The winners of the 3rd Annual Cinema Tropical Awards were announced at a special event at the New York Times headquarters in New York City,celebrating the best of the Latin American film production of the year in five different categories:
- Best Feature Film
- Best Documentary Film
- Best Director, Feature Film
- Best Director, Documentary Film
- Best First Film
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times and 92YTribeca, with the support of the Mexican Cultural Institute. Special thanks to Lucila Moctezuma and Mario Díaz.
Best Feature Film
- O Som Ao Redor / Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- MatÍAs Meyer, Los ÚLtimos Cristeros / The Last Christeros (Mexico, 2011)
Best Documentary Film
- El Salvavidas / The Lifeguard (Maite Alberdi, Chile, 2011)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- JosÉ ÁLvarez, CanÍCula (Mexico, 2011)
Best First Film
- El Estudiante / The Student (Santiago Mitre, Argentina, 2011)
The films were selected from a list of Latin American feature films with a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012. The winners and final nominees were selected by a six-member jury panel from a list of fiction and documentary films compiled from the selections of a nominating committee composed of 14 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S. and Europe (see list below).
Fiction Jury
Dennis Lim writes about film and popular culture for various publications including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is the founding editor of Moving Image Source, the online publication and research resource of the Museum of the Moving Image and was formerly the film editor of The Village Voice. His work has also appeared in The Believer, The Oxford American, Blender, Spin, Espous, Indiewire, New York Daily News, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, and the film quarterly Cinema Scope, where he is a contributing editor. A member of the National Society of Film Critics and the editor of The Village Voice Film Guide (2006), he has served as a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee and he teaches in the Cultural Reporting and Criticism graduate program a New York University.
Matías Piñeiro is a filmmaker and professor at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. His first feature-length work, El hombre robado / The Stolen Man (2007), won awards at the Jeonju International Film Festival and at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival. In 2009, his second feature, Todos mienten / They All Lie, premiered at Bafici (Buenos Aires Festival International de Cine Independiente), where it won two awards. It also won a prize at the Santiago Festival Internacional de Cine. In 2010, he was selected—along with James Benning and Denis Côté—to screen his third film, Rosalinda at the 11th Jeonju Digital Project. Piñeiro recently premiered his most recent film, Viola, at the Toronto Film Festival, and it's slated for a Us release in 2013. He earned a filmmaking degree from Universidad del Cine. His award-winning films have been screened around the world, including at Anthology Film Archives, Festival des 3 Continents, the Festival del film Locarno, the London Film Festival, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, the Museum of Modern Art, Rencontré Cinémas d’Amerique Latine de Toulouse, and the Viennale.
Frida Torresblanco served as a producer in Spain working on film including The Dancer Upstairs, directed by John Malkovich and starring Javier Bardem, as well as Susan Seidelman’s Gaudi Afternoon. She moved to New York City in 2002 to launch and lead Alfonso Cuaron’s film production company, Esperanto, where she served as Executive Producer and Creative On-Set Producer for The Assassination of Richard Nixon (directed by Niels Mueller, starring Sean Penn), among others. In 2006, Frida joined Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro to produce El laberinto del Fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth (Three Oscars & another three Oscar nominations; three wins & five BAFTA nominations; a nomination for the Palm d’Or and a Golden Globe). The Hollywood Reporter named Frida one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood. She also produced Rudo y Cursi (directed by Carlos Cuarón, starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna). In 2010, Frida launched her new film production company, Braven Films, with partners Eric Laufer and Giovanna Randall. Her next project, Magic Magic, produced through Braven Films, will star Michael Cera, Juno Temple and Emily Browning.
DocuMentary Jury
Ryan Harrington is the Director of Documentary Programs at the Tribeca Film Institute where he oversees the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, the Tfi Documentary Fund, Tribeca All Access documentary program and the Latin America Media Arts Fund while developing other initiatives and programs that support non-fiction filmmaking. Recent Tfi successes include Give Up Tomorrow, If a Tree Falls, The Redemption of General Butt Naked, The Oath, Enemies of the People, Marathon Boy and Donor Unknown. Independently he is currently working on the feature doc Hungry in America, with filmmakers Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush and Participant Media, that explores why so many people in the USA go without food, and what can be done about it. Harrington managed production for A&E IndieFilms, the theatrical documentary arm of the A&E Network, for four years. Throughout his time there he championed the Oscar-nominated films Murderball and Jesus Camp, and the Sundance hits My Kid Could Paint That and American Teen.
Paula Heredia is a director and editor based in New York. She was awarded an Emmy for the HBO documentary In Memoriam, NYC 9/11/01, and an Ace Eddie Award for the acclaimed documentary Unzipped. Her directorial work includes the documentaries George Plimpton and the Paris Review, Ralph Gibson, and The Couple in the Cage. Her dramatic work includes Having a Baby, Tras La Ventana, Slings and Arrows, and La Cena de Matrimonio. Her short film La Pájara Pinta premiered at the Lincoln Center Film Society LatinBeat Film Festival. Heredia’s editorial work can be seen in the HBO feature-length documentary Addiction, which received the 2007 Emmy Governors Award, and Alive Day Memories—Home from Iraq, executive produced by James Gandolfini for HBO. Her new edit, The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale and Jacques D'Ambois in China, will air on HBO this summer. Other editorial credits include: Modulations Cinema for the Ear, The Vagina Monologues, Finding Christa and Free Tibet. Paula’s work and creative process is featured in the book: The Art of the Documentary by Megan Cunningham. With partner Larry Garvin, she co-founded Heredia Pictures, heads the international committee of New York Women in Film and Television and serves on the board of advisors of Tribeca All Access and Clementina, Inc.
Chi-hui Yang is a film programmer, lecturer and writer based in New York. As a guest curator, Yang has presented film and video series at film festivals and events internationally, including MoMA's Documentary Fortnight, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (“The Age of Migration”), Seattle International Film Festival, Washington D.C. International Film Festival and Barcelona Asian Film Festival. From 2000-2010 he was the Director and Programmer of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the largest showcase of its kind in the Us. Yang is also the programmer of “Cinema Asian America,” a new On-Demand service offered by Comcast and currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute.
Nominating Committee
- Isabel Arrate Fernandez, Idfa, The Netherlands
- Hugo Chaparro, film critic, Colombia
- Lucile De Calan, programmer, Biarritz Latin American Film Festival, France
- Denis de la Roca, programmer, Abu Dhabi Film Festival
- Mara Fortes, programmer, Morelia Film Festival
- Erick Gonzalez, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile
- Elías Jiménez, director, Festival Ícaro, Guatemala
- Roger Alan Koza, film critic and programmer, Filmfest Hamburg, Ficunam, Mexico
- Janneke Langelaan, Hubert Bals Fund, The Netherlands
- Diego Lerer, film critic, Argentina
- Rosa Martinez Rivero, film producer, Argentina
- Christian Sida-Valenzuela, director, Vancouver Latin American Film Festival
- Hebe Tabachnik, programmer, Los Angeles and Palm Springs Film Festivals
- Sergio Wolf, film programmer, Argentina...
- Best Feature Film
- Best Documentary Film
- Best Director, Feature Film
- Best Director, Documentary Film
- Best First Film
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times and 92YTribeca, with the support of the Mexican Cultural Institute. Special thanks to Lucila Moctezuma and Mario Díaz.
Best Feature Film
- O Som Ao Redor / Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- MatÍAs Meyer, Los ÚLtimos Cristeros / The Last Christeros (Mexico, 2011)
Best Documentary Film
- El Salvavidas / The Lifeguard (Maite Alberdi, Chile, 2011)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- JosÉ ÁLvarez, CanÍCula (Mexico, 2011)
Best First Film
- El Estudiante / The Student (Santiago Mitre, Argentina, 2011)
The films were selected from a list of Latin American feature films with a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012. The winners and final nominees were selected by a six-member jury panel from a list of fiction and documentary films compiled from the selections of a nominating committee composed of 14 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S. and Europe (see list below).
Fiction Jury
Dennis Lim writes about film and popular culture for various publications including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is the founding editor of Moving Image Source, the online publication and research resource of the Museum of the Moving Image and was formerly the film editor of The Village Voice. His work has also appeared in The Believer, The Oxford American, Blender, Spin, Espous, Indiewire, New York Daily News, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, and the film quarterly Cinema Scope, where he is a contributing editor. A member of the National Society of Film Critics and the editor of The Village Voice Film Guide (2006), he has served as a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee and he teaches in the Cultural Reporting and Criticism graduate program a New York University.
Matías Piñeiro is a filmmaker and professor at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. His first feature-length work, El hombre robado / The Stolen Man (2007), won awards at the Jeonju International Film Festival and at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival. In 2009, his second feature, Todos mienten / They All Lie, premiered at Bafici (Buenos Aires Festival International de Cine Independiente), where it won two awards. It also won a prize at the Santiago Festival Internacional de Cine. In 2010, he was selected—along with James Benning and Denis Côté—to screen his third film, Rosalinda at the 11th Jeonju Digital Project. Piñeiro recently premiered his most recent film, Viola, at the Toronto Film Festival, and it's slated for a Us release in 2013. He earned a filmmaking degree from Universidad del Cine. His award-winning films have been screened around the world, including at Anthology Film Archives, Festival des 3 Continents, the Festival del film Locarno, the London Film Festival, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, the Museum of Modern Art, Rencontré Cinémas d’Amerique Latine de Toulouse, and the Viennale.
Frida Torresblanco served as a producer in Spain working on film including The Dancer Upstairs, directed by John Malkovich and starring Javier Bardem, as well as Susan Seidelman’s Gaudi Afternoon. She moved to New York City in 2002 to launch and lead Alfonso Cuaron’s film production company, Esperanto, where she served as Executive Producer and Creative On-Set Producer for The Assassination of Richard Nixon (directed by Niels Mueller, starring Sean Penn), among others. In 2006, Frida joined Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro to produce El laberinto del Fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth (Three Oscars & another three Oscar nominations; three wins & five BAFTA nominations; a nomination for the Palm d’Or and a Golden Globe). The Hollywood Reporter named Frida one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood. She also produced Rudo y Cursi (directed by Carlos Cuarón, starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna). In 2010, Frida launched her new film production company, Braven Films, with partners Eric Laufer and Giovanna Randall. Her next project, Magic Magic, produced through Braven Films, will star Michael Cera, Juno Temple and Emily Browning.
DocuMentary Jury
Ryan Harrington is the Director of Documentary Programs at the Tribeca Film Institute where he oversees the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, the Tfi Documentary Fund, Tribeca All Access documentary program and the Latin America Media Arts Fund while developing other initiatives and programs that support non-fiction filmmaking. Recent Tfi successes include Give Up Tomorrow, If a Tree Falls, The Redemption of General Butt Naked, The Oath, Enemies of the People, Marathon Boy and Donor Unknown. Independently he is currently working on the feature doc Hungry in America, with filmmakers Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush and Participant Media, that explores why so many people in the USA go without food, and what can be done about it. Harrington managed production for A&E IndieFilms, the theatrical documentary arm of the A&E Network, for four years. Throughout his time there he championed the Oscar-nominated films Murderball and Jesus Camp, and the Sundance hits My Kid Could Paint That and American Teen.
Paula Heredia is a director and editor based in New York. She was awarded an Emmy for the HBO documentary In Memoriam, NYC 9/11/01, and an Ace Eddie Award for the acclaimed documentary Unzipped. Her directorial work includes the documentaries George Plimpton and the Paris Review, Ralph Gibson, and The Couple in the Cage. Her dramatic work includes Having a Baby, Tras La Ventana, Slings and Arrows, and La Cena de Matrimonio. Her short film La Pájara Pinta premiered at the Lincoln Center Film Society LatinBeat Film Festival. Heredia’s editorial work can be seen in the HBO feature-length documentary Addiction, which received the 2007 Emmy Governors Award, and Alive Day Memories—Home from Iraq, executive produced by James Gandolfini for HBO. Her new edit, The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale and Jacques D'Ambois in China, will air on HBO this summer. Other editorial credits include: Modulations Cinema for the Ear, The Vagina Monologues, Finding Christa and Free Tibet. Paula’s work and creative process is featured in the book: The Art of the Documentary by Megan Cunningham. With partner Larry Garvin, she co-founded Heredia Pictures, heads the international committee of New York Women in Film and Television and serves on the board of advisors of Tribeca All Access and Clementina, Inc.
Chi-hui Yang is a film programmer, lecturer and writer based in New York. As a guest curator, Yang has presented film and video series at film festivals and events internationally, including MoMA's Documentary Fortnight, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (“The Age of Migration”), Seattle International Film Festival, Washington D.C. International Film Festival and Barcelona Asian Film Festival. From 2000-2010 he was the Director and Programmer of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the largest showcase of its kind in the Us. Yang is also the programmer of “Cinema Asian America,” a new On-Demand service offered by Comcast and currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute.
Nominating Committee
- Isabel Arrate Fernandez, Idfa, The Netherlands
- Hugo Chaparro, film critic, Colombia
- Lucile De Calan, programmer, Biarritz Latin American Film Festival, France
- Denis de la Roca, programmer, Abu Dhabi Film Festival
- Mara Fortes, programmer, Morelia Film Festival
- Erick Gonzalez, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile
- Elías Jiménez, director, Festival Ícaro, Guatemala
- Roger Alan Koza, film critic and programmer, Filmfest Hamburg, Ficunam, Mexico
- Janneke Langelaan, Hubert Bals Fund, The Netherlands
- Diego Lerer, film critic, Argentina
- Rosa Martinez Rivero, film producer, Argentina
- Christian Sida-Valenzuela, director, Vancouver Latin American Film Festival
- Hebe Tabachnik, programmer, Los Angeles and Palm Springs Film Festivals
- Sergio Wolf, film programmer, Argentina...
- 1/23/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Adam Yauch, better known as McA from the Beastie Boys, has succumbed to the cancer he’s been fighting since 2009. He died yesterday, aged 47.
Earlier yesterday the Beastie Boys released this official statement:
“It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam ‘McA’ Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer.”
Yauch had salivary gland cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, “Salivary gland cancer is a rare disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the salivary glands.” Sadly, as his voice was his greatest instrument, it kept Yauch from performing in his final days.
Yauch is best known for his ground-breaking music, but he was also a talented filmmaker.
Earlier yesterday the Beastie Boys released this official statement:
“It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam ‘McA’ Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer.”
Yauch had salivary gland cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, “Salivary gland cancer is a rare disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the salivary glands.” Sadly, as his voice was his greatest instrument, it kept Yauch from performing in his final days.
Yauch is best known for his ground-breaking music, but he was also a talented filmmaker.
- 5/5/2012
- by Aeryk Pierson
- Obsessed with Film
Michelle Williams, Kelly Reichart and Adam Yauch at a Meeks Cutoff party. Photographed by Nicholas Hunt © PatrickMcMullan.comAdam Yauch, McA of the Beastie Boys, has passed away at 47. I've been reading a few fine obits but I don't have much in a personal way to say. I liked the band a lot though I couldn't call myself a devotee; they (hip)hopped in and out of my life but were often somewhere to be found on my mix tapes (remember those?)
It's a major loss to both the music and movie worlds. Yauch took up many causes in his lifetime from the Right (To Party) to Free Tibet to Independent Film as a founder of Oscilloscope Laboratories. Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams careers just wouldn't have been the same without the fine job Oscilloscope did pushing the moving Wendy & Lucy and the unsettling Meek's Cutoff to audiences.
Favorite Beastie Boys song?...
It's a major loss to both the music and movie worlds. Yauch took up many causes in his lifetime from the Right (To Party) to Free Tibet to Independent Film as a founder of Oscilloscope Laboratories. Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams careers just wouldn't have been the same without the fine job Oscilloscope did pushing the moving Wendy & Lucy and the unsettling Meek's Cutoff to audiences.
Favorite Beastie Boys song?...
- 5/5/2012
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Back in 1987 at the age of 12 my Big Brother took me to my first concert at the Brixton Academy in South London. I could not have asked for a better introduction to live Hip Hop, the concert was Run Dmc and the Beastie Boys. The performances were amazing, the energy was intense. Beers were being thrown into the crowd and there were naked ladies dancing in cages, what else could a 12-year-old boy want? It was an amazing night and has stayed in my memory ever since as the concert by which all others will be measured. At the time I was a major Beastie Boys fan and have been ever since. I even gave them the number one spot in my Hip Hop top ten of 2011.
The Beasties were important for a number of reasons; their musical genius, integrity and creativity sit alongside their contributions to numerous charities through the years.
The Beasties were important for a number of reasons; their musical genius, integrity and creativity sit alongside their contributions to numerous charities through the years.
- 5/4/2012
- by Scott Ronan
- Obsessed with Film
Here's a real bummer of a headline that I didn't expect to be reading today. Adam Yauch, perhaps better known as McA of the Beastie Boys and the Swiss filmmaker Nathaniel Hornblower, has lost his battle with cancer and passed away. He had been diagnosed with cancer in a salivary gland and a lymph node back in 2009; his treatment delayed the release of the Beastie Boys album Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 and kept them from touring in support of it. Everything we had heard in the preceding months, however, seemed to be positive with his band members remaining hopeful that he would recover. However, when the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month, Yauch did not attend. I guess we should have known something was up. He was 47 years old The news definitely came as a shock to me, and having just watched the documentary Marley,...
- 5/4/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom
Directed by: Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam
Cast: the Dalai Lama
Running Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Rating: unrated
Release Date: July 2, 2010 (limited)
Plot: Documentary following protests by Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile against China, leading up to the Beijing Olympics.
Who’S It For? Anyone who has a Free Tibet sticker on their car but doesn’t know why China owns Tibet.
Expectations: In general, if Richard Gere tells me to do something I do the opposite. So I didn’t know much about why China insists on keeping Tibet. Maybe I’d learn something?
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
The Dalai Lama as himself: Though I’ve seen the Dalai Lama on TV, I never listened to him speak before. He’s definitely an engaging and interesting speaker, and that helps explain why the Free Tibet movement has so many adherents.
Directed by: Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam
Cast: the Dalai Lama
Running Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Rating: unrated
Release Date: July 2, 2010 (limited)
Plot: Documentary following protests by Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile against China, leading up to the Beijing Olympics.
Who’S It For? Anyone who has a Free Tibet sticker on their car but doesn’t know why China owns Tibet.
Expectations: In general, if Richard Gere tells me to do something I do the opposite. So I didn’t know much about why China insists on keeping Tibet. Maybe I’d learn something?
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
The Dalai Lama as himself: Though I’ve seen the Dalai Lama on TV, I never listened to him speak before. He’s definitely an engaging and interesting speaker, and that helps explain why the Free Tibet movement has so many adherents.
- 7/2/2010
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
London -- Thom Yorke, Damien Rice and Philip Glass have composed songs for a documentary film about Tibet.
The Radiohead frontman has written three songs for "When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun," a film about the Free Tibet movement's ongoing struggle to gain autonomy from Chinese rule.
Director Dirk Simon has spent seven years making the film, which features HD footage from India, China and Tibet and interviews with Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
The composers for the documentary's soundtrack were confirmed on the official Web site, whenthedragon.com, which does not confirm a release date but simply says the film is "coming soon."...
The Radiohead frontman has written three songs for "When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun," a film about the Free Tibet movement's ongoing struggle to gain autonomy from Chinese rule.
Director Dirk Simon has spent seven years making the film, which features HD footage from India, China and Tibet and interviews with Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
The composers for the documentary's soundtrack were confirmed on the official Web site, whenthedragon.com, which does not confirm a release date but simply says the film is "coming soon."...
- 1/6/2010
- by By Andre Paine, Billboard
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.