Tribeca Film Institute Announces 2012 Award Winners For TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund

The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced the award winners for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund and first-ever Heineken VOCES grant at a celebration over the weekend for Latin American filmmakers during the Tribeca Film Festival. The funds, totaling $60,000, support innovative Latin American film and video artists to help them explore stories reflecting diverse cultures and gain exposure in the film industry. 

The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund awards $10,000 grants to animation, documentary, or hybrid feature-length films in advanced development, production or post-production from filmmakers living and working in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Grantees also receive exclusive guidance from TFI to ensure that each film reaches completion and enters the U.S. marketplace from the best possible vantage point.  The Fund is sponsored by Moviecity and CANACINE. 

“We are proud to support this year’s Latin America Fund and Heineken VOCES winners, and look forward to helping these six filmmakers further develop their films,” said Ryan Harrington, Director of Documentary Programming for TFI. “The VOCES grant extends our Latin Fund’s reach by allowing us to work with filmmakers in the United States as well as talent based in Latin America. With the help of our partners, we can continue to provide a platform where these compelling stories can be experienced by a larger audience.” 

The winning films were selected by a jury of industry professionals including Fernando Rovzar, Executive Producer of La Casa de Mi Padre and Producer of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark; Cynthia Lopez, Vice-President of American Documentary / POV; and actor/filmmaker Ricardo Darin (The Secret in Their Eyes, The Aura, Nine Queens). 

The following four films are winners of this year’s TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund: 

 

• City of the Caesars (Chile), Directed & Produced by Francisco Hervé, Edited by Andrea Chignoli -- Two conspiracy theories. Two ordinary men. Wisdom, immortality and natural resources are at stake in a mythical place somewhere in Patagonia. 

 

• Cuando los Muertos Estan Mas Secos/When the Dead Are Drier (Bolivia), Directed & Produced by Claudio Araya Silva and Produced by Yara Morales Rivera -- In the eighties, more than 50 women committed suicide in a small peasant community. Hermenegildo and Pedro return to their community, attempting to retrace the paths of memory regarding the deaths of their wives. The trip aims to unravel the mystery surrounding the life and death of these women. 

• Elena (Brazil), Directed & Produced by Ana Petra Costa - The film recounts the journey of Petra, a young Brazilian woman who dreams of becoming an actress but is warned not to do so by her mother. Against these admonitions, Petra moves to New York City where the reasons why she was advised against this path begin to unfold.

 

• The Shark’s Eye (Argentina), Directed by Alejo Hoijman and Produced by Gema Juarez Allen -- Summer is coming to Nicaragua and Maycol and Bryan will start to learn their families’ trade, shark hunting. In a place where traditional trades disappear in favor of drug trafficking, these two boys choose their future. A coming of age film set in the forgotten Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.
  

As part of the Latin Fund, the Heineken VOCES grant provides two additional grants to narrative and documentary projects helmed by Latino filmmakers (over the age of 21) who live and work in the United States. The mission of the grant is to encourage American Latino filmmakers to redefine, invent, explore and create visions and stories that reflect their diverse cultures. 

“We are excited to recognize and honor the first-ever Heineken VOCES grantees and to help empower these filmmakers on their creative journey," said Carolyn Concepcion, Brand Manager of Heineken. “At Heineken, we celebrate and open your world through unique and unexpected experiences, making them unforgettable and extraordinary. The VOCES grant encompasses an invaluable mentorship by the prestigious Tribeca Film Institute that exemplifies the Heineken brand promise.” 

 

The winners of the first-ever Heineken VOCES grants include:

• ·         Heineken VOCES Award for Documentary

Las Marthas 
A documentary about an extraordinary rite of passage in Laredo, Texas where Mexican-American debutantes are presented at a grand Colonial ball dressed as American revolutionaries – a border tradition that’s 114 years old.

Directed & Produced by Cristina Ibarra and Produced by Erin Ploss-Campoamor 

• ·         Heineken VOCES Award for Narrative
  Feriado (Holiday)

The sheltered life of Juan Pablo is turned upside down when he must spend the carnival holiday with his wealthy family at their hacienda in the Ecuadorian Andes and meets Juano, a self-assured black metal fan from the nearby pueblo. 
Written & Directed by Diego Araujo

Produced by Hanne-Lovise Skartveit, Juan Sebastián Jácome & Andrés Longares

Executive Produced by Frida Torresblanco

Cinematography by Bradford Young

 

About the Tribeca Film Institute:

The Tribeca Film Institute is a 501(c)3 year round nonprofit arts organization founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in the wake of September 11, 2001. TFI empowers filmmakers through grants and professional development, and is a resource and advocate for individual artists in the field. The Institute’s educational programming leverages an extensive film community network to help underserved New York City students learn filmmaking and gain the media skills necessary to be productive citizens and creative individuals in the 21^st century. Administering a dozen major programs annually, TFI is a critical contributor to the fabric of filmmaking and aids in protecting the livelihood of filmmakers and media artists. For more information and a list of all TFI programs visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org. 

About Heineken USA

Heineken USA Inc., the nation's premier beer importer, is a subsidiary of Heineken International BV, which is the world's most international brewer. European brands imported into the U.S. include Heineken Lager, the world's most international beer brand; Heineken Light; Amstel Light, a leading imported light beer brand; Newcastle Brown Ale, the leading imported ale in the United States; and Buckler non-alcoholic brew. Heineken USA is also the exclusive USA importer for the Tecate, Tecate Light, Dos Equis, Sol, Carta Blanca and Bohemia brands from Mexico. For a safe ride home, download the Heineken USA-sponsored Taxi Magic™ application from your smartphone at taximagic.heineken.com. Please visitwww.EnjoyHeinekenResponsibly.com.

 

About Moviecity

Moviecity is the best premium entertainment experience in Latin America. The premium channel package offers recent movies, original productions, series, documentaries, concerts and exclusive events, all without commercial breaks and with the highest audio and video quality. More than 1,000 programs each month, offered through six different channels that have a unique personality and eleven different options to access the content. Moviecity wants to entertain and satisfy the preferences of the different audiences at home.  LAPTV, LLC owns the Moviecity brand and is a partnership formed by Paramount Pictures, Fox International Channels and 20th Century Fox Television. 

 

About CANACINE

The National Chamber of the Film Industry (CANACINE) is an institution driven by public interest and represented throughout all of Mexico. CANACINE represents the general interest of the film industry in Mexico, from which companies dedicate themselves to the production and distribution of films for theater and television, commercial screening venues for short or feature-length films, as well as film studios, post-production houses, film labs and workshops that are directly connected to the film industry. CANACINE's associates also include established & up-and-coming production and distribution companies, film exhibitors and video recording houses. CANACINE, which had its origins in 1942, includes as its members Cinepolis, Cinemex, Cinemark, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Videocine, Gussi Artecinema, Quality Films, Corazón Films and Blockbuster, among others.

 

About the Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival helps filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enabling the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center. It is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors. 

 

Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 following the attacks on the World Trade Center, to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of the lower Manhattan district through an annual celebration of film, music and culture, the Festival brings the industry and community together around storytelling.

 

The Tribeca Film Festival has screened more than 1,300 films from more than 80 countries since its first edition in 2002. Since inception, it has attracted an international audience of more than 3.7 million attendees and has generated an estimated $725 million in economic activity for New York City.