Winners
Winner 2006
Manolo Sarmiento
MANOLO SARMIENTO, a 39 year-old filmmaker from Ecuador, received a US $10,000 award for his project entitled “The Death of Jaime Roldos”. The six-member jury cited the originality and the importance of Sarmiento’s vision. The film proposes to investigate little-known facts – many deliberately concealed – surrounding the death of Ecuador’s popular president and the political and social impact on Ecuadorian society. The jury also highlighted the overall quality of the proposed cinematic treatment, in particular the strong narrative through-line provided by the personal approach of the director
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Less than two years after his election, Jaime Roldos, the President who had been responsible for the return of democracy to Ecuador in 1979, lost his life in a tragic plane crash. According to some sources, the “accident” was orchestrated by the CIA. Roldos’ death had a tremendous impact on the people of Ecuador. The consequences of the tragedy have received little analysis and understanding to this day. This investigative documentary will reveal the profound sense of collective loss felt by Ecuadorians even two decades after Roldos’ death.
The grant from the Alter-Ciné Foundation proved crucial to start my film. It allowed us to do field research, including the site of the plane crash that killed Jaime Roldos and his wife: an essential element in the development of our story. The grant encouraged us to proceed with confidence in our ideas and intuition, and confirmed that our approach was the right one.
It is important that a film such as ours be able to access various sources of funding so as not to depend on any one single funder, in order to preserve an independent point of view. The Foundation contributed to this. Lisandra and I are very grateful to you. The 50,000 people who have seen the film in theatres across Ecuador are proof that this grant was worth the investment. We hope that many other filmmakers benefit from your support in the years to come!
– Manolo Sarmiento