Austin’s Cine Las Americas 2023 wraps up 25th Anniversary celebration with Filmmaker Awards

Austin’s Cine Las Americas announced the filmmaker award winners following the conclusion of a hugely successful 25th Anniversary edition of the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF). Leading the list of films winning jury prizes were Clara Cullen’s Manuela (Best Narrative Feature), and Gisela Delgadillo’s Kenya (Best Documentary Feature). Films taking the Audience Awards were topped by Marie Clements’ Bones of Crows (Narrative Feature), and Miwene, directed by Keith Heyward, Jennifer Berglund, Gange Anita Yeti Enomenga, Obe Beatriz Nenquimo Nihua(Documentary Feature).                      

Bones of Crows, Cine Las Americas
BONES OF CROWS
Miwene, Cine Las Americas
MIWENE

The 25th edition celebrated the platform Cine Las Americas has created for filmmakers from around the world for a quarter century as the film festival has showcased films and videos from Latin America (North, Central, South America, and the Caribbean) and the Iberian Peninsula.

Cine Las Americas Board of Directors President John Estrada, said, “We could not have asked for more enthusiasm, larger audiences, local media attention, and of course happy filmmakers enjoying the genuine connection that is made between film-loving audiences and the people who create those films so vital here in Austin. It is wonderful to be able to both look at the amazing history of this film festival and the filmmakers who have crossed our path, while also seeing how we continue to grow into the beacon CLAIFF has become worldwide as well as an important part of the cultural fabric in a city that continues to be a central hub for filmmaking here in Texas and the Southwest.”

Manuela, Cine Las Americas
MANUELA

Regarding the selection of Clara Cullen’s Manuela for theBest Narrative Feature Jury Prize, Jury member Paula Heredia (Director of Africa Rising), cited the film for the skill in which the film explores the relationship of a woman and a child in desperate need of each other without fancy devices.

Kenya, Cine Las Americas
KENYA

On the documentary side, Jury member Anäis Tracena (Director of El Silencio del Topo) described Gisela Delgadillo’s winner Kenya as“an intimate and affectionate portrait of Kenya, a human rights activist for the transgender community in Mexico City. With respect and sincerity, the director takes us into Kenya’s story and the reality of her other companions, with an insider’s view of the impact of violence experienced by the transgender community and the bonds of solidarity that are built. A fully realized story filled with sensitivity and humanism.”

LLEUVEN LAS FLORES
IMELDA IS NOT ALONE
SPIRAL

Jury prize winners in the Shorts Competition included Faustino Alanis’ Llueven las flores, Los Pirates Y El Tesoro De La Bruja (Rain of Flowers, The Pirates and the Witch’s Treasure) (Best Narrative Short), and Paula Heredia’s Imelda Is Not Alone (Best Documentary Short), with Honorable Mentions on the Narrative side going to Daniel Guarda’s Naquele Dia Escuro (That Dark Day), and Carlos Novella’s La Torta (The Cake). In the Hecho En Tejas Competition, Luis Fernando Puente’s Sin Lágrimas Para Llorar (I Have No Tears, and I Must Cry) took the Jury Prize, with Anne Lewis and Laura Varela’s Raúl R Salinas and the Poetry of Liberation: Un Trip winning the Audience Award. There was a tie for the Audience awards for Best Music Video with Orca Videos’ Almacén de Datos with Sara Hebe, featuring Anita Tijoux, and Fran Grenada’s Perra with Samantha Hudson and La Dani sharing the award. Isabella Wren Tealey’s Spiral took both the Jury prize and the Audience Award in the Emergencia Youth Film Competition.

Opening Night featured an Austin encore presentation of Eva Longoria’s entertaining Flamin’ Hot at AFS Cinema. The celebratory evening kicked off the 25th Anniversary theme with festival founders Celeste Quesada, Rene Renteria, and Sandra Guardado in attendance and walking the red carpet prior to the screening. Cine Las Americas’ signature programming track, “Hecho en Tejas,” presented with support from HEB and in partnership with Texas Archives for the Moving Image, showcasing local filmmaking talent with varied backgrounds via films and videos shot and/or produced in Texas, once again was a genuine highlight with a sold-out screening at the brand-new Austin PBS Media Center Studio, including several attending filmmakers there to soak up the attention.

Cine Las Americas is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Department. For more information about Cine Las Americas, visit https://cinelasamericas.org/.


Cine Las Americas International Film Festival 2023 Filmmaker Award Winners

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

JURY AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

Manuela                                                                                  

Director: Clara Cullen   

Countries: Argentina/United States

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

Bones of Crows                      

Director: Marie Clements          

Country: Canada


DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

JURY AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Kenya

Director: Gisela Delgadillo         

Country: Mexico

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Miwene

Directors: Keith Heyward, Jennifer Berglund, Gange Anita Yeti Enomenga, Obe Beatriz Nenquimo Nihua

Country: Ecuador


SHORTS COMPETITION

JURY AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE SHORT

Llueven las flores, Los Pirates Y El Tesoro De La Bruja (Rain of Flowers, The Pirates and the Witch’s Treasure)    

Director: Faustino Alanis           

Country: Mexico

HONORABLE MENTION

Naquele Dia Escuro (That Dark Day)

Director: Daniel Guarda

Country: Brazil

HONORABLE MENTION

La Torta (The Cake)

Director: Carlos Novella

Country: Venezuela

JURY AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Imelda Is Not Alone

Director: Paula Heredia

Countries: El Salvador, United States


HECHO EN TEJAS COMPETITION

JURY AWARD FOR BEST HECHO EN TEJAS FILM

Sin Lágrimas Para Llorar (I Have No Tears, and I Must Cry)

Director: Luis Fernando Puente

Country: United States

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST HECHO EN TEJAS FILM

Raúl R Salinas and the Poetry of Liberation: Un Trip

Directors: Anne Lewis, Laura Varela

Country: United States


MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST MUSIC VIDEO

Almacén de Datos                  

Director: Orca Videos   

Artist: Sara Hebe ft. Anita Tijoux

Country: Argentina

Perra

Director: Fran Grenada

Artist: Samantha Hudson & La Dani

Country: Spain


EMERGENCIA YOUTH FILM COMPETITION

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST EMERGENCIA YOUTH FILM

Spiral  

Director: Isabella Wren Tealey  

Country: United States

JURY AWARD FOR BEST EMERGENCIA YOUTH FILM

Spiral  

Director: Isabella Wren Tealey  

Country: United States