Audience Choice Winner Of The 18th Chicago Latino Film Festival.

The winner of the 18th Chicago Latino Film Festival’s Audience Choice Award is Doce Horas (12 Hours) from Puerto Rico. The film ranked highest among the 70 feature films that were shown during the Festival.

Doce Horas (12 Hours) is Raúl Marchand Sánchez’s first feature film and was originally shot on digital video and transferred to 35mm. This film is a dark comedy with the intoxicating backdrop of San Juan, Puerto Rico. This film takes a look at the different experiences people can have within the same 12-hour time frame. The night brings about a variety of situations: from a young girl’s experience at a party to a working woman’s afterhours outing and from a gay prostitute’s evening to a reporter on the hunt for the big story of the night. These are five parallel and interlaced stories of people experiencing the rush nightlife has to offer.

The lead actress. Yadira Nazario, was in town for the film’s screenings during the Festival and was well-received by moviegoers wanting to get autographs and snapshots.

In second place was the Uruguayan film, En la puta vida (Tricky Life) and third place was Lieber Fidel “Maritas Geschichte” (Dear Fidel “Marita’s Story”) from Germany/Cuba.

The Festival took place April 5-17 with an extended day on the 18th at the Biograph theater, 3 Penny Cinema and Facets Multimedia.

For more information at http://www.latinoculturalcenter.org