Thanks to his latest short film, El segundo amanecer de la ceguera (The Second Awakening of Blindness), Mauricio Franco has been awarded with the "Casa de América" Best Latin American Filmmaker Award by the 11th Concurso Iberoamericano de Cortometrajes Versión Española / SGAE (11th "Versión Española /SGAE" Latin American Short Film Contest), held by the RTVE program "Versión Española".

During the awards gala held yesterday, on June 22nd 2010, the TV program "Versión Española" (by RTVE, Spanish Nationwide Public Channel) and the Sociedad General de Autores Españoles (SGAE, a Spanish collecting charity) awarded Mauricio Franco as the Best Latin American Filmmaker. Mauricio Franco was contending in the 11th Concurso Iberoamericano de Cortometrajes Versión Española / SGAE with his successful short film El segundo amanecer de la ceguera (The Second Awakening of Blindness), starring Cuban actors Orisel Gaspar and Abel Fowler. The Jury, who has granted the "Casa de América" Award to Mauricio Franco, has highlighted El segundo amanecer de la ceguera "for its delicate approach to disorder and sorrow that causes a love breakup, for its risky mise-en-scène, and for the touching devotion of its two leading actors".

The "Casa de América" Best Latin American Filmmaker Award is granted with € 3,000. Additionally, the awards ceremony, held yesterday, is going to be broadcast by RTVE "Versión Española" program on coming Tuesday June 29th 2010. The broadcast, as well as the screening of the awarded short films, will include some interviews with prize-winners, also with Mauricio Franco.

Within next July, at a date not fully yet disclosed, there is scheduled a showing of the Concurso Iberoamericano de Cortometrajes Versión Española / SGAE this year's selected works in the Casa de América of Madrid.

This award joins to the prize won by El segundo amanecer de la ceguera at the Busan International Short Film Festival recently. On the other hand, El segundo amanecer de la ceguera (The Second Awakening of Blindness) contended at the Official Competition of the Berlinale 2010 early this year.

El segundo amanecer de la ceguera is one of the short films promoted at festivals and distributed by [ The House of Films ].