Editor

The 15th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival announced the winners of the jury awards for five competitive categories of the festival program: Best First or Second Narrative Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, and Hecho en Tejas. Audience Awards were also announced for Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, and Youth Films.

The Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature Film went to Las malas intenciones(The Bad Intentions) a life-affirming and humorous journey into both the reality and imagination of a 9-year-old, as seen through the eyes of South American Magical Realism, directed by Rosario Garcia-Montero.

The Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature Film was for El árbol de las fresas (The Strawberry Tree), a mesmerizing cinematic poem that tests the boundaries between anthropology, documentary and reverie, directed by Simone Rapisarda Casanova.
 
Las malas intenciones (The Bad Intentions) also took the Audience Award for Narrative Fillm, while the Audience Award for Documentary Feature went to La maleta mexicana (The Mexican Suitcase), a film about the power and fragility of memory, the historical ties between Mexico and Spain, and the search for the truth through recently found work of photojournalists Robert Capa, David Seymour, and Gerda Taro.
 
The Narrative Jury was comprised by Katy Daiger Dial, Community Education Manager for the Austin Film Society; Roberto Sneider, director of successful Mexican features such as Dos Crimenes (1995) and Arrancame la vida (2008); and Ed Radtke, the award-winning director of The Dream Catcher (1999), and The Speed of Life (2007).
 
The Documentary Jury members were Angela K. Pires, editor of award winning documentaries like Trash Dance (2012); Arturo Chavez, SVP of Hispanic Owned & Operated Networks; and Berndt Mader, director of the award-winning feature film Five Time Champion (2011).
 
The complete list of winners follows:
 
Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature
Las malas intenciones (The Bad Intentions)
Dir. Rosario Garcia-Montero, Peru
 
Special Jury Award for Individual Performance
Kisha Tikina Burgos
Under My Nails
Dir. Arí Maniel Cruz, USA/Puerto Rico 

Special Jury Award for Ensemble Performance
Andrés Almeida, Jessy Bulbo
El lenguaje de los machetes (Machete Language)
Dir. Kyzza Terrazas, Mexico
 
Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature
El árbol de las fresas (The Strawberry Tree)
Dir. Simone Rapisarda Casanova, Canada/Cuba
 
Special Jury Mention for Documentary Feature
Morir de pie (Die Standing Up)
Dir. Jacaranda Correa, Mexico
 
Jury Award for Best Narrative Short
Amaqqut Nunaat (The Country Of Wolves)
Dir. Neil Christopher, Canada
 
Special Jury Award for Individual Performance in Narrative Short Film
Jazmine Zapata Morante
Pescadora (Fisherwoman)
Dir. Daniel Enrique García, Peru/USA
 
Jury Award for Best Documentary Short
Paraíso
Dir. Nadav Kurtz, USA
 
Special Jury Mention for Documentary Short
pt.es
Dir. Pedro Sena Nunes, Portugal
 
Texas Archive of the Moving Image Hecho En Tejas Award
Canción del cuerpo (Song Of The Body)
Dir. Andrew Segovia, Gabriela Alcalá, USA 
 
Hecho en Tejas Honorable Mention
All She Can
Dir. Amy Wendel, USA
 
Audience Award for Narrative Feature
Las malas intenciones (The Bad Intentions)
Dir. Rosario Garcia-Montero, Peru
 
Audience Award for Documentary Feature
La maleta mexicana (The Mexican Suitcase)
Dir. Trisha Ziff, Mexico/USA
 
Emergencia Youth Film Competition Audience Award
Piolas, Paúl
Dir. Adrián Macías, Ecuador
La Poderosa Media Project