17^th Havana Film Festival NY Announces Havana Star Prize Winners at

Packed Closing Night Ceremony

Best Feature: Magallanes (Peru-Colombia)

Best Director Santiago Mitre (Paulina) and Best Screenplay goes to El Acompañante (Cuba-Panama)

Best Documentary: La Prenda (Guatemala-Switzerland)

18 Films Competed for the coveted Havana Star Award

New York, April 15, 2016— The 17^th Havana Film Festival NY announced the Havana Star Prize Winners during a packed Closing Night Ceremony at the New York Directors Guild Theatre in Manhattan. Magallanes by Salvador del Solar (Peru-Colombia) won the Havana Star Prize for Best Feature. Best Director went to Argentinean helmer Santiago Mittre for Paulina. Best Screenplay went to Pavel Giroud, Alejandro Bruges and Pierre Edelman for El Acompañante (The Companion), Best Actor to Chilean Luis Gnecco for The Karadima Church, and Best Actress to the Argentinean Dolores Fonzi for Paulina. La Prenda (The Pawn)by Jean-Cosme Delaloye won the Havana Star Prize for Best Documentary. Special Jury Mentions went to feature film Mi Amiga del Parque (Mi Friend from the Park) by Argentinean director, actor Ana Katz, and Colombian documentary Paciente (Patient) by Jorge Caballero. The jury included Txemi Parra, Zita Morriña, Mario Santos, and Kevin Moore in the Fiction categories; and Alex Lora, Kevin Canfield and Carmen Alarcon for Documentaries.

A full house attended the Closing Night Ceremony and Awards Presentation, followed by the New York premiere of the U.S. film Papa: Hemingway in Cuba, directed by Bob Yari. The feature is the first Hollywood film to shoot on location in Cuba since the 1959 revolution, Papa: Hemingway in Cuba is the true-life story of a young journalist who finds a father figure in legendary author Ernest Hemingway. 

Detailed information about all festival programs is available at www.hffny.com

The presenting sponsor of the 17^th HFFNY is NBC/Telemundo 47. Additional sponsorship is provided by El Diario/La Prensa, Xael Charters, Cuban Travel Networks, Horns of Havana, The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York, ICAIC, LatAm Cinema, Habanero Films, Centro de Capacitación Cinematogáfica de México, Aguijón Films, The Sound of Two. Los patrocinadores de medios son OnCuba Magazine, Queens Latino, Latinos en Foco, and EnRola TV. HFFNY is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Honorable Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York State legislators and supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the City Council.

The Havana Film Festival New York is a project of American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba (AFLFC), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization building cultural bridges between the U.S. and Cuba through programs in the arts since the year 2000.  

Claus Mueller

filmexchange@gmail,com