 He bought himself a 16 mm Pathe camera and made a short film called "Sunday Afternoon", which won first prize in a competition sponsored by the Creative Film Foundation.The honor of receiving a Creative Film Award was significantly enhanced when Salvador Dalí presented it to D'Avino, who was now embarking on a career in film that would last the rest of his life.D'Avino's film making flourished during the personally, politically, and artistically liberating years of the 1960s.