Fort Lauderdale —The South Florida-based female-led team of filmmakers known as the 1310 Bandits brought home their second win from Filmapalooza and screened their first feature film, “Kali Mah Tina,” in Seattle, Washington.
When artist residents of the 1310 Gallery, Tabatha Mudra and Niki Lopez, decided to compete in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) competition back in 2015 they had no idea their team—the 1310 Bandits—would one day be an award-winning filmmaking team.
Now barely two years later they have several films under their belt and the 1310 Bandits have grown to easily 30 people including core members Nikki Saraiva, Rozie Rozae and Dana Dellacamera.
The 48 Hour Film Project is a wild and sleepless weekend where film teams make a movie—write, shoot, and edit—in just 48 hours.
The 1310 Bandits first competed in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale 48HFP in 2015 and swept the contest with their short film “Souvenir.” They had a repeat win in 2016 with the short “Deep Within.”
Between the two short films produced for the Miami/Fort Lauderdale 48HFP, the 1310 Bandits has won over a dozen awards including Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Best Special Effects.
After the second win, the team was invited to film their first feature film in 48 days and that was screened at Filmapalooza in Seattle.
“I remember saying “Hey guys…I mean girls, we’ve been invited to take on our largest challenge yet, a feature film in 48 days, who’s in?!” recalls director Tabatha Mudra. “We were catapulted by the idea of ‘Let’s make a movie,’ and holding the simplest of mantras, ‘Do you believe in magic?’ So like any transformational proposal, we said ‘YES’ and the rest is our most beautiful and resolute project to date.”
“Every year hundreds of filmmakers from all over South Florida come together to participate in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale 48 Hour Film project. What many people don’t know is that the 48HFP connection extends to a larger international body of filmmakers at our final round of competition—Filmapalooza,” says Cathleen Dean, producer of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale 48HFP.
“I’m delighted that team 1310 Bandits took the opportunity to fly out to Seattle to accept their award and to experience Filmapalooza. This dynamic team of women epitomizes so many of the tenets my organization holds dear: excellence in filmmaking, a spirit of cooperation and inclusion, diversity, fun and good sportsmanship.”
Niki Lopez, one of the producers on the team, is visibly excited about the win after her return from Seattle.
“We pride ourselves in being a female-led team that’s very diverse in terms of race, socio-economic and educational background and having so many members of the LGBTQ community. Our mission is to create stories that advocate consciousness and social responsibility. The audience at Filmapalooza not only enjoyed our feature “Kali Mah Tina” but more importantly, they got the message. They got our attention to detail and commitment to make stories that don’t follow stereotypes and social norms.”
The feature film “Kali Mah Tina” is a compelling dark comedy with an inspiring message staring many local talents including Katrina Rose Tandy, Melissa Ann Hubicsak, Sumintra Singh, Ari Safari and G. Wright Muir. “Kali Mah Tina” will be screened in Fort Lauderdale and Miami in the coming weeks.
The first South Florida screening will be on March 18, 6:00 pm at ArtServe. Tickets are available on Eventbrite
More information is available on the 1310 Bandits Facebook and Instagram pages as well as at the 1310 Bandits Website.
