DuVernay, of Los Angeles, won the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film, Middle of Nowhere.  A writer, director and distributor of independent film, her directorial work also includes the critically-acclaimed dramatic feature I Will Follow, as well as the music documentaries This is the Life and My Mic Sounds Nice.  Her upcoming project Part of the Sky, is currently in development.  She is also the founder of the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM). DuVernay was chosen as the winner by public vote on a website dedicated to the Heineken Affinity Award.  Hundreds of thousands of visitors cast their votes from January 15 to March 31, 2013.

The filmmakers were nominated for the award by a survey of industry executives. From the list of submissions, Heineken and TFI invited ten finalists to apply for the award, based on their prior work and the amount they’ll benefit from extra exposure and resources. Submissions were reviewed on how well they fulfilled the mission of the Tribeca Film Institute, the quality and strength of the proposal, the potential for international and US distribution, as well as the filmmakers’ previous body of work.

In addition to DuVernay, the finalists were Andrew Dosunmu, Cheryl Dunye, Nelson George, Kahlil Joseph, Victoria Mahoney, Terence Nance, Akosua Adoma Owuso, Yvonne Welbon, and Ross Williams. Each of these filmmakers will receive a $1,000 grant.

For more information about the Heineken Affinity Award please visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org.

The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) also announced the award winners for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, Heineken VOCES and TFI/WorldView Partnership grants at a celebration for Latin American filmmakers during the Tribeca Film Festival. The funds, totalling $130,000, support innovative Latin American film and video artists to help them explore stories reflecting diverse cultures, and gain exposure in the film industry. In addition, Bloomberg, the new presenting sponsor of the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, will award the inaugural group of three Bloomberg Fellows grants and mentorship to aid in the development of their projects.

The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund awards $10,000 grants to animation, documentary, or hybrid feature-length films in advanced development, production or post-production from filmmakers living and working in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Grantees also receive exclusive guidance from TFI to ensure that each film reaches completion and enters the U.S. marketplace.

As the new presenting sponsor, Bloomberg will provide support that furthers TFI’s commitment to champion Latin American filmmakers. The partnership will launch in the summer of 2013 with a series of multi-day workshops in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Mexico; and Santiago, Chile.  Each workshop will be aimed at educating, assisting and aiding five emerging filmmakers in each region with the development of their feature documentary or hybrid works, as well as focusing on pitch training and international funding. The three Bloomberg Fellows, one from each region, will be awarded a $12,000 grant and an invitation to participate in one of the workshops.  The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund is also sponsored by Moviecity and CANACINE.

Each of the winning films were selected by a jury of industry professionals including producer, Leonardo Zimbron; award-winning filmmaker, Julia Bacha; and co-founding director of Cinema Tropical, Carlos A. Gutiérrez.

The following three filmmakers and project have been selected as the 2013 Bloomberg Fellows:

• Children/Los Ninos (Chile), Directed by Maite Alberdi Soto; Produced by Clara Taricco
• The City Where I’m Getting Old (Brazil), Directed by Marilia Rocha; Produced by Luana Melgaço
• Someone Else’s Secret  (Mexico), Written and Directed by Hector Barrios; Written and Produced by Denisse Quintero

The following four films are winners of this year’s TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund:

• The Girl Behind the Camera (Argentina), Directed and Produced by Paula Schargorodsky
• Missed Days/Los Dias No Vuelven (Mexico), Produced and Directed by Raul Cuesta; Written by Fernando del Razo
• The Naptime (Mexico), Written, Produced and Directed by Carolina Platt
• Solitude Square/Plaza de la Soledad (Mexico), Directed by Maya Goded; Produced by Martha Sosa Elizondo; Co-Produced by Iris Lammertsma

As part of the Latin America Media Arts Fund, the Heineken VOCES Award is granted to one documentary and one narrative project annually. Launched in 2012, the awards are granted to Latino filmmakers, 21 and older, living in the United States and working on feature-length narrative or documentary films that offer new perspectives on their cultural experiences.

The winners of the Heineken VOCES grants are:

Heineken VOCES Award for Documentary

• Man of the Monkey, Directed by David Romberg.

Heineken VOCES Award for Narrative

• Nobody is Watching, Written, Directed, Co-Produced by Julia Solomonoff, Written by Martina Broner, Co-Produced by Maria Arida – Guille.

An additional three development grants of $10,000 will be awarded to filmmaking teams based in Latin America and the Caribbean through the TFI/WorldView Partnership, a collaboration between the Tribeca Film Institute and CBA WorldView.

The winners of the TFI/WorldView Partnership grants are:

• Growing in Oil (Venezuela), Written and Directed by Anabel Rodríguez Ríos
• Night Inside Me (Bolivia), Directed by Sergio Estrada; Produced by Valeria Ponce
• Swimming on Dry Land (Jamaica), Produced and Directed by Michelle Serieux