Arianna Martinez’ film Maya Eterna is one of nine films included in CBC’s 14th annual Short Film Face Off.
Arianna Martinez’ short film Maya Eterna has had quite an exciting life so far. After premiering at the Atlantic International Film Festival’s Real East Coast Shorts Gala in September of last year, the film was later featured as part of the Silver Wave Film Festival where it received eight award nominations, took home Short Film category awards for Excellence in Art Direction (Arianna Martinez), Excellence in Cinematography (Lance Kenneth Blakney) as well as Outstanding Performance by a New Brunswick Actress (Houlie Duque) and was ranked fifth among the top twenty films included as part of the 2020 festival by an audience vote.
After moving from Argentina to Canada, Maya finds it difficult to adjust. The world passes her by at an overwhelming pace as she desperately hangs onto the past.
– Reel East Coast Shorts Gala | Atlantic International Film Festival
“It’s exciting to be included in the list of short films and to represent Atlantic Canada,” said Martinez. “Getting to make Maya Eterna was an incredible opportunity for me to grow as a filmmaker and I’m excited for it to be highlighted on a national stage. Immigrating to a new country can be a very isolating experience and I wanted to depict that struggle onscreen. And now during the COVID-19 pandemic, feelings of being isolated have been amplified for all of us. It’s something we’ve all had to grapple with and I hope that audiences who haven’t had to leave their home countries can have a greater understanding of what it feels like to be detached from their loved ones.”
Martinez is one of three filmmakers that make up the collective, Strike Pictures.
Each year, Short Film Face Off showcases the best of short films and emerging filmmakers from across the country. This year, home viewers will get to vote on all nine films airing on Saturdays, August 14, 21, 28 and September 4, 7 p.m. ET (8 p.m. AT and 8:30 p.m. NT).
In addition to the national broadcast opportunity on CBC, Telefilm Canada provides an award of $30,000 to the top filmmaker.
This year’s complete list of competing films and filmmakers include, Andrew Gillingham (Vancouver, BC) with Prawn, Rowan Gray (Winnipeg, MB) with Tides, Michael Greco (Toronto, ON) with Green Grass, Sohee Hong (Mill Bay, BC) with Barrier, Eric Janvier (Morinville, AB) with Reserved, Hingman Leung (Ottawa, ON) with Curbside Pickup, Bea Macapagal (Hamilton, ON) with Norah & Poppy, Mike Regis (Toronto, ON) with Promotion and Arianna Martinez (Fredericton, NB) with Maya Eterna.
Watch Short Film Face Off on CBC Gem: cbc.ca/faceoff
