Claremont, Calif. (October 16, 2013)—Pitzer College alumna Kimberly Bautista ’07 won the Best Documentary award at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) for her film, Justice for my Sister. She received the award during LALIFF’s closing ceremony at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles on October 14.
Bautista directed and produced Justice for my Sister, a 69-minute feature documentary that chronicles a Guatemalan woman’s quest for justice after her sister is murdered. In conjunction with the film, Bautista developed violence prevention workshops and launched Texting Peace, a text message-based domestic violence prevention helpline in Guatemala.
“This award means my team and I have even more momentum to take the film and its violence prevention campaign to the next level and reach more audiences,” Bautista said. “I’m humbled, honored and ready to ride the wave.”
The LALIFF award is the third jury prize that Justice for my Sister has won at an international film festival this year. It also received the Camera Justitia Jury Prize at the Movies That Matter Festival in Holland and the Pukañawi 2013/Ojo Latinoamericano Jury Prize at the Festival Internacional de Cine de los Derechos Humanos de Sucre in Bolivia. Bautista won the HBO/ National Association of Latino Independent Producers Documentary Filmmaker Award in 2012.
Earlier this year, Bautista received Pitzer’s inaugural Young Alumni Achievement Award, given to recognize young alumni who have established careers that exemplify a Pitzer education in action. At Pitzer, Bautista was a double major in media studies and Spanish; she graduated from the Social Documentation Master’s program at University of California, Santa Cruz.
The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival was founded in 1997 by producer, director, actor and activist Edward James Olmos and independent producer Marlene Dermer. The nonprofit supports the development and exhibition of diverse cinematic visions by Latino filmmakers.
