“Flora,” a film by UC Professor Yehuda Sharim, earned an award from the Latino and Native American Film Festival.
The film, which Sharim describes as a memoir of post-teen daughters of immigrants who must teach themselves about love and tenderness in a world dominated by unnecessary suffering and pain, won the festival’s Environmental, Social, Economic, Political Justice Award.
The festival, held virtually but based at Southern Connecticut State University, received more the 2,500 entries from 46 countries. “It is a testament to our festival's mission of showcasing the complexity and diversity of Latino and Native American voices worldwide,” festival organizers said in a statement.
Sharim’s work navigates fiction, improvisation and real-life events. His films offer an intimate portrayal of those who refuse to surrender amid daily strife, offering a vision for equality and solidarity in a divisive world. Recent films include "El Ojo Comienza En La Mano" (The Eye Begins in the Hand), "Experiments in Freedom" and "Letters2Maybe."
