Miami Film Festival Awards Go To ‘On The Road,’ ‘TheyDream’ & More

The Miami Film Festival has announced its prize winners after wrapping the 43^rd edition of the cinematic event in South Florida.

On the Road (En El Camino), directed by David Pablos, won the festival’s top juried prize, the $10,000 Marimbas Award. The drama-thriller centers on Veneno, a young man “surviving on charm, instinct, and fleeting sexual encounters,” who seeks a way out of the life he’s living. “He finds it in Muñeco when he persuades the trucker to take him north. Together, they enter the insular world of long-haul trucking, where men are expected to be silent and vulnerability is forbidden.”

Osvaldo Sanchez and Victor Prieto Simental star in the film, which won the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival. It also won Best Film in the Venice Horizons section and two awards at the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico. The Marimbas Award at MFF recognizes a film in international competition that “best exemplifies richness and resonance for cinema’s future.”

The Made in MIA Feature Film Award went to The Old Man and the Parrot, directed by Gabriel de Varona. It was selected by a jury from among films in competition with “a substantial portion of its content (story, setting, and actual filming location) in South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and/or Monroe counties) and that best utilizes their stories and themes for universal resonance.” The award comes with a cash prize of $15,000.

The $10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award — created by the South Florida family of the late Jordan Ressler and sponsored by the Jordan Ressler Charitable Fund – was presented to Second Victims, directed by Zinnini Elkington. The award in that category goes to a filmmaker making a feature narrative debut.

The Documentary Achievement Award went to TheyDream, directed by William D. Caballero. The feature is “a deeply personal autobiographical documentary that traces how art can become a lifeline in the wake of loss,” notes the Miami Film Festival program. “Drawing on two decades of mixed-media filmmaking, Director William D. Caballero revisits his family’s history in Fayetteville, North Carolina, interweaving new 2D and 3D animations with live-action vérité, archival materials, and raw, deeply human conversations with his mother.”

Earning honorable mentions in the Documentary Achievement category were Revolution’s Daughter, directed by Thaddeus D. Matula, and Everybody to Kenmure Street, directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra. The latter film, executive produced by Oscar winner Emma Thompson, examines a protest in Glasgow, Scotland that prevented the U.K.’s Home Office from driving off with two men seized in an immigration raid.

● The Audience Feature Film Award went to Comandante Fritz, directed by Pavel Giroud. First runner-up was Milly, Queen of Merengue, directed by Leticia Tonos Paniagua, and second runner-up went to I Swear, directed by Kirk Jones.

● The Made in MIA Audience Award went to The Mecca: Legends of Traz Powell Stadium, directed by Nicanson Guerrier. First runner-up was Tropical Park, directed by Hansel Porras Garcia, and second runner-up was An Instrumental Start: A Model for the Nation, directed by Brian Bayerl and Mike Huter.

● The Audience Documentary Film Award was earned by Runa Simi, directed by Augusto Zegarra. First runner-up was Revolution’s Daughter (the aforementioned Thaddeus D. Matula film), and second runner-up was Perseverance, directed by Juan Carlos Martín.

These are the winners in the Short Film Awards categories:

● Made in MIA Short Film Award sponsored by ArtesMiami ($5,000) went to September All Over, directed by Kali Kahn. The runner-up was Colada, directed by Carmen Pelaez.

● Miami International Short Film Award ($4,000) went to Ovary-Acting, directed by Ida Melum, with A Hand to Hold, directed by Philip Clyde-Smith as runner-up. The award is given to a jury-selected short film (30 min. or less) of any genre from anywhere in the world.

● Reel South Short Award ($1,000) went to If You Really Love Me, Outlive Me, directed by Saskia d’Altena and Alejandro Ruax.

● Short Documentary Film Award ($1,000), presented by the University of Miami School of Communication, Department of Cinematic Arts and co-presented with UM’s Bill Cosford Cinema, went to Oh Whale, directed by Winslow Crane-Murdoch.

● Florida Cinemaslam Award ($1,000), part of the Festival’s annual Florida college student film competition, went to Ghost of The Marsh, directed by Ross Widener.

● The Audience Short Film Award went to One Last Order, directed by Lauren DeFilippo and Sam Soko. First runner-up was The Floor Remembers, directed by Jayme Gershen, and second runner-up was Beast of the Seine, directed by Jon Portman.

Miami Dade College puts on the Miami Film Festival and its sister event, Miami Film Festival GEMS. The Miami Film Festival, which ran from April 9-19, is considered the preeminent showcase for “Ibero-American cinema in the U.S., and a major launch pad for all international and documentary cinema. The annual Festival welcomes more than 45,000 audience members and more than 400 filmmakers, producers, talent and industry professionals. It is the only major festival housed within a college or university.”