LOS ANGELES, CA – April 25, 2024 – Latino Film Institute (LFI) today announced the second cohort of the LFI Spark Animation Fellowship through LatinX in Animation (LXiA), one of its five signature programs. Sponsored by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, this initiative provides emerging Latinx animation filmmakers with financial support, mentorship, and other invaluable resources to support them in the completion of an animated short film.
Each LFI Spark Animation fellow will receive a grant of $25,000, as well as mentorship from industry professionals who will present a series of panels tailored to address each stage of their film’s production.
Three filmmakers were chosen to receive the grant based on the artistic merit of their submissions and the originality of their voice and vision. The filmmakers are animator Juan M. Abdo (Remember the Rats), storyboard artist Alex Avila (The Apricot), and illustrator Ana Ramírez González (Droplet).
“We are proud to partner with Netflix to continue championing Latino filmmakers within the animation industry. Each selected project represents a unique perspective from within the Latino community,” said Diana Cadavid, Director of Industry Programs at LFI. “We’re thrilled to continue nurturing the talent of our fellows and amplifying their voices.”
Juan M. Abdo
Remember the Rats
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a diplomat can’t stand the local rats bugging him during his workday. Abroad, he finds a solution that changes the game for the rodents, but it comes at a price. A fun and quirky short film that examines a particular irony in Argentinian culture: Pigeons were brought from Paris to make the city’s scene more European, but they became a plague and displaced the native Rats competing for food.
Bio:
Juan M. Abdo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and graduated as a Film Director at FUC (Fundación Universidad del Cine) in 2018. That same year he moved to the USA to work in the film and animation industry. As an animation generalist, he has worked in many productions taking diverse roles from story development to post-production, storyboarding, visual development, Previs, layout, editing, animation, VFX and final compositing. As an animator, he understands the art form as a means to convey values and represent role models through narrative and design.
Alex Avila
The Apricot
Set against the sun-kissed backdrop of Hollister, California, in the sweltering summer of 2005, The Apricot unfolds as a poignant tale of tradition, family and self-discovery. Amidst the sprawling apricot farm that has been part of his family’s legacy since 1975, a young boy named Alex embarks on his inaugural day of farm work. Struggling to keep pace with his seasoned