Lara was among the 10 finalists selected for an intensive three-month fellowship at the nonprofit Ghetto Film School in Los Angeles.
Up-and-coming filmmaker Silvia Lara was named the recipient of the inaugural Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award at the opening of Frieze LA on Thursday, beating out nine other finalists for the $10,000 prize.
The award, granted in partnership with the nonprofit academy Ghetto Film School, aims to recognize emerging Los Angeles-based filmmakers between the ages of 20 and 34 years old. It is part of the second annual Frieze Los Angeles art exhibit, which takes place on the Paramount studio lot and brings works from over 70 galleries from around the world.
Lara's film, Beauty Never Lost, was created during a three-month program at the Ghetto Film School and captures the life and inhabitants of Whittier, California, through a series of vignettes.
"I began as a writer and photographer, but even as a writer I always hoped to one day see my ideas onscreen. It took some time, but I eventually learned that there was such a thing as cinematography and that it would prove to be a harmonious union between my two passions: storytelling and creating images," Lara said in a statement.
The finalists included Danielle Boyd, Mya Dodson, Michelle Jihyon Kim, Nabeer Khan, Alima Lee, Timothy Offor, Toryn Seabrooks, Noah Sellman and Nicole L. Thompson, and their works were voted on by a jury of art and entertainment figures including artist Doug Aitken; filmmakers Shari Frilot, Jeremy Kagan and Sam Taylor-Johnson; and curator Hamza Walker.
All of the finalists' films will be showcased throughout the course of Frieze LA, which is set to run through Sunday.
