My English professor told me one day, if you ever feel there are no words to describe something, find them! I am doing just that as I so desperately want to share this weekend in Fort Lauderdale. There is so much to write about so I will instead focus…
At last night’s awards ceremony Sebastian Villada Lopez and Laura Montana Cortez won the Child Actor Awards.
Paola and I have done countless Q&As for audiences in and outside of the US and the one comment we always get is, “And those kids!” Which is generally followed by, “Where did you find them?” We love telling their stories! We cannot be more proud of the life and courage that Sebastian and Laura brought to their individual characters. We talk about finding Laura among hundreds of other kids at an open call in Jackson Heights in the back of a local restaurant, spotting Sebastian on the lawn of Flushing Meadow park with his grandmother on the hottest day of the summer, their dramatic growth and development during rehearsals, loving and fighting on set like brother & sister… and I can go on. One of my favorite moments (and I means seconds) on screen between them is when Mariana and Andrea see Gabriel off to school – Andrea wraps her arms around her brother like only she can do and he in turn simply pats her softly a few times on the head – It gets me every time. It embodies the affection that Paola and I only dreamed about for these characters and is a testament as actors to their individual understanding of the importance of that moment in the film. Top honors well deserved!
ENTRE NOS at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
Best Young Actors…..Sebastian Villada Lopez and Laura Montana Cortez
Best Female Actor…..Paola Mendoza
President’s Award…..Entre Nos
Best Film of the Festival…Entre Nos
Gloria
