American Latino Filmmakers Shine at Hispanicize
(L-R) Mission Park’s Assoc. Prod, Amanda Rubio Ramirez; Dir. Bryan Ramirez; Vivica Fox; Producer Douglas Spain
Crime drama Mission Park was named the best of show feature length film of this year’s Hispanicize 2013 Film Festival while the event’s best short film award went to Clara Como el Agua.
Mission Park, directed by Bryan Ramirez, was also the audience favorite. It is the story of four childhood friends who become caught up in a suspenseful crime drama. Torn apart over time, the ambitions of four childhood friends place them on both sides of the law. A star making vehicle, producer Douglas Spain (which also has a role in the film) centers around young FBI Agents Bobby (Jeremy Ray Valdez) and Julian (Will Rothhaar) are forced to infiltrate and take down a drug organization run by the untouchable kingpin Jason (Walter Perez) and his right-hand man Derek (Joseph Julian Soria).
Clara Como el Agua, directed by Fernanda Rossi, is a magical story about a girl discovering her own name. Both filmmakers will receive a $1,000 cash prize.
“These filmmakers are the pride and joy of Hispanicize and we are looking forward to supporting these award-winning filmmakers throughout the year long after Hispanicize has ended,” said Manny Ruiz, founder and organizer of the Hispanicize event. Both films were part of a powerful line up of Latino produced films that included the Miami debut and pre-national premiere of Filly Brown andAftershock, among others.
This year’s feature film and documentary selections also included: Blaze You Out, Dreamer and Los Wild Ones. The festival’s other short films were #Postmodem, Fireworks, Vincent Valdez: Excerpts For John, El Cocodrilo, Echo Bear, Reinaldo Arenas and Gabi.
In the spirit of building synergies through collaboration, this year’s festival was created in consultation with an advisory board that included Calixto Chinchilla, founder of the New York International Latino Film Festival; Jaie Laplante, executive director of the Miami International Film Festival and festival co-founder Bel Hernandez, CEO of Latin Heat Media.
The title sponsor of the event is Procter & Gamble. Other sponsors include: AT&T, Disney Parks, Bing, Telemundo Media, Pandora, Google, Bumble Bee Foods, Tide, NASCAR, Charmin, Lowes, Coca-Cola, MundoFox, Sherwin-Williams, Ford, McDonald’s, The Clorox Company, Maseca, ViSalus, Swiffer, Fender, Radio Shack, Transitions, Avocados of Mexico, UnitedHealthcare, NBC Latino, Yo Soy Segundo, The Axis Agency, Collective Bias, ESPN Deportes, The American Latino Museum, JeffreyGroup, NBCUniversal, Lanugo, Visit Orlando, Fox News Latino, AARP, Business Wire, ASK Media Productions, Steady Image, Sensis Agency, PR Newswire, The Zocalo Group, El Sentinel, BajaLibros.com, The American Latino Museum, Marketwired, the Miami Marlins and The St. Augustine Visitor’s Bureau. Media partners include Latin Heat Media, Getty Images Hispanic, Media Moves, Voxxi, Mamiverse, PRODU and Hispanic Market Weekly.
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