Documentaries assist communities perceive their previous and picture a greater future. This yr, six Miami‑based mostly filmmakers will take up that mantle as recipients of The Louies, an initiative introduced by the Miami Movie Competition and sponsored by the Lynn & Louis Wolfson II Household Basis. Now in its second yr, the award will present a mixed $100,000 to assist new movies that illuminate the tales, cultural identities and iconic figures that outline South Florida’s previous and current.
Along with funding, recipients could have the chance to premiere their work at future editions of the Miami Movie Competition and obtain limitless entry to the Lynn & Louis Wolfson II Florida Transferring Picture Archives at Miami Dade School.
Three earlier Louies winners – Jayme Kaye Gershen (The Flooring Remembers), Symone Titania Main (Beneath the Mango Tree), and Rachelle Salnave (Twin Citizen) – will premiere their movies on the upcoming Miami Movie Competition (April 9-19, 2026).
“The Louies exist to champion Miami documentary storytellers,” mentioned James Woolley, Government Director of Miami Dade School’s Miami Movie Competition, in a press assertion. “These filmmakers are preserving the histories, cultures and voices that embody South Florida, and we’re dedicated to giving them the assist and visibility their work deserves.”
This yr’s winners and their initiatives are acknowledged within the following classes:
Characteristic-length Documentary ($50,000)
Kareem Tabsch – Save Our Kids
The movie revisits singer and wonder queen Anita Bryant’s explosive 1977 Miami campaign, a marketing campaign that turned the blueprint for contemporary assaults on queer Individuals and equality. Save Our Kids explores how a celeb singer overturned town’s anti‑discrimination ordinance by wielding faith, worry and misinformation to solid homosexual and lesbian folks as threats to youngsters.
“At this level in my profession, I’m dedicated to utilizing my expertise, platform and storytelling craft to light up how historical past, politics, and id intersect,” mentioned Tabsch. “And to encourage empathy, dialogue and alter.”
Quick Documentary ($10,000 every)
Matt Deblinger – Uncle Luke vs. America (working title) explores how Miami turned a Nineteen Nineties free‑speech battleground as Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell’s express tracks ignited obscenity prices and culminated in a landmark Supreme Courtroom ruling on inventive freedom. Matt Deblinger, director and co-producer; Diliana Alexander, producer.
“By means of its music, nightlife and courtroom drama, the movie captures how a South Florida neighborhood’s struggle for inventive expression reshaped the cultural panorama of America,” mentioned Deblinger.
Jessica Huppert Berman – Twin Suns: The Scull Sisters Story profiles Miami’s iconic Scull sisters—an identical twins and Cuban artists whose colourful, three‑dimensional work turned beloved fixtures in Cuban eating places and cultural areas, creating a creative bridge between Havana and Miami.
“Twin Suns is a tribute to the Sculls and their works’ boundless optimism,” mentioned Huppert Berman.
Monica Sorelle – Untitled Everglades Triptych examines Black and Indigenous histories in and across the Everglades via distinct however parallel tales of migration, refuge and displacement.
“I consider inspecting the previous is essential to breaking cycles,” mentioned Sorelle. “If we don’t, as the present second teaches us, we’re doomed to repeat ourselves.”
Ending Funds ($10,000 every)
Forrest Canaday – First Come, First Serve tells the story of the Swap Outlets flea market via three intertwining narratives: its rise as an unlikely financial and cultural hub, the non-public and inventive journey of Marie Franco, a painter who grew up there, and the uncertainty of its future in a quickly altering South Florida. Forrest Canaday, Lead Producer, Ermol Clearfoster Sheppard II, Director.
The movie “captures the Swap Store because it stands right this moment, earlier than the forces of growth and time determine what comes subsequent,” mentioned Canaday.
Carlos Gutierrez – The Bay of Pigs Undertaking provides a deeply private take a look at the lads who returned to Miami after the Kennedy-era failed invasion of Cuba to rebuild their lives, elevate households and forge a brand new neighborhood.
“By means of this movie, I need to present that the Bay of Pigs isn’t only a story of loss or politics; it’s the muse of the Miami I grew up in, a metropolis outlined by braveness, sacrifice, and the unwavering will to start once more,” mentioned Gutierrez.
Honorable Mentions
As well as, three filmmakers, Jon David Kane, Alicia Edwards and Oana Martisca Whaples acquired Honorable Mentions for his or her submissions and can every obtain a stipend and complimentary entry to the Lynn & Louis Wolfson II Florida Transferring Picture Archives to finish their initiatives.
For extra details about The Louies, go to www.miamifilmfestival.com/thelouies.
This can be a Hy-Lo Information Workers Report.
Join our weekly e-mail e-newsletter and watch our weekly LIVE podcast information present each Thursday at 5:30pm. Subscribe to our YouTube web page to get alerts for the present.
Do you’ve got information to share? If that’s the case, ship Hy-Lo Information your story concepts by clicking HERE.
