Under the auspices of Maravilla, the NYC based independent organization promoting Latin American arts and film, EFFNY 2020 is proud to announce its sixth season. 

 

Running December 1-6, it will be offered online only and be available to viewers across the U.S. and Ecuador on  effigy.org.  EFFNY is partnering with ZINE, the online movie platform for Latin American cinema, with the support of Telemundo, the NY Consulate of Ecuador, ANÓNIMA, Radio Cocoa, Radio Free Brooklyn and the Ecuadorian Academy for the Audiovisual and Cinematic Arts. 

 

Three documentaries and two feature films will be competing for the Best Film Award Jury Prize: 

 

IN THE LAND OF MY CHILDREN, a documentary by legendary Ecuadorian director, Dario Aguirre, award winner at the first EFFNY in 2015, details his personal  exploration of identity and nationalism, sparked by an invitation by the Mayor of Hamburg to become a German citizen. 

 

MADRE LUNA, directed by Daisy Burbano, is a compelling immigrant story of Ecuadorian mothers and families settled in Italy and their struggle to regain custody of their children. 

 

SACACHUN, directed by Gabriel Páez, winner of EFFNY’s Best Film Audience Award in 2016, is the story of a community of elders, the only inhabitants of an Ecuadorian village on the verge of disappearing, and their long struggle to recover a religious monolith removed from the village.

 

The feature film section includes TURQUOISE BLUE, by actress Mónica Mancero, in her directorial debut, also playing the lead as a drug addict victimized by pseudo rehab centers. 

 

PANAMÁ, a feature by another EFFNY veteran, Javier Izquierdo, is based on the true story of an encounter in Panama City in 1985 of two Ecuadorian former high school classmates, one of whom is a member of a guerrilla group. 

 

EFFNY attracts its audience mostly from the Ecuadorian community in the NY, NJ, CT Tri-State Area. It also attracts a good number of film aficionados and viewers with interest in Ecuador’s vast culture. The festival offers high quality films that provide a diverse outlook on this fascinating country little known in the U.S.