Top Awards At Miami Film Festival Go To Columbia Filmmakers
Top Awards at this year’s Miami Film Festival went to Columbia filmmakers, former Film student David Pablos and MFA Film alum Kali Kahn '25. The 43rd Annual Miami Film Festival ran from April 9 to April 29 of this year. According to their website, the festival "has been a celebration of cinema, showcasing groundbreaking films and hosting influential voices. From 1984 to its evolution into a world-renowned event, the Festival continues to bring the magic of film to Miami’s diverse and passionate audience."
Pablos was awarded the Marimbas Award for his feature film On The Road, which follows a drifter who sleeps with truckers after he meets a reserved driver and joins him hauling freight across northern Mexico. As they grow closer on the road, the drifter's past threatens them both. The award honors a "jury-selected narrative feature film that best exemplifies richness and resonance for cinema’s future," and includes a $10,000 grant. On The Road was named the best film in the Orizzonti program at the Venice Film Festival. It has also been acquired for distribution by I Wonder Productions.
September All Over, a short film by Kahn, took home the Made in MIA Short Film Award. The award, sponsored by ArtesMiami, includes a $5,000 grant. The prize celebrates "jury-selected films that highlight South Florida’s stories, settings, and creative voices," and supports "local filmmakers and emerging talent whose work reflects the cultural vibrancy and diversity of our community." September All Over tells the story of a young woman who, in the sweltering wake of Hurricane Irma, strikes up a connection with her older neighbor, stirring up revelations that will last long after the floods have receded. Since the release of the film, it has also received Jury Honors from the Columbia University Film Festival, a BAFTA Student Awards nomination, and a San Sebastián NEST Student Awards nomination.
Pablos earned his academic degree from the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica with the short film La Canción De Los Niños Merton which won more than 10 International awards and was selected in Festivals such as Cannes and San Sebastian among others. For this work, Pablos earned the Ariel Award for Best Live Action Short in 2010. He is also a Fullbright Scholar. His documentary Una Frontera, Todas Las Fronteras was part of the Official Selection at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. By 2013 he premiered his first feature film La Vida Después at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, as part of the Official Selection. The film was selected in more than 40 Film Festivals around the world and received many awards. The same year he directed 20 y Mas Por el Arta, a TV series created to celebrate Canal 22’s 20th Anniversary. His second feature, The Chosen Ones, received CNC’s support and competed at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. The film received 13 nominations for the 58th Ariel Award and won five of them, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. He was FONCA’S young creators intern. Currently, he is preparing the adaptation of the famous Roberto Bolaño novel Los Detectives Salvajes and he co-wrote with Julio Medem the TV series Jai Alai.
Kahn is a filmmaker from Miami living in New York City. Her work has screened at festivals around the world and is featured on platforms such as Short of the Week and Director’s Notes. As a multi-hyphenate writer-director-editor, she approaches storytelling from all angles and loves collaborating with others to help bring their vision to life. She has cut films that have premiered at festivals such as Berlinale, Tribeca, Slamdance, and Palm Springs to name a few. She is the recipient of the Bridges/Larson tuition fellowship at Columbia, and her films have received support from Indian Paintbrush Productions, The Davey Foundation, Film Florida, and Oolite Arts. She is currently developing her first feature, an expansion of her thesis film September, All Over, a coming of age drama set in Miami during Hurricane Irma. She has a deep love for sound design, the subtropics, and all things Cassavetes.