I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí), a film written and directed by alumnus Fernando Frías de la Parra '15 and produced by alumnus Gerry Kim '11 won big at the Ariel Awards for Mexican Cinema, sweeping the trophies in 10 categories including the Best Film and Best Director sections. The award, presented by the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, is considered the most prestigious in the Mexican film industry.
I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí) was nominated for a total of 13 Golden Ariel statues, the most out of any film at this year’s 62nd edition of the event. It also won the awards for Breakthrough Performance (Juan Daniel García), Best Cinematography, Best Original Script, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Make-up, Best Sound, and Best Costume Design. The film can be streamed on Netflix.
Set in Monterrey, Mexico, I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí) follows a young street gang that spends its days dancing to slowed-down cumbia and attending parties. After a mix-up with a local cartel, their leader is forced to migrate to the US but quickly longs to return home.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Fernando Frías de la Parra’s first feature, Rezeta, won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival. Frías also won Best Director for Rezeta at the 2014 Milan International Film Festival. His documentary Calentamiento Local was awarded the prize for Best Digital Film at FICCO (Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo) in 2009, as well as the prize for Best TV Documentary in DOCSDF that same year. He has worked as a writer, director, cinematographer, and editor for TV series, commercials, musk videos and documentaries.
Gerry Kim’s first film as a producer was Iris Shim’s The House of Suh, which premiered at the 2010 Hot Docs Film Festival and went on to win several awards on the festival circuit. His other films include director Jennifer Kroot’s To Be Takei, a documentary portrait of actor and activist George Takei (2014 Sundance Film Festival premiere, released theatrically by Starz Digital), directors Esra Saydam and Nisan Dag’s Across the Sea (winner of the Audience Award at the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival, released on Amazon Prime), and The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (winner of the Audience Award at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival, released on Netflix). In 2014, Kim was chosen as a Creative Producing Fellow of the Sundance Institute.
The Ariel is an award presented by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences since its foundation in 1946 to publicly recognize the directors, actors, writers, creators, technicians and makers of Mexican films.
