EXCLUSIVE: Ja’Lisa Arnold has been named as the 2025 recipient of the $10,000 Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award, with Christopher Guerrero being revealed as the winner of the $2,500 Audience Award, voted for by the public. Both winners received their prizes during an invitation-only ceremony at the renowned art fair.
Realized in collaboration with non-profit Ghetto Film School and film and TV studio Fifth Season, the Frieze Los Angeles Film Award is recognized within the industry as an incubator for next-generation talent. Since its launch in 2019, the initiative has supported over 40 fellows, providing a platform for emerging voices in filmmaking.
Arnold’s award-winning film Grief Cannot Exist Without Joy follows Tobi, a gifted musician struggling with the recent loss of his brother, Lou. His only path to healing is through music — by completing an unfinished song dedicated to his sibling, he confronts his grief and finds a way forward.
Commented Claudio de Sanctis, Head of Private Bank and member of the Management Board at Deutsche Bank, “This year’s winner of the Jury Award sensitively tells the story of brotherly love and connection, and how the one left behind overcomes the grief that’s swallowing him. My sincere congratulations to Ja’Lisa Arnold for her beautiful film, “Grief Cannot Exist Without Joy”. I am immensely proud that Deutsche Bank continues to support emerging L.A filmmakers through this programme.”
A jury of leading figures across film, art, and media selected Arnold’s film. This year’s included De Sanctis; Christine Messineo (Director of Americas, Frieze); Tayanna Todd (Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group); filmmaker and artist Rhys Ernst; Erin Christovale (Hammer Museum); and Oscar-nominated filmmaker RaMell Ross (Nickel Boys).
Guerrero’s film Reprogrammed is set in a retro-futuristic Los Angeles, where Andrea, a lonely roboticist, has sacrificed everything to complete her masterpiece: IRIS, the “Integrated Reactive Intelligence System.” When IRIS comes to life, Andrea must teach her creation what it means to be sentient—only to realize she must also mend her own fractured relationship with her father.
“Frieze Los Angeles, taking place in the home and heart of the film industry, is celebrating the sixth Deutsche Bank Film Award this year,” noted Frieze Director of Americas Messineo in a statement to Deadline. “Now it is more important than ever to foster opportunities for emerging talent, and that impact can be seen in the work of this year’s remarkable filmmakers.”
The sixth edition of Frieze Los Angeles is taking place through from February 23.
