Frieze Los Angeles’s intermingling with the worlds of film and television is manifested in many ways, though perhaps none more directly than the Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award, which supports rising film-makers in the city. For the prize’s 2023 edition, announced in a ceremony on Thursday in the fair’s Deutsche Bank lounge, Irene Gil-Ramon won the $10,000 award, while Shandrea Evans won the $2,500 audience award.
Gil-Ramon starred in her film, Best Day of My Life (in LA), in which her main character travels around the city on a seemingly endless errand. She, Evans and seven other film-makers were mentored by industry specialists during a fellowship organised by the non-profit Ghetto Film School, as they developed and created short films around the theme of identity.
A teary-eyed Evans, whose short film Saturday won the audience award, said, “My identity is made up of those who came before me and those who came up with me.”
