Temblores takes top prize at NewFest

Queen Of Lapa named best documentary

by Jennie Kermode

Temblores
Temblores Photo: NewFest

Jayro Bustamante's Temblores (Tremors), the story of a father who comes out as gay within an evangelical community, received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at Newfest today, with the jury describing it as "an anthropological yet personal story brimming with specificity in its depiction of the central loving relationship while encompassing other viewpoints," and adding "its gothic austere filmmaking is contrasted with a warm and liberated characterisation of the queer community."

The New York-based festival, which is in its 31st year, saw the prize for Best Documentary Feature awarded to Brazilian film Queen Of Lapa, which immerses viewers in the lives of a group of trans women who work in the sex industry and share a house in Rio de Janeiro. "The film’s sensitive take on a tightly knit group of trans women speaks volumes about the power of community, solidarity and personal resilience," said the jury.

The festival featured more than 160 films from 32 countries.

Those awards in full:-

Jury award - Narrative feature

  • Temblores

Jury award - Documentary Feature

Jury award - Short

Audience award - Narrative feature

  • And Then We Danced

Audience award - Documentary Feature

  • A Night At Switch 'N Play

Audience award - Narrative Short

  • Wonder

Audience award - Documentary Short

  • Ladylike

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