Tag Archives: Cecilia Aldarondo

Cecilia Aldarondo Signs with United Talent Agency (UTA)

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Cecilia Aldarondo has new representation… 

The Puerto Rican director-producer has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA).

Cecilia AldarondoAldarondo’s third feature, You Were My First Boyfriend, premiered in Documentary Feature Competition at the SXSW Film Festival on Friday.

The hybrid documentary written and directed by Aldarondo and Sarah Enid Hagey is billed in SXSW’s official program as an examination of “the power of adolescent fantasy, the subtle violence of cultural assimilation, and the fun house mirror of time’s passage.”

Aldarondo also produced the film heading to HBO later this year, which sees her revisit her 1990s adolescence, a generation after she thought she’d left it all behind.

Aldarondo previously directed and produced the feature docs Memories of a Penitent Heart and Landfall, both of which were co-produced by the award-winning PBS series, POV.

The former title world premiering at Tribeca picks up 25 years after Miguel’s death from AIDS, as his niece cracks open a Pandora’s box of unresolved family drama, by tracking down his estranged lover. The latter, also screening at Tribeca, which examined the fraught relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, won DOC NYC’s Viewfinders Grand Jury Prize, also landing Aldarondo noms at the Cinema Eye Honors Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.

A former Women at Sundance Fellow who was named to DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 list Aldarondo has also previously received a Guggenheim Fellowship and an IDA Emerging Filmmaker Award, among other accolades. While continuing to build on her career behind the camera, she teaches filmmaking at Williams College in Williamstown, MA

Colman Domingo Earns First-Ever Spirit Awards Nomination

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Colman Domingo has real spirit…

The Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations for the 2020-21 season finally have been announced today, with the 51-year-old half-Guatemalan/Belizean American Tony Award-nominated actor earning his first ever Spirit Awards nod.

Colman Domingo

Domingo is nominated in the Best Supporting Male category for his performance in Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Maite Alberdi has picked up a nod…

The 37-year-old Chilean producer, director, documentarian and screenwriter is nominated in the Best Documentary category for her acclaimed film The Mole Agent, which is representing Chile in the Oscar race for Best International Film.

Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho have been nominated in the Best International Film race.

The Brazilian filmmakers are nominated for their highly-acclaimed film Bacarau.

Cecilia Aldarondo is nominated for the Truer Than Fiction Award, which is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.

The Puerto Rican filmmaker earned the nod for directing Landfall, which chronicles the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, while offering a sensitive and urgent portrait of the continued fraught relationship between the US and Puerto Rico.

Harold Torres has earned a nod in the television categories…

The 36-year-old Mexican actor is nominated in the Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series for his performance in “Zero, Zero, Zero.”

This year’s edition will break its longstanding tradition of taking place live on the Santa Monica beach on the Saturday afternoon before Sunday’s Oscars. Instead, the ceremony will air live at 7:00 pm PT on Thursday, April 22 — on IFC.

Here’s the full list of nominees for the 36th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards:

BEST FEATURE
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland

BEST FIRST FEATURE 
I Carry You With Me
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Miss Juneteenth
Nine Days
Sound of Metal

BEST FEMALE LEAD 
Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner, The Assistant
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

BEST MALE LEAD 
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger
Rob Morgan, Bull
Steven Yeun, Minari

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt, First Cow
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

BEST DOCUMENTARY 
Collective
Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau
Producers: Hanka Kastelicová, Bernard Michaux, Bianca Oana

Crip Camp
Directors/Producers: Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham
Producer: Sara Bolder

Dick Johnson is Dead
Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson
Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness

The Mole Agent
Director: Maite Alberdi
Producer: Marcela Santibáñez

Time
Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley
Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn

BEST SUPPORTING MALE 
Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Orion Lee, First Cow
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Benedict Wong, Nine Days

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE 
Alexis Chikaeze, Miss Juneteenth
Yeri Han, Minari
Valerie Mahaffey,French Exit
Talia Ryder, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Yuh-jung Youn, Minari

BEST SCREENPLAY
Mike Makowsky, Bad Education
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Alice Wu, The Half Of It
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY  
Kitty Green, The Assistant
Noah Hutton, Lapsis
Channing Godfrey Peoples, Miss Juneteenth
Andy Siara, Palm Springs
James Sweeney, Straight Up

BEST EDITING: 
Andy Canny, The Invisible Man
Scott Cummings, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Merawi Gerima, Residue
Enat Sidi, I Carry You With Me
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jay Keitel, She Dies Tomorrow
Shabier Kirchner, Bull
Michael Latham, The Assistant
Hélène Louvart, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Joshua James Richards, Nomadland

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM 
Bacurau
Brazil
Directors: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho

The Disciple
India
Director: Chaitanya Tamhane

Night of the Kings
Ivory Coast
Director: Philippe Lacôte

Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
Hungary
Director: Lili Horvát

Quo Vadis, Aida?
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Jasmila Žbanić

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD  
Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast

One Night in Miami…
Director: Regina King
Casting Directors: Kimberly R. Hardin
Ensemble Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD  
Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

The Killing of Two Lovers
Writer/Director/Producer: Robert Machoian
Producers: Scott Christopherson, Clayne Crawford

La Leyenda Negra
Writer/Director: Patricia Vidal Delgado
Producers: Alicia Herder, Marcel Perez

Lingua Franca
Writer/Director/Producer: Isabel Sandoval
Producers: Darlene Catly Malimas, Jhett Tolentino, Carlo Velayo

Residue
Writer/Director: Merawi Gerima

Saint Frances
Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
Writer: Kelly O’Sullivan
Producers: James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker, Raphael Nash, Roger Welp

PRODUCERS AWARD
The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.

Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
Gerry Kim

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD 
The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.

David Midell
Director of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

Ekwa Msangi
Director of Farewell Amor

Annie Silverstein
Director of Bull

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD 
The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.

Cecilia Aldarondo
Director of Landfall

Elegance Bratton
Director of Pier Kids

Elizabeth Lo
Director of Stray

TV CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children
Executive Producers: Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett, Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius

City So Real
Produced by: Zak Piper, Steve James
Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder

Immigration Nation
Executive Producers: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson
Co-Executive Producers: Andrey Alistratov, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Lauren Haber

Love Fraud
Executive Producers: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Amy Goodman Kass, Vinnie Malhotra, Jihan Robinson, Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman

We’re Here
Creators/Executive Producers: Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram
Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Peter LoGreco
Co-Executive Producers: Erin Haglund, Sabrina Mar

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

I May Destroy You
Creator/Executive Producer: Michaela Coel
Executive Producers: Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni

Little America
Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Joshuah Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Alan Yang, Siân Heder, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon

Small Axe
Executive Producers: Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen

A Teacher
Creator/Executive Producer: Hanna Fidell
Executive Producers: Michael Costigan, Kate Mara, Louise Shore, Jason Bateman, Danny Brocklehurst
Co-Executive Producer: Daniel Pipski

Unorthodox
Creator/Executive Producer: Anna Winger
Creator: Alexa Karolinski
Executive Producer: Henning Kamm

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Elle Fanning, The Great
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Abby McEnany, Work in Progress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever
Jordan Kristine Seamón, We Are Who We Are

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Conphidance, Little America
Adam Ali, Little America
Nicco Annan, P-Valley
Amit Rahav, Unorthodox
Harold Torres, Zero, Zero, Zero

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I May Destroy You
Ensemble Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia, Stephen Wight

PBS’ POV Acquires Rights to Cecilia Aldarondo’s Documentary “Landfall,” About Puerto Rico’s Post-Hurricane Maria Rebuilding Efforts

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Cecilia Aldarondo will be enlightening people on Puerto Rico’s post-Hurricane Maria rebuilding efforts.

PBS’ documentary series POV has acquired U.S. broadcast rights to Landfall, the Puerto Rican documentary filmmaker’s feature-length film about the rebuilding of Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane Maria through the stories of farmers, fishermen, educators, real estate agents and newcomers.

Cecilia Aldarondo

The documentary, which had its premiere at the mostly shuttered Tribeca Film Festival, will now air as part of POV’s 34th season set to launch on PBS stations in June. Before that, it will screen at DOC NYC, which runs November 11-19.

The island and its 3.4 million residents (and U.S. citizens) was ravaged by the September 2017 storm, which shuttered electricity to the entire commonwealth and caused billions in damages, leaving behind a crippled infrastructure and a multibillion-dollar debt. Outside investors descended not as much to bail out communities but to cash in, leaving the next generation of Puerto Ricans finding themselves at an inflection point between the dream of a socialist utopia and the reality of recolonization.

Landfall is a co-production of Blackscrackle Films, ITVS, and American Documentary | POV in association with Field of Vision and Latino Public Broadcasting, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“Landfall is a cautionary tale about unjust recovery, and what happens when powerful interests try to privatize public services in the wake of disaster,” Aldarondo said. “Now that we’re all facing the biggest disaster of our lifetimes, we need public media like POV to champion the visionary, ethical, and independent media we need for a healthy society. I can’t think of a better home for my film.”

“Cecilia’s masterpiece is both a sharp condemnation of the continued colonial exploitation of Puerto Rico and a warm embrace of the land and her people,” executive producer Chris White said. “Rendered with a singular vision and deep affection, you’ll be swept into solidarity with these native Puerto Ricans who resist and rebuild.”