MDC Students Win Film Festival Cinemaslam Competition"The First Day" receives most awards of any one film in Cinemaslam history

MDC student Rita Pereyra (director of “The First Day”), with filmmaker Adam Moorhead and Graham Winick, film and event production manager for the City of Miami Beach

On the opening day of Miami International Film Festival Friday night, MDC students Rita Pereyra, Martin Castañeda and Andrea Estrada were the big winners in the 5th annual Cinemaslam competition, winning both the Jury Grand Prize and the Audience Award for their production of “The First Day” (“El primer dia”). “The First Day” is a 20-minute film about a troubled man trying to re-establish his relationship with his five-year-old daughter on his first day out of prison. The film, directed by Pereyra, also won awards for Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director, winning the most awards of any one film in Cinemaslam history.

The Festival will re-screen “The First Day” by adding it to the Tough Ain’t Enough program on Monday, March 9, at 9 p.m., at MDC’s Tower Theater. The three young producers will present their short film in the presence of Hollywood producer Stanley Isaacs. The young producers will also lead the post-screening Q&A with Isaacs following the screening of his Hollywood insiders’ look at the life and work of two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Albert Ruddy (The Godfather, Million Dollar Baby).

Miami International Film Festival runs March 6-14. For more information on the programming, competitions and special events, please visit the Festival website.