The video for Residente's This Is Not America (ft Ibeyi), directed by Gregory Ohrel, was awarded the Special Jury prize at the 30th South By South West Film and TV on Tuesday (March 14th).

The hugely powerful video, produced by Doomsday Entertainment, reenacts moments in Latin American history through a series of uncompromising vignettes, visualising the veteran Puerto Rican rapper's cry of resistance against oppression and corruption in South and Central America.   

On This Is Not America, the SXSW jury commented: “Our Special Jury winner is a striking, visceral and timely representation of the struggles people face in Latin America today. It’s a piece worthy of attention from US audiences, as well as Latin. We also felt it incorporates some of the most symbolically rich – and creative – shots we’ve seen recently in music videos.”

The Special Jury prize was one of two Jury prizes handed out to music videos in the awards ceremony - both of which explored political themes. The Grand Jury winner in the Music Video category was Amanda Sum's Different Than Before, written and directed by Mayumi Yoshida.

SXSW said of the Amanda Sum video: “We were particularly moved by this story of an Asian father’s journey to action when faced with racist hecklers in front of his family. The video creates a brilliant stop Asian hate narrative that accomplishes the near impossible feat of evoking not just tears, but laughter – all in just a few minutes. It’s a rare music video imbued with the power to make viewers smile and weep while learning about racism in America.”

This year's South By South West Film & TV Festival began the day after Everything Everywhere All At Once's stunning sweep of the 2023 Academy Awards, winning seven Oscars, including Best Picture. The movie, directed by The Daniels (Dan Kwan and Dan Scheinert), was premiered at South By South West last year - a landmark that was celebrated by Claudette Godfrey, VP, Film & TV.

"Our hearts are bursting with joy for DANIELS who first brought their work to SXSW 11 years ago and won our Music Video Competition," said Godfrey. "It’s indescribable that we were also able to celebrate last year’s Opening Night Film Everything Everywhere All at Once and their seven Academy Awards. We know that another SXSW filmmaker in the Paramount Theater tonight will go on to fulfill their own creative dreams and achieve success beyond what they can imagine now!”

• 30th SXSW Film & TV Festival - all the winners here