Winning films were announced and honored during an awards ceremony wrapping Miami Dade College’s 10-day Miami International Film Festival this weekend. Here’s a rundown of the award winners:
KNIGHT COMPETITION:
–Knight Grand Jury Prize: The Obscure Spring (Las oscuras primaveras) (Mexico), produced by Luis Albores, Erika Avila, Carlos Mesa and Armon O’Farrill
–Grand Jury Award Best Performance: Cecilia Suarez, Jose Maria Yazpik and the entire cast of The Obscure Spring (Las oscuras primaveras) (Mexico)
–Grand Jury Award Best Director: Abner Benaim for Invasion (Invasión) (Panama / Argentina)
KNIGHT DOCUMENTARY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (selected by the Festival audience):
—Tea Time (La once) (Chile / USA), directed by Maite Alberdi
LEXUS IBERO-AMERICAN OPERA PRIMA COMPETITION:
—In the Grayscale (En las gamas de gris) (Chile), directed by Claudio Marcone
JORDAN ALEXANDER RESSLER SCREENWRITING AWARD:
—Theeb (Jordan / Qatar / United Arab Emirates / United Kingdom), written by Naji Abu Nowar and Bassel Ghandour
PARK GROVE SHORTS COMPETITION:
–Best Short Film: Young Lions of Gypsy (A Ciambra) (Italy/France), directed by Jonas Carpignano
–Honorable Mentions: A Tree In The Sea (United Arab Emirates), directed by Shahir Zag; and Alba Baptista for her performance in Simão Cayatte’s Miami (Portugal)
MIAMI ENCUENTROS presented by Knight Foundation:
—The Apostate (El apóstata) (Spain / France / Uruguay), produced by Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles, Fernando Franco, and Federico Veiroj; directed by Federico Veiroj
LEXUS AUDIENCE AWARD:
–Favorite Feature Film: Kamikaze (Spain), directed by Álex Pina
–Favorite Short Film: Young Lions of Gypsy (A Ciambra) (Italy), directed by Jonas Carpignano
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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