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The 25th Anniversary Phoenix Film Festival celebrated local talent in a big way this weekend, honoring director Emilio Miguel Torres with the 2025 Arizona Filmmaker of the Year award.
The recognition comes on the heels of three packed house screenings of Torres’ debut feature film The Ladder, which competed in the festival’s prestigious U.S. Feature Competition recently, according to a press release.
Presented by IFP Program Director Rebekah Varghese during the festival’s closing night Copper Wing Awards ceremony, the Filmmaker of the Year honor is given annually to an Arizona-based filmmaker who, as Varghese noted, “has not only made a beautiful film, but is kind, hard-working, and regularly gives back to the community.”
Mr. Torres, a Scottsdale-based writer and director and NYU Tisch graduate, was overwhelmed with gratitude.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you Phoenix Film Festival for awarding me this great honor and milestone,” he said. “I’ve been so embraced by Arizona’s filmmaking community ever since moving here in 2022, and while The Ladder was filmed in Alaska, I’m proud to call myself an Arizona director and can’t wait to shoot my next feature in the Copper State.”
The Ladder, which had its Arizona premiere at the festival, is a sci-fi drama about aging, memory, and technology, set and produced authentically in Torres’ hometown of Ketchikan, Alaska. All three festival screenings were at full capacity, with audience members praising the film’s emotional depth, unique setting, and deeply personal story.
