This Wednesday, January 21 at the New York Times building in Manhattan, the year’s best Latin American films will be honored with the only U.S. award solely dedicated to the region. The non-profit Cinema Tropical, headed by Carlos Gutierrez, will bestow prizes to documentaries and fiction films determined to be cream of the crop by its jury of industry professionals, directors, curators, and critics.
Twenty-two movies from six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and the U.S.) are in the running for the award, making it likely you haven’t seen/heard of all of them. That’s where we come in. We’ve been keeping our eye on these films all year and have written about lots of them. We’ve done interviews with the directors, made lists of reasons to watch, and reported on their tour of the film festival circuit. So, being the dependable source of all things Latino film that we are, here is a roundup of all our coverage of the nominated films from the past year. Consider this your Cliff’s Notes to the Cinema Tropical Awards. First things first, check out the trailer for a quick taste of the nominees.
A complete list of the nominees for the 5th Cinema Tropical Awards is here.
Enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the awards ceremony here.
Best First Film
From Los Caifanes to Roger Rabbit: 3 Tribeca Latin American Directors Talk Influences
This Year, Tribeca’s Latin American Films Focus on Music & Youth
‘Navajazo’ is a Sympathetic Portrait of TJ’s Hookers, Addicts & Satanic Street Musicians
Four Reasons Why Mexican Indie Film ‘Somos Mari Pepa’ Rocks It Hard
Best U.S. Latino Film
Richard Ray Perez on Making ‘Cesar’s Last Fast’ Doc Using Never-Seen-Before Footage of Cesar Chavez
Meet Las Marthas, Mexican-American Debutantes Who Dress Like Martha Washington, In 6 Dazzling GIFs
8 Reasons Why The Hauntingly Beautiful Documentary ‘Purgatorio’ Will Blow Your Mind
Rodrigo Reyes Battled Heat, Bed Bugs, And Early Morning Beer Drinking While Filming In The Desert