The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announces the new Cine Latino Award, which will be presented to the best Iberoamerican film screening at the Festival. Sponsored by the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) and the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA, the winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize. PSIFF is scheduled to run January 3-14, 2013.

“This award is the natural progression toward highlighting the tremendous creativity we are seeing in modern Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American films, and the PSIFF is one of the first in the US to recognize that burgeoning talent pool,” says Hebe Tabachnik, the Iberoamerican Programmer for PSIFF. “It creates the foundation for a growing cultural exchange between the Palm Springs International Film Festival and two of the leading organizations in the region: the Guadalajara Film Festival and the University of Guadalajara Foundation in USA. The reason Latin American cinema strikes such a chord with international audiences is because of the power of the stories and the dexterity in the storytelling. Cine Latino at PSIFF is our annual celebration of this powerful cinema showcasing the diversity, not only in subject matter and language, but also bringing exciting new works from regions with nascent filmmaking industries, as well as from established masters from Iberoamerica.”

“Being a part of the Palm Spring International Film Festival and giving this award, has a double meaning for our Festival,” said Iván Trujillo, the Festival Director from the Guadalajara International Film Festival. “On one side we continue to promote that every year, more and better films are being made, and on the other, we’re contributing to bring our cinema to the American public.”

“The University of Guadalajara at Los Angeles, with the support of the University of Guadalajara Foundation in the United States of America, Inc., is running an extensive program to extend outreach services to the Latino and Mexican community through the arts and a broad range of cultural activities,” said Lic. Raúl Padilla Lopez, President of the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA. “We’re excited to be able to include the new Cine Latino Award for the best Latino film at the Palm Spring International Film Festival as a part of this program.”

Jury members include Juan Carlos Arciniegas (CNN en Espanol), Sydney Levine (IndieWire) and Iván Trujillo (Director of the Guadalajara Film Festival) will review 22 films to select the Cine Latino Award winner. This year’s eligible films are:

7 Boxes (Paraguay), Director: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori

After Lucia (Mexico), Director: Michel Franco

Beauty (Argentina), Director: Daniela Seggiaro

Blancanieves (Spain/France), Director: Pablo Berger

Checkmate (Dominican Republic), Director: José María Cabral

Clandestine Childhood (Argentina/Brazil/Spain), Director: Benjamín Ávila

The Cleaner (Peru), Director: Adrian Saba

The Clown (Brazil), Director: Selton Mello

The Dead Man and Being Happy (Spain), Director: Javier Rebollo

Drought (Mexico), Director: Everardo González

The Girl (USA/Mexico), Director: David Riker

Here and There (Spain/USA/Mexico), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza

La Playa D. C. (Colombia/Brazil/France), Director: Juan Andrés Arango García

Multiple Visions (The Crazy Machine) (Mexico/France/Spain), Director: Emilio Maillé

The Passion of Michelangelo (Chile/France), Director: Esteban Larraín

Sadourni’s Butterflies (Argentina), Director: Darío Nardi

The Sleeping Voice (Spain), Director: Benito Zambrano

The Snitch Cartel (Colombia), Director: Carlos Moreno

Tabu (Portugal/Brazil/France/Germany), Director: Miguel Gomes

The End (Spain), Director: Jorge Torregrossa

Una Noche (Cuba/UK/USA), Director: Lucy Mulloy

White Elephant (Argentina/Spain/France), Director: Pablo Trapero