SMC Student Wins Prague Film Festival Award

SANTA MONICA, CA – A Santa Monica College (SMC) student-film, "Muñecas", won the Best Student Film Award at the 2017 Prague Independent Film Festival. The international festival was held August 3-6 in the Czech Republic capital. “Muñecas," written and directed by Osvaldo Ozuna, is a short film that explores life on the United States-Mexican border for a young student whose family is caught up in the drug trade, according to the press release.

“I wanted to showcase the involvement of the innocents in this situation, which affects whole families,” says Ozuna. “Children are being used as mules by the drug cartels.”

To escape the situation, Ozuna’s parents moved to the United States from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, when he was 10. Although his family's undocumented status was a hardship, the statement said, he pursued his passion for music and the arts throughout his adolescent years. When Ozuna saw articles about SMC students' showing their films at Cannes, he decided to pursue his passion.

Ozuna wasn't able to attend the awards ceremony in Prague due to his DACA status. DACA – the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals – offers a two-year deferment from deportation and a work permit to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors, and is renewable. If they leave the U.S., however, their DACA status can be revoked.

“Making this movie was a two-year project, and only possible because of [my parents'] support. And I’m especially grateful to Professor Carrasco, who saw the potential in my script – and in me – and who encouraged and guided me through the process,” Ozuna said.

The Prague Independent Film Festival is an annual event that presents the "most innovative and original motion pictures made by young and established directors." The festival is an IMDb Qualified Event, and film screenings are held in the historical cinemas of central Prague. A jury of film professionals views all films submitted to the festival, judging them on criteria that include new ideas, experimental cinematography, talented work of actors, and an individualistic point of view.

For more information about the SMC Film Program, please see their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SMCFilm or call (310) 434-3766.

Image compliments of Santa Monica College and Osvaldo Ozuna