Four thousand, six-hundred deaths in the most devastating natural disaster in the Atlantic since 2004. This is the figure left by Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Dominica in September 2017. Maria deteriorated roads, bridges and damaged health care facilities.

Five years later… Do the social, political and health problems the hurricane unearthed still persist in Puerto Rico? Is the country still far away from recovery? Cecilia Aldarondo tried to find the right answers in her film Landfall. The documentary exposes the impact of the hurricane on the social, economic situation of the Caribbean island and its political relationship with the U.S. 

Landfall was awarded at several international film festivals, and is also winner of the Best U.S. Latino/x film at Cinema Tropical, and tied — on this occasion — with the film, Through the night.

The latter movie, directed by Loira Limba, explores the social drama of two mothers who, to raise their children, must keep more than one job — a need for many families in the United States. Faced with the situation, Limba presents a clear reflection: who takes care of children while the parents are working?

Movies from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico complete the list of winners in other categories:

- Best Latin American Film of the Year: Fauna. Directed by Mexican-Canadian Nicolás Pereda, it portrays how violence and drug trafficking has infiltrated the popular imagination of Mexican society.

- Best Director: Madiano Marcheti, from Brazil, for his film Madalena, about the disappearance of a young transsexual. 

- Best Documentary (tied): The Calm After The Storm by Mercedes Gaviria (Colombia); and Splinters by Natalia Garayalde (Argentina).

- Best Fiction First Work: All the light we can see by Pablo Escoto (Mexico).

All these films have a minimum duration of 60 minutes and premiered between March 2020 and March 2021.