10th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival Announces Award Winners

AUSTIN, TX – The 10th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival proudly announces the winners of the four categories of its jury competition: Best Narrative Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Documentary Short.

The festival also recognizes the winners of Audience Awards and Youth Film Awards.

Best Narrative Feature Film is TATUADO (Tattooed) from Argentine director Eduardo Raspo. Cynthia Mendez of Barakacine, Raspo’s production company, says “ This film Eduardo made has a special magic, luckily it appeals to diverse audiences, and that makes it last.”

TIERRA ROJA (Red Earth, Ramiro Gomez, Paraguay), won the Best Documentary Feature Award. The film had its United States premiere at Cine Las Americas, and it was subtitled in English just for its screening at the festival.

A complete list of winners and jury members follows.


JURY AWARD WINNERS:

Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature
TATUADO (Tatooed, Eduardo Raspo, Argentina, 2005)

Special Jury Mention for Narrative Feature QUE TAN LEJOS (How Much Further, Tania Hermida, Ecuador, 2006)

Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature
TIERRA ROJA (Red Earth, Ramiro Gómez, Paraguay, 2006)

Jury Award for Best Narrative Short
PRIMERA COMUNION (First Communion, Daniel Eduvijes Carrera, Mexico, 2006)

Special Jury Mention for Best Narrative Short BESTIARIO (Bestiary, Daniel Castro, Mexico, 2006)

Jury Award for Best Documentary Short
O MAIOR ESPECTACULO DA TERRA (The Greatest Show on Earth, Marcos Pimentel, Brazil, 2005)

Special Jury Mention for Documentary Short LA PETITE CHASSE (The Little Hunt, Wapikoni Mobile Team, Pamela Basilish, Canada, 2005)



AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:

Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature QUE TAN LEJOS (How Much Further, Tania Hermida, Ecuador, 2006)

Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature TOCAR Y LUCHAR (To Play and to Fight, Alberto Alvero, Venezuela, 2006)



YOUTH FILM AWARD WINNERS:

Jury Award for Best Youth Film
VISIONS OF HUMBOLDT (Community TV Network, USA, 2006)

Special Mention for Youth Film
SIEMPRE AMOR (Eternally Yours, Kenneth Chinea, Puerto Rico, 2006)


FILM COMPETITION JURY

This year’s jury consisted of both international filmmakers and Austin based filmmakers who brought diverse backgrounds and perspectives to the film competition.

Narrative Film Jurors:

Larry Blackhorse Lowe
Filmmaker Larry Blackhorse Lowe was raised in Nenahnezad on the Navajo reservation in New Meixco. His feature 5th World premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has screened at over 20 film festivals, including Cine Las Americas. Lowe’s journey as a filmmaker continues with Left Handed Path, the script with which he participated in the Writers and Producers Lab of the Sundance Film Institute in the summer of 2006.

Beto Gómez
Filmmkaer Beto Gómez was born in Sinaloa, Mexico, and spent most of his early years in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, before settling in Guadalajara. He studied at the Vancouver Film School and has worked in the North American and European film industries. His feature films include Hasta el ultimo trago…corazón!, Puños rosas, El Sueño del caiman and El Agujero. His next film, El Soldado Pérez is currently in development.


Documentary Jurors:
Hector Galán
Hector Galán, a Tejano from San Angelo, Texas, has contributed over forty hours to national PBS television, including eleven episodes for FRONTLINE, two programs for PBS’ The American Experience and the landmark series, Chicano! A History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, which screened at the White House for President Clinton. Galán has garnered numerous awards including two Image Awards, the Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Tellw Award, SXSW Best Documentary, the Golden Apple and the Blue Ribbon Award.


N. Bird Runningwater
Born of the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache peoples, N. Bird Runningwater was reared on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico. He is currently Associate Director of Native American and Indigenous Initiatives with the Sundance Institute, serves on the board of directors for Re:New Media and as an advisor to Film Independent’s Project: Involve Program, and is a creative consultant on WGBH’s landmark documentary series We Shall Remain.

Hans-Martin Liebing
Hans-Martin Liebing is a writer, director, and producer from Europe who has been working in both documentary and narrative film. He holds an MA in media studies from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Films he has helped produce have screened at festivals in Europe and the United States, on PBS Independent Lens, PBS Territory and ABC Australia. He is currently in post-production with a documentary on Native American end-time prophecies and a narrative feature he directed and produced last summer in Texas.

Youth Film Jury:

This section of the festival is curated by students that participate in Cine Las Americas' multicultural Media Literacy programs.

St. Andrew's Episcopal School
Cris Feo, Chiara Bercu, Teacher: Rommel Eclarinal

Akins High School
Jessica Mumy, Aaron Benson, Teacher: Jodi Leckbee

Austin High School
Anna Owen, Clay Pacatte, Walker Massie, Teacher: Emily Burdette


The 10th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival is honored to have the City of Austin and American Airlines as premiere sponsors. This project is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.