The Puerto Rican short film "Ella no está," directed by Ana Paula Teixeira and produced by Camila Rosario Mongil and Zoribel López, won Best Short Film at the Cortadito Film Lab 2026, held as part of the 17th edition of the Puerto Rico European Film Festival. The awards ceremony took place on Thursday, November 12, at the Colegio de Arquitectos de Puerto Rico in Santurce, with the six competing teams taking part.
Along with the top prize, "Ella no está" collected awards for Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Makeup and Hair Design, Best Costume Design, Best Musical Composition, Best Sound Design and Best Cinematography, plus prizes for performances. Announcing the main award, international jury spokesperson Mane Cisneros Manrique highlighted the production’s visual identity and its ability to connect with audiences in different places; the jury described it as having "a voice and an aesthetic charged with its own identity."
The film follows Luz, a DJ coping with grief by plunging into nightlife excess; during a club set, drug use triggers visions of her late aunt Alma and the orisha Oshún, confronting her with a family trauma she shares with her mother.