Winners of Latino and Iberian Film Festival announced

The Latino and Iberian Film Festival at Yale (LIFFY), sponsored by the Council for Latin American and Iberian Studies at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, has announced its winning films for 2016:

Best Feature Film

Espejuelos oscuros/Dark Glasses.  Jessica Rodríguez.  Cuba, 2016

For the integrity of its script, the coherence of its mise-en-scène, and excellent character portrayals by the actors.

Best Documentary

Dream Town. Betty Bastidas. Ecuador/USA, 2016

For the relevant reality that it portrays and the efficiency of its narration and development of the subjects.

Best Short Film

Persona.  Eliécer Jiménez Almeida.  Cuba, 2012-2014

For its ability to delve deeply in a very short time into the capacity of human beings to preserve their dignity despite precarious conditions.

Special Mentions for Best Animated Shorts

Lila.  Carlos Lascano. Argentina/Spain, 2014

Extrema. Ricardo Jabardo.  USA/Venezuela, 2014

Special Recognition for its Contribution to the Study of the Work of Luis Buñuel

Tras Nazarín.  Javier Espada.  Spain/Mexico, 2015

“We would like to thank the excellent jury members for admirably performing the difficult task of choosing the winners from amongst many wonderful films,” said Margherita Tortora, LIFFY founder. “We are grateful to all of the talented filmmakers that shared their work with us, and to the many people of our diverse community for coming together to enjoy and discuss the very special films that were screened during LIFFY 2016.  Without all of these elements coming together, as well as the generous support of our sponsors and numerous volunteers, The Latino and Iberian Film Festival at Yale would not be possible. Heartfelt thanks to all!”

The jury included:

Monica Palmieri has been residing in New York for 10 years, where she founded along with her sisters the production company MMW productions. Monica has directed and produced the short films The G.O.I.G (2016), Small Talk (2015), Complete Sentences (2013) and Black Hole (2011) (Icaro Film Festival & Short Circuit New York Film Festival). Her work as a producer compiles short films: Datin’ Marvin (68th Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner), Meet Me Here (2015), Locked in You (2014), Underwater (2014) and Derailing (2013) where she was also the lead actress. Monica worked as line producer for the film Split (Sarasota Film Festival, 2016) by award winning director Deborah Kampmeier.

Rosario Caicedo, a professional social worker, is a devoted cinephile since childhood. She was born in Colombia and has lived in the United States since 1974.Rosario has participated as a panelist in the second International Film Festival of Cali Colombia. She attended the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 and the Toronto Film Festival in 2016. She has written articles about movies for the Colombian newspaper Las2orillas and has appeared in panels with the Colombian filmmaker Luis Ospina. This director’s latest film, Todo comenzó por el fin, deals with the lives of three Colombian artists: Carlos Mayolo, Luis Ospina and Andrés Caicedo, and their passion for the cinema. Rosario appears in this film, being interviewed about the life of her late brother Andrés Caicedo, a writer, who is considered to be one of the most important film critics of Latin America.

Nils Longueira Borrego has published film and arts critiques in the magazines Cuban Cinema, Bisiesto, El Caimán Barbudo, Upsalón, La Gaceta de Cuba, Noticias de Arte Cubano, Temas, and Artecubano, and on the websites Cubacine, Cubanow and the Central American Portal of Film, Video and Animation. He has participated with presentations on Cuban cinema in the XXXIV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA).  He has lectured at various institutions such as the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Havana, the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, the Spanish American Center of Culture, the Cuban Association of United Nations and the Avant-Gardes Working Group-Whitney Humanities Center of Yale University. He also participated as a film critic in the 2015 Talents Press Guadalajara of the 30th International Film Festival of Guadalajara.

Juan Pablo Daranas Molina is a Cuban filmmaker based in New York City and known for his multi-awarded short films. He studied at the University of Arts (Havana) and the New York Film Academy (Los Angeles / New York) and his work comprise theatrical films, web content, commercials, music videos, etc., with clients such as Galleria Continua, Louis Vuitton and The Bronx Museum of the Arts. His short movies have been screened and awarded in more than fifty countries worldwide. His medium-length film Twilight was premiered at the prestigious Glasgow Short Film Festival and won the top prizes from the New Jersey Film Festival and the Martinique International Film Festival.

LIFFY was created by Margherita Tortora, who has been teaching Spanish language at Yale since 1993 as well as a class titled “Spanish Through Film.” LIFFY began as a film series in the late 1990s, then collaborated with the New England Festival of Iberian Cinema for five years (2010- 2014); it was established as The Latino and Iberian Film Festival at Yale (in 2015, sponsored by the MacMillan Center).

The films screened at LIFFY must have something to do with Latino, Iberian or Latin American culture in general; must have English subtitles; and must have been made within the last three years.