New York, Aug 23 (IANS/EFE): "Maria My Love" and Costa Rican feature "El regreso" were the winners of the awards for best US and foreign film, respectively, at the New York International Latino Film Festival, it was announced Monday.

"Maria My Love", written and directed by Jasmine McGlade Chazelle and inspired by real events is a film revolving around Ana, a young Los Angeles woman who is trying to recover from the death of her mother and filled with resentments against her father and who finds support from her half-sister and a new romantic relationship.

Meanwhile, "El regreso", directed by Hernan Jimenez, tells the story of a man who, after living for a decade in New York, returns to visit his native Costa Rica, where he finds everything that he tried to flee from in the past.

The film festival presented more than 100 films during its 12th edition, some of which have opened in the US, and paid tribute to Cuban-American actor Andy Garcia, who was the executive producer of "Magic City Memoirs", which was also screened during the event.

The prize for best director went to Aaron Burns, who also wrote the script for "Blacktino", a quirky dark comedy about a half black, half Latino theater geek and his friends.