Cuba boat people film wins at New York Tribeca festival

Cuba boat people film wins at New York Tribeca festival

A movie about Cuban boat people was the biggest winner at the Tribeca
Film Festival, taking in three awards after two of its actors went
missing en route to New York.

3:12PM BST 27 Apr 2012

"So much happened in this movie," said London-born Lucy Mulloy, the
director of "Una Noche," as she accepted the award for Best New Director
late Thursday. "It changed people's lives."

In a case of life imitating art, the Best Actor award went to Javier
Nunez Florian, who disappeared along with actress Anailin de la Rua de
la Torre during a stopover in Miami on their flight to the film festival.

Only one of the movie's three main actors, Dariel Arrechada, who also
travelled from Cuba, made it to the film festival. He shared the Best
Actor award with Florian.

"I can't believe it," Arrechada said as he received the award. "Thank
you very much. I thank you with my whole heart. I'll never forget this day."

The short film also won for Best Cinematography, among the six awards
given out during the competition.

The Founders Award for Best Picture went to "War Witch," directed by Kim
Nguyen of Canada.

"Una Noche," (One Night) tells the story of three teenagers trying to
make the dangerous ocean passage from Cuba to Florida in a homemade raft.

The story took an odd twist when Nunez Florian and De la Rua de la Torre
disappeared last week during the Miami stopover.

Since 1966, Cubans have been granted automatic residence if they make it
to the United States from the communist-ruled island, and thousands
attempt the voyage every year, often navigating the shark-infested
waters in rickety boats.

In explaining the best actor award, the jury said Nunez Florian and
Arrechada gave "potent individual performances that together are even
greater than the sum of their parts."

Regarding Mulloy's award, it said the film "rang the bell inside all of
our little director hearts. We simply thought the film was awesome."

Another Latin American film, Argentina's "The Luck in Your Hands,"
directed by Daniel Burman, won the award for Best Screenplay. It was
written by Burman and Sergio Dubcovsky.

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by actor Robert De Niro
and film producer Jane Rosenthal to help New York's Tribeca
neighbourhood recover from the September 11, 2001 attack on the nearby
World Trade Center.

The 2012 competition, which ends Sunday, includes 80 feature-length
movies and 80 short films from 46 countries.

Source: AFP


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/9231861/Cuba-boat-people-film-wins-at-New-York-Tribeca-festival.html