival unveiled today the first seven films that will participate in the official competition of its 42nd edition, which include three Latin American films: Eduardo Villanueva's Penumbra and Sebastián Hofmann's Halley (pictured), both from Mexico; and Noche, directed by Leonardo Brzezicki from Argentina.

In Halley, and unusual friendship is formed between Alberto, a man attempting to hide his slowly decaying body and Luly, the manager of the 24 hour gym where he works as a night guard. Penumbra tells the story of an experienced old and poor hunter who shows us his captive world within a rural Mexico lost in time. The three films will be competing for the Hivos Tiger Award.

The Rotterdam film festival will run from January 23 through February 3, 2013. The complete lineup of the fifteen first or second feature films will be announced on January 8.

Chilean Directors Silva and Scherson Will Premiere New Work at Sundance

After months of careful deliberation,the Sundance Film Festival has announced today the official selections for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary competitions for the 2013 edition of the festival, which will take place January 17-27 in Park City, Utah.

Latin America will be represented in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition by two Chilean films: Crystal Fairy by Sebastián Silva (pictured below right), and El futuro / The Future by Alicia Scherson.

Silva's fourth feature film (La vida me mata, The Maid, Old Cats) is the story of a psychedelic road trip between two Mescaline-fueled strangers. Starring Michael Cera as Jamie, a self-absorbed personality and Gabby Hoffmann as the free and esoteric "woman."

The Future, based on the Roberto Bolaño novella untitled "Una novelita lumpen" and starring Manuela Martelli (Machuca), deals with the aftermath of the death of two children's parents. Bianca begins to smoke while Tomas struggles with his virginity. exploring the dangerous streets of adulthood, Biana meets Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe and searches for a future in his dark mansion.

From Latin America, the World Cinema Documentary Competition will only feature Who is Dayani Cristal? by British filmmaker Marc Silver. An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. The film features Gael García Bernal and was co-produced by his production company Canana Films.

Chile has had a good representation at Sundance in the past few years. Silva had premiered his film La nana / The Maid in the 2009 edition of the festival, and went to win the Grand Jury Prize in the World Dramatic competition. In the last edition of the festival last January, Andrés Wood's Violeta se fue a los cielos / Violeta Went to Heaven won the same top prize in the World Dramatic competition, and Marialy Rivas' Joven y alocada / Young and Wild received the World Cinema Screenwriting Award.