Peruvian Film Wins Palm Springs ShortFest

The Peruvian short film Behind the Mirrors / Detrás del espejo (pictured) by Julio O. Ramos received the top prize at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, North America's largest short film festival and market which ended today. Starring Marcello Rivera, Mayella Lloclla, Carlos Cano de la Fuente and Susan Leon, the film also was awarded the prize for Best Student Live Action Short Film 15 Minutes and Under.

Inspired on true events and shot on location in Lima, the Peruvian short tells the story of Ernesto, a worker of a run down motel in Lima, who makes an extra income by sneaking cameras into the motel's room and capturing his guests' intimate moments. Ernesto succesfully hides his clandestine business from his coworker and wife, Rosario, until one day the mysterious death of a woman urges Ernesto to cover up before the arrival of the police.

Ramos is a Peruvian director from Lima living in Los Angeles, where he recently completed a MFA in Film Directing at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Behind the Mirrors is Ramos' second short film and had its world premiere at the Guadalajara Film Festival last March.

The winner receives a cash prize of $2,000 cash, software package, post production award and Final Cut Pro X. Additionally, the winner of this award is eligible to submit his film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.

Watch the trailer:

Party Celebrating Filmmaker Lourdes Portillo in NYC

Last Saturday Cinema Tropical in partnership with The Museum of Modern Art, Women Make Movies and the Flaherty Seminar threw a party at Hôtel Americano in Chelsea to celebrate filmmaker Lourdes Portillo and her film retrospective at MoMA.

The party was held after the screening of Portillo's The Devil Never Sleeps which was followed by a special conversation between the director and Mexican filmmaker Natalia Almada at the Museum. Several people from New York's film community as well as out-of-town Flaherty Seminar participants attended the party which was sponsored by Ketel One Vodka.

Click here to see the photos from the event. Photos by José Luis Ramírez.

Photo: Filmmakers Lourdes Portillo (left) and Natalia Almada.

Everardo González's Doc DROUGHT Wins LA Film Fest

The Mexican film Cuates de Australia / Drought (pictured) by Everardo González won the prize as Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival, which came to a close today. The film, which had its US Premiere at the Californian festival, tells the story of a Cuates de Australia, cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico on the verge of extinction. The award comes with an unrestricted cash prize of $15,000.

The documentary jury was comprised of film producers Heather Rae and Karin Chien, and director Mark Landsman. This is the second time a Mexican film wins the prize for Best Documentary in the festival after Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Haggerman's Los que se quedan / Those Who Remain in 2009.

Additionally, the festival announced that the Chilean film De jueves a domingo / Thursday till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor received an Honorable Mention from the narrative competition jury. In its 18th edition, the LA Film Festivals featured more than 200 films from 40 different countries.

Mexican Actress Receives Top Prize at the Shangai Film Fest

Úrsula Pruneda received the prize for Best Actress for her starring role in the Mexican film El sueño de Lu / Lu's Dream (pictured) by Hari Sama at the Shangai International Film Festival, which, in its 15th edition, ran June 16-24.

The jury headed by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud and comprised by Iranian director Rakhshan Banietemad, Chinese-American producer Terence Chang, American actress Heather Graham, Chinese actress Lee Bingbing, Hungarian director György Pálfi, and Chinese director Zhang Yang decided to give the award to Pruneda "for her outstanding performance. She was honest. She was brilliant as she was herself."

El sueño de Lu tells the story of a young Mexican mother who has lost her only child and tries to reengage back in her life. American critic Howard Feinstein praised Pruneda's performance as one of the best ones of 2011 for Filmmaker magazine. Other film credits for Pruneda includes María Novaro's Las buenas hierbas and Diego Luna's Abel. 

YOUNG & WILD and MOSQUITA Y MARI Will Have NY Premiere at NewFest

Marialy Rivas' Joven y alocada / Young & Wild (pictured) and Aurora Guerrero's Mosquita y Mari will have their New York Premiere as part of the 24th edition of NewFest, one of the world’s most comprehensive showcases of international LGBT film. The festival will run July 27-31 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater.

A stunning and energetic look at family and youth culture in contemporary Chile, Young & Wild, deals with seventeen-year-old Daniela’s sexual exploits. In a struggle to contend with her feelings for Antonia, a cute girl at work and her well-to-do strict evangelical family, Daniela learns that having it all- sex, love and eternal salvation- is more complicated than she ever imagined. Screening on Tuesday July 31st, Marialy Rivas, co-writer Camila Gutíerrez and lead actress Alicia Rodríguez will travel to New York to present their film.

Mosquita y Mari tells the coming of age story for two young Chicanas who although drastically different, become fast friends and develop a bond that neither one expected or knows how to handle. Directed by Aurora Guerrero, the film perfectly embodies the awkwardness and cautious desire of two teenage girls experiencing love for the first time. The director will present and discuss her  first feature which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Additionally, NewFest announced that this year's edition will feature short La ducha / The Shower by María José, also from Chile.

For the first time, the festival partners with Los Angeles’ Outfest and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in presenting a captivating collection of narratives, shorts, documentaries and panels committed to fully reflecting the diversity and complexity of LGBT lives. Newfest is dedicated to bringing together filmmakers and audiences in building a community that passionately supports giving greater visibility and voice to a vast range of expressions and representations of the LGBT experience. Presented annually since 1988, and through year-round programming, NewFest celebrates film as part of its mission to bring stories that break through closet doors and glass ceilings.

LAS ACACIAS Tops Argentina's Silver Condor Awards

Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias (pictured) won the prize for Best Film in the 60th edition of the Silver Condor Awards, given annually by the Argentine Film Critics Association. Carlos Sorín got the prize for Best Director for his most recent film El gato desaparece / The Cat Vanishes while Santiago Mitre's El estudiante / The Student won three awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best First Film and Breakthrough Performance.

Even though Fernando Spiner's Aballay, el hombre sin miedo / Aballay, the Man Without Fear was the most nominated film for this edition, in 11 categories, the film only got three prizes for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor. The awards were given this evening at the Avenida Theater in Buenos Aires.