Missing Cuban Actor Wins Top Tribeca Acting Award

A movie about three Cuban teenagers who defect to the US has won three prizes at the Tribeca Film Festival, but its stars have gone missing in real life. The best actor award went to Javier Nunez Florian, who disappeared with his co-star Analin de la Rua de la Torre, en route to the festival in New York, reports BBC News.

The Cuban actors went missing at Miami airport during a stop-over on their way to the film festival - their co-star Dariel Arrechada made it to New York and was on-hand to receive the awards. Jurors had praised the "potent individual performances that together are even greater than the sum of their parts", and Arrechada told reporters he was "sad" for his friends, adding, "I wish they were here, but... you could be happy for them, for Javier and for Anailin and for everyone. It's weird. I miss him". London born filmmaker Lucy Molloy won Best New Director for the movie, and said she wished the stars could have been there to share the glory, saying, "It would have been a great experience for them," she said. "I haven't heard from them. I just hope they are well and they are healthy".

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by actor Robert De Niro and the film producer Jane Rosenthal to help New York's Tribeca neighbourhood recover from the terrorist attacks of September 11.