Se lo Merecía, a black-and-white short by El Paso filmmaker Brandon Herrera, took the $1,500 First Prize in this year’s Local Flavor Showcase and Awards at the 19th annual El Paso Community Foundation Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Herrera wrote and directed the nearly 14-minute film, about a schoolyard incident that exposes the cultural differences between two 12-year-old Mexican American boys. It was shot at St. Joseph Catholic School, of which Herrera is an alumnus.
A total of $3,500 in cash prizes was handed out at this year’s showcase.
A 7 1/2-minute comedic short by El Paso writer-director Jorge Villarreal, La Entrevista, took the $1,000 Second Prize. It’s about a young female tennis player who is not prepared for the media circus that follows her rise to fame.
This year’s $750 Third Prize winner was Training Wheels, a 23-minute sports comedy by El Paso writer, director and editor Skyler Carreon. It’s about a boy who challenges a bully to a bike race, capturing the world’s attention in the process.
The $250 Audience Favorite Award went to Ulises Córdova’s colorful short Tito Ritmo, which features zoot suits, dancers, music and a prized car won in a 1941 dance contest that a troubled young man tries to sell for the money in 2009.
For more on this year’s Local Flavor Showcase and Awards, click here.
The festival ran July 16-26. The Plaza Classic returns for its 20th year in July 2027. Festival passes are on sale now here.
Pictured: Local Flavor prize winners (from left): Brandon Herrera, First Prize, Se lo Merecía; Jorge Villarreal, Second Prize, La Entrevista; Skyler Carreon, Third Prize, Training Wheels; and Ulises Córdova, Audience Favorite, Tito Ritmo.
